The field of learning and technology is ever-changing. Year after year, educational innovators discover something that advances how learners learn. Sometimes our situation or circumstance leads to change. For example, the pandemic of 2020 did such that it forced educators to change the way most taught. Educators began to teach remotely through the internet using desktops and mobile devices. Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), too, had to adapt during that time. In this paper, this author will predict the future of TVET in the year 2030. The prediction will include three areas of TVET: the use of technology, educators’ professional development, and pedagogy. The first area that will change in 2030 is the use of educational technology in TVET.
Educational technology and technology, in general, will be prevalent in the future TVET. TVET learning will involve using more information and commutations technologies (ICT) and digitalization by 2030. As Subrahmanyam (2020) noted in her study, the industry needs around ICT were changing, and there was a need for TVET to change as well. Hassan et al. (2020) mention in their study that ICT was in TVET and needed to be added to keep up with the increased use of ICT in our daily lives. The advancement of ICT in TVET is essential to help to prepare our students. Information and communication have always been a crucial part of TVET. This author believes it will be accepted and integrated into TVET courses. In other education areas, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and simulations are being used extensively; TVET must and will see an increase in the use of this technology in teaching and learning come the year 2030. Hassan et al. (2021) noted in their study that AR/VR, amongst other technologies, had been successfully used in school and higher education but had yet to be used to any degree in TVET. Educational institutions have started to invest in the area of AR/VR in programs that create these experiences. It will only make sense that use of these technologies will start to be used more widely in programs such as TVET. They will allow students to experience things that can only sometimes be replicated due to space, materials, or lack of funding. There will be increased use of learning technologies in TVET by 2030. They are especially learning technologies that help with blended or hybrid learning. Arbino et al. noted in their report that with the increase in blended and hybrid learning, there was also increased use of learning technologies to help create these learning environments. It was also noted that creators of these technologies were looking to add new tools with increased demand. With the pandemic, it became clear that there were many ways we could deliver education, including TVET. TVET students also discovered benefits with remote learning, much less travel which meant saving on gas and parking. There are many opportunities with blended or hybrid learning, which would enable students, especially those in apprenticeships, to return to the field quicker and continue their learning there. The use of technology in TVET is here to stay and will be used more widely in the future. A second way that TVET will change in the future is through the professional development of our instructors.
Educators’ ongoing professional development is vital to help educators be current and improve themselves as educators. In 2030, TVET educators will all be regularly involved in professional development. Carson et al. (2021) noted in their study that there was a need for TVET instructors to be trained in synchronous and asynchronous Instruction. Through the TVET learned more about synchronous and asynchronous. Most TVET instructors went remotely without knowledge and did their best. TVET instructors learned that synchronous and asynchronous could be a part of TVET. They did not know and still need to learn more about synchronous and asynchronous, and it will be necessary for them to get professional development in this. TVET has seemed the potential benefits of both delivery methods and wants to learn more. TVET instructors will be significantly involved in communities of practice in the year 2030. Carson et al. (2021) recommended as part of their study that TVET create communities of practice as a way for them to strengthen their teaching and learning. TVET, in small pockets across Canada, has participated in a community of practice. They understand the benefits of learning and sharing with colleagues. This is an excellent form of professional development. TVET educators will learn about different technologies, pedagogies, and more while participating in these communities of practice and will help advance TVET. By the year 2030, we will see more TVETs being taught online. As noted by Arbino et al., with an increasing need for professional development for educators, there will be an increase in the need for that professional development to be easily accessed online. There will be a need for more TVET instructors to learn to teach online. Through the most recent pandemic, TVET instructors and other educators were focused on teaching online in some form of remote learning. Only a few instructors had formal online teaching training before this happened. However, with the many benefits of online learning, there will be an increased demand for online learning in TVET. This will lead to a demand for more professional development in this area for TVET instructors. There will be many more TVET instructors taking part in ongoing professional development in the future.
TVET educators’ pedagogical approach to Technical and Vocational Education Training will change in 2030. Subrahmanyam (2020) noted in her study that TVET would need to be willing to accept new methods of teaching and learning based on the trends she noticed. TVET instructors have always been willing to change the past, but with the events of the pandemic, instructors’ willingness has changed. Some TVET instructors’ pedagogy has changed from the old lecture style in their theory-based courses welcoming changes such as flipped classrooms. These instructors have been asked to share these new pedagogical shifts with their peers through professional development sessions. TVET instructors will have to embed more digital in teaching in 2030. Carson et al. recommended that TVET instructors integrate digital literacy and fluency into the TVET curricula. It is and will be important that all students are proficient in the digital age. Almost everything we need to do outside of work uses digital. The same can be said for the careers that TVET prepares students for. Therefore, it will only make sense for TVET to have digital elements embedded throughout. This will allow the students to prepare themselves for what is ahead in their chosen careers. TVET instructors, on a mass scale, will be using Open Educational Resources (OER) in their teaching in the year 2030. Carson et al. noted a need to train TVET instructors to create OER for their courses. With education costs continuing to grow, it is best to find ways to cut without downgrading the quality of TVET education. The use of OER in one way TVET can do that. It has primarily now been used and created in the rest of academia. However, there has been some OER created for TVET. The benefit of cost plus the benefit of co=creation with the students will help it continue and become more mainstream in education and TVET. There will be a sizeable pedagogical shift in TVET instructors in 2030 because more instructors are open to different pedagogies. The future of TVET is bright, with plenty of change to come.
Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will significantly improve by 2030. Three aspects of TVET will improve our pedagogy, professional development for TVET educators, and utilisation of technology. The current trends in TVET and education, in general, will lead to changes in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The past has always shaped the future of education and where it has already been. TVET and education are the backbone of the world and its economy. We must continue to look for innovation to bring us further.
References
Arbino, N., Brown, M., Brooks, D. C., McCormack, M., Pelletier, K., & Reeves, J. (2021) 2021 Educause Horizon Report: Teaching and learning edition. EDUCAUSE. (2021, April 26).
Carson, T., Flinn, C., & Vinden, S. (2021). Strengthening Digital Teaching & Learning for trades, vocational, education and training practitioners. BCcampus.
Hassan, R. H., Hassan, M. T., Naseer, S., Khan, Z., & Jeon, M. (2021). ICT enabled TVET education: a systematic literature review. IEEE Access, 9, 81624-81650.
Subrahmanyam, G. (2020). UNESCO-UNEVOC Study on the Trends Shaping the Future of TVET Teaching. UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training.
Yaakov, M. F. M., Awang, H., Ismail, M. Z., Zain, F. M., Kasim, M., & Adnan, A. A. Z. (2020). Backward and forward reviews on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Malaysia: The evolution and ICT-driven future prospect. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(6), 2197-2203.