Consultant Robin Long
ConsultantForum Replies Created
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March 11, 2024
Dear Teacher Hotline – Process Checklist
Hello everyone!
Thanks for coming to the Voc Talk Café and if you weren’t able to make it, no worries! You can check out the recording, discussion notes and resources on the Voc Talk Café by Après-cours website page here, and read the session summary below!
Summary
In this week’s Dear Teacher Hotline, we discussed using a process checklist to help students focus on the steps in the process during an authentic work task. To create a tailored checklist for effective learning, it’s essential to consider the targeted learning goal as well as the student’s current level of proficiency. For beginners, tasks should be broken down into manageable steps, while advanced learners may require less detailed guidance. Feedback from the instructor is important, and sticky points or teacher checkpoints can be incorporated into the checklist. As well, encouraging students to reflect on their performance, identify challenges, and rewrite the checklist in narrative form promotes deeper understanding and consolidation of knowledge.
In terms of format and tools, leveraging common text software like Microsoft Word or Google Docs facilitates accessibility. Structuring the checklist using tables, checkboxes, and strikethrough features aids in progress tracking, while including identification details ensures clarity and organization.
To customize the content of this checklist for your trade, look at the competency and think about job tasks in the workforce and list the steps in the process of completing that task. Asking colleagues or students to collaborate is essential to identify common pitfalls and critical steps. Present tasks logically, grouped by natural categories, and incorporate sensory descriptors to foster comprehension and introduce industry terminology. The customized checklist serves as a comprehensive guide, facilitating effective learning experiences aligned with students’ needs and objectives.
▶Click here to access the interactive tool
📋Click here to access a downloadable, customizable copy
Do you have an idea for a Voc Talk Café discussion topic that you would like to discuss with your fellow teachers across the province? Let us know! We can help you set it up! Thanks to all who participated in discussing this very interesting subject, and I look forward to the next session!
📱👩🍳 Robin
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November 6, 2023 Food and Tourism: Are Digital Libraries the Future of Education?
Hello everyone!
Thanks for coming to the Voc Talk Café and if you weren’t able to make it, no worries! You can check out the recording, discussion notes and resources on the Voc Talk Café by Après-cours website page here, and read the session summary below!
Summary
Digital libraries have lots of great features that enhance the learning experience, such as access to a large collection, interactive media and built-in translation tools. In today’s discussion, we explored the advantages of the ckbk platform used by the culinary department at PACC. We spoke about access to hundreds of cookbooks, including the traditional textbook, but with user-friendly features such as translation tools, downloadable recipe files, keyword database searches, and multi-media content. Also, access to both the textbook and a cookbook library acts as an incentive for motivated learners to explore more, without penalizing the learners who are focused on entry-level requirements. The cost for the student is much lower than the physical textbook, and having access via a mobile app means devices can be sanitized for hygiene and food safety protocol. As the department uses this platform, more information will be shared about activity ideas in competencies.
Do you have an idea for a Voc Talk Café discussion topic that you would like to discuss with your fellow teachers across the province? Let us know! We can help you set it up! Thanks to all who participated in discussing this very interesting subject, and I look forward to the next session!
📱👩🍳 Robin
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Oct 16, 2023: The Future of the Trade
Hello everyone! If you missed this week’s Voc Talk café, here is the summary. You can check out the recording and minutes on the Voc Talk café by Après-cours website!
As a society, we enjoy eating out and having a dining experience and the front of the house staff is an integral part of this. We recognise the need for servers and maitre d’s and we know the transferability of their people, management and sales skills, but as a collective we have a hard time seeing past the perception that being a server is not a legitimate trade, it is something you do ‘while you are waiting for something else.’ We explored some of the difficulties in recruiting students for the program, and some of the innovative program offers centres have tried to increase student inscription. The discussion revolved around programs of study in other parts of the world that combine cooking and F&B, the workforce resolution to have a work-life balance that is very hard to do in the restaurant world, and how the front of the hours curates and creates and experience for the diner. The cultural and social aspect of dining and relaxing is an integral part of who we are as humans, and the desire for this continues to grow even as the workforce struggles to find workers. We finished our discussion with a look at a pilot project with an industry partner and RAC to assess workers and support their missing skills with on-the-job training. This situation could be an interesting asynchronous learning project, lending itself to project funding through a TechnoFAD measure.
Thanks to all who attended for the great discussion, and we look forward to the next session!
📱👩🍳 Robin
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CEN PROVINCIAL MEETING – MAY 31, 2023
A new CHAT feature has been implemented on the vt.procede.ca site, allowing users to ask questions directly to Robin or VT support. The CEN liaisons provided an overview of their year, discussing both positives and areas for improvement. Robin explained the CEN Year End Report, emphasizing its importance in securing funding from the Ministry. The report summarizes what each CEN accomplished, how it was done, why, and the challenges addressed. The report serves two purposes: showcasing achievements and identifying areas for improvement. The report, along with signed reimbursement forms should be sent to Shelley at vtinservice@nfsb.qc.ca by the deadline of June 15, 2023. Robin’s presentation on how to fill in the report can be found on vt.procede.ca under 23-05-31 CEN Provincial Meeting Presentation.
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CEN PROVINCIAL MEETING – FEBRUARY 16, 2023
The CEN liaisons shared their plans for upcoming professional development and expressed positive feedback on workshops recently hosted or attended. The Professional Development Forms & Guidelines were reviewed, directing the members on what to do before, during and after a professional development activity. The digital literacy skills framework was reviewed followed by a discussion on the expectations for entry level workers in the trades today. A case study on ChatGPT and the effect of exposing students to the chatbot was debated. Teachers worked on creating individual “Happy Teaching Moments” posters highlighting the great teaching they do.
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What do you think about VR in healthcare simulations? Did you experience it in your trade, and do you think it could be part of vocational training? It is cost effective and can give you clinical experience in a safe, low-stakes environment. Check out this website for more information: https://oxfordmedicalsimulation.com/
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More cool AR stuff! I found a series of 360 degree videos about different workforce situations, introducing a trade. Cooking, Healthcare, Welding, Manufacturing – there are a whole bunch! It gave me the idea to do an activity in Competency 1 Trade and Training Process where the students can ‘discover’ the typical tasks of the trade in a (kinda sorta) immersive experience! Good icebreaker. Do any teachers out there use videos like this already? How do you incorporate them into your lessons?
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLumB_gRnHAqg3ElfLlXrexoXp41g02waE
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That is interesting! Nice to see vocational programs being featured in media exercises usually reserved for higher education. It gives weight to the validity of our educational training programs. I do have a couple of thoughts…
1. Are the salaries listed when a graduate enters the workforce, or is it a different metric, after a few years experience, or an average over a career?
2. Some of the DEP’s have a low employment rate – why? What is the significance to a potential student, especially in light of the shortage of workers in the workforce?
3. I would like to see the demographics of who is participating in the DEP’s. Looking quickly, I can see the the highest paying DEP’s are all in sectors that are traditionally dominated by male workers. I think that might paint an interesting, insightful picture as to why we have such a shortage of workers.
What do the different sectors think? Any thoughts about this article in relation to the programs you teach? This might make for an interesting Voc Talk café theme!
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Just released! April 2022 Voc Talk newsletter!
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Feb 2022 Voc Talk is out there! 👏 If you aren’t signed up to get it delivered to your inbox, you can check it out here!
https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=939f766944ff5268c61d8bc3a&id=3a94537f11
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📢 January’s Voc Talk is live! Click here to check it out! https://mailchi.mp/4ed0e40aa034/almost-everything-tech-n-teachno-wait-something-new-4809798?e=8fc904c9f6
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Hot off the press! 📰 December 2021 Voc Talk newsletter! Click here to view it, and if you like what you see, subscribe to have it appear in your inbox – just like magic!
https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?e=8fc904c9f6&u=939f766944ff5268c61d8bc3a&id=fbe6b91e2f
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🥁👍 First issue it out! Want to check it out? Click on the link:
https://mailchi.mp/7b5298b37131/almost-everything-tech-n-teachno-wait-something-new
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Cool! PERT does interesting research. What were some of the ideas about language learning on the job? Anything that we could incorporate into our teaching in VT?
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Great to hear! Let us know about your experience – it will be interesting to hear about practices that we can use in VT!