September 23, 2020: IVETA, through its European region, launched its inaugural virtual conference. 20 international speakers congregated on Zoom to share their expertise and experience with an enthusiastic audience of participants.
The event was opened by IVETA President, Dato’ Baharudin Abdullah, who welcomed everyone to the event with a short speech. The European Vice-President, Dr Julian Ng, provided a short overview to the theme, highlighting opportunities and challenges that needed to be addressed.
Georgios Zisimos from The European Training Foundation (ETF) kicked off the formal presentations by asking how TVET centres could lead the way in times of crises through the Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) framework. He mentioned that the new framework would be launched in a few days.
Dr Tutik Rachmawati from Parahyangan University focused on the challenges of implementing learning in a geographically- and societally-diverse country such as Indonesia. Dr Silvia Annen and her colleague, Sabrina Sailer, gave participants an opportunity to interact with them through various games and interfaces in an effort to look at how the right communication strategies can make a difference between institutions and students.
Bernd Richter and Dr Busaina Nazzal merged lessons learnt from Germany and Palestine on how pedagogical and didactical training boosted teachers’ effectiveness and creativity, with thoughts on sustainability, inclusivity and hands-on practice.
A half-hour break afforded participants the opportunity to refresh themselves.
Drs Vitaly Kopnov, Natalya Lomovtseva, and Olga Shmurygina from the Russian State Vocational and Pedagogical University shared their experience on transforming their vocational education and training digitally. Meanwhile, Federica Sottile flipped the challenges raised by COVID-19 into opportunities, as a way forward for companies that had had their livelihoods threatened during the pandemic.
Gouhar Pirzada of Pakistan provided empirical evidence that TVET students (particularly those in the Art and Design sector) found online assessments to be more accessible for formative assessments and projects. Students with a stronger background in IT were more comfortable with online exams, while those on the flipside preferred paper-based exams.
Dr Chinyere Shirley Ayonmike of Delta State University looked at the effects of classroom-based instruction versus online instruction on vocational students’ psychomotor performance in woodwork technology in a Nigerian study.
The Waldorf Oberstufe Bozen, led by Markus Feichter, displayed a heartwarming montage of how its education system uses the heart, mind and hand mantra with stunning photographs showcasing each aspect.
Viktor Miloshevski challenged participants to look beyond the dated technologies which still dominate the current educational landscape, despite the fact that we are now in the fourth industrial age. Should Humanity and education also head to 4.0?
Since there is no getting around the COVID-19 pandemic, Serumu Igberadja outlined the barriers facing TVET teachers, students and parents in Sub-Saharan Africa, where households in shanty towns earn less than US$2 a day. How can a school move its provision online when inclusivity and accessibility are still way off?
Prof Urs Hauenstein takes the concept of inclusivity and accessibility further with the notion of a balanced education. The need to involve all the senses and neuroscientific concepts to create a holistic educational experience is paramount, as is the concept of microlearning.
From Chilé, Dr Tulio Barrios Bulling dissected the situation with regard to learning in South America during a pandemic, particularly with the TVET sector’s response to social distancing and readiness for deployment.
Michael Polin from the USA gave a passionate speech on how TVET providers can protect their skillsets and maximize revenue during a pandemic. His compatriot, Dr Julie Furst-Bowe shared her experience about moving a technical college system online, before the day was wrapped up by Dr Julian Ng.
All in all, it was a fantastic event with great camaraderie, networking and feedback. Thank you to all those who participated. See you at our next eConference.