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• Nominations open for Queensland Training Awards 2009
  • Nominations are now open for the Queensland Training Awards 2009. The awards recognise best practice achievements in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. The awards are held at a regional level in Brisbane North, Central Queensland, Brisbane South and Gold Coast, North Queensland, South West Queensland and Wide Bay Sunshine Coast, with winners competing for a state title announced in Brisbane in September 2009. Nominations for the employer and organisation award categories close on Wednesday 11 March 2009 at 5 pm. Nominations for the individual award categories close on Wednesday 18 March 2009 at 5 pm.
• Australian Flexible Learning Framework 2009 funding confirmed!
  • The national training system's e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework has received the go-ahead for its 2009 activities, opening up more than $7 million in funding opportunities for registered training organisations (RTOs), business and industry to embed e-learning in the vocational education and training (VET) system. The announcement coincides with recent research showing that 36% of all VET activity in RTOs now formally involves e-learning, compared to just 3-4% in 2003-2004. Research also confirms that 91% of students and 88% of teachers and trainers now use e-learning as part of their VET experience.
• Sylvia says farewell
  • Sylvia Green has been a volunteer for 18 years helping students with literacy and numeracy at TAFE SA Port Pirie Campus. She was congratulated on her support for those who may not have been able to gain their trade certificate if she had not contributed her time and energy towards helping them.
• Landmark reports fully digitised
  • The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) have digitised the full set of key documents that have influenced the development of vocational education and training (VET) at state and national levels in Australia. These documents include government inquiries, policy documents and other independent reviews.
• Online collaboration tools available for VET practitioners
  • Education Network Australia (edna) has released a suite of free online voice tools to further online collaboration and communication for those working in the education and training sectors. The online voice tools were recently integrated into edna?s online collaborative spaces, edna Groups. This means that all edna Groups now have free access to the following tools: Wimba Live Classroom, Wimba Voice Recorder, Wimba Voice Board, Wimba Voice Presentation, and Wimba Podcaster.
• Mentoring matters
  • E-learning is supporting the beneficial effects of mentoring especially for regional and remote users. It enables the creation of social networks connecting students and learners to teachers, trainers, and peers outside of the classroom and workplace. The Australian Flexible Learning Framework has supported several project incorporating this strategy including 'e-hubs for trades', 'virtual schooling', and 'the text territory project'.
• New website for Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY)
  • The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) has developed a new website which brings together all the LSAY work into a single location. A key feature of the LSAY website is the online cohort reports, which provide users with the ability to search and generate data from the LSAY program based on their individual interest. Topics covered include employment, education and social activities and outcomes for young people. The LSAY website also contains all previously published LSAY reports, briefing papers, and all technical documentation associated with the LSAY data. The 2007 waves of LSAY data have now been released to the Australian Social Science Data Archive, and the ass...
• Top selling toolboxes of 2008
  • This year's most popular Flexible Learning Toolboxes are (in order): Retail services, Interactive Ochre, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, BuildRight, and Grange Care Services. A Toolbox Champion Support Service operates in every state and territory to support their implementation.
• Guidelines for Innovation Fund released
  • The Federal Government has released the guidelines for the Innovation Fund, a component of the new Employment Services, commencing on 1 July 2009 and ending on 30 June 2012. The Innovation Fund is designed to address the needs of the most disadvantaged job seekers through funding projects that will reduce or overcome barriers to employment which these job seekers face. Funding can only be provided to organisations which are members of the Innovation Fund panel.
• Australian Flexible Framework reviews research outcomes
  • The Australian Flexible Learning Framework has recently commissioned independent researchers to review outcomes of past Framework research, and identify issues for future research. The research team will consult with a broad range of stakeholders from vocational education and training (VET) sector. Input is sought by an expression of interest before 15 December 2008.
• Trade Training Centres in Schools round two now open
  • Expressions of Interest for Round two of the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program are now open and close in December 2008. The funding can be used to construct new, or upgrade, existing trade or vocational education and training facilities. Round one has been received positively with a total of 136 applications received from schools around Australia. These applications represent 417 schools with total bids worth over $385 million.
• NCVER releases new Australian vocational education and training statistics
  • This National Centre of Vocational Education Research's (NCVER) publication provides estimates of apprentice and trainee activity for the quarter ending 31 December 2007. Overall trends are released in commencements, in-training, completions, cancellations and withdrawals, patterns of commencements, and personal, employment, and training characteristics, of commencing apprenticeships and trainees. Tables are included with statistics by state and territory.
• $5.3 million nationwide for innovative e-learning
  • Funding of $5.3 million has been awarded to support more than 90 registered training organisations (RTOs) across Australia to deliver innovative e-learning solutions for the vocational education and training (VET) system. The national training system's e-learning strategy, the Australian Flexible Learning Framework (Framework), has provided selected E-learning Innovations projects with funding to develop strategic e-learning solutions at the state and territory level, tailored to meet local education and training priorities.
• New discussion paper on VET reforms
  • The Victorian Government has released a discussion paper as part of a consultation process about reforms in the VET system in Victoria. The major proposals are: increasing access to training to individuals and business; simplifying the VET system with a more responsive and flexible approach to changing skills needs; and creating a lifelong learning culture. Written submissions close on Tuesday 10 June 2008.
• Ten priorities leading to VET reform
  • The 10-point plan is created by the National Skills Policy Collaboration, recently formed by the Australian Industry Group, Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Australian Education Union, Group Training Australia and the Dusseldorp Skills Forum. Its purpose is to identify 'clear, tangible, reforming goals' that will measure federal and state strategies, responding to structural and occupational changes in the workforce.