Innovation

Federal and state governments in Australia have recognised and responded to the importance of vocational and educational training (VET) within the global economy through the development of two major initiatives:

1. National Strategy for VET 2004-2010 a collaborative approach to VET development which was endorsed by the Ministerial Council in November 2003; and

2. Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) which comprises two sets of nationally agreed standards to ensure the quality of vocational education and training services throughout Australia.

Australia's geographic isolation was identified by both initiatives as a major obstacle in the delivery of quality training. Ensuring training provided in rural and remote areas is of equal standard to that in metropolitan areas is essential for the development of VET on a national and international level .

The Resource Generator provides the VET sector with the ability to communicate at a range of levels and develop suitably tailored training programs that also comply with the required standards, with minimal administration.

• Find public (Nationally-provided) resources related to particular national training curricula and link them into a single, labelled resource

• Obtain resources quickly irrespective of location

• Provide own private resources for use in conjunction with public ones

• Store assembled resources and retrieve them later for re-use or modification

• Share resources & ideas with peers across geographic and organisational boundaries

• Network with other professionals to develop new resources

• Distribute resources (intellectual property) among their staff, no matter where located

• Join public resources with private (RTO) ones and badge the whole lot as one document

• Undertake joint ventures with other RTOs in the development of resources and programmes

• Distribute resources to RTOs around Australia without distance, time and cost overheads of publication

• Coordinate development of new resources by professionals around the country

• Update resources on a faster cycle than when using print media

• Distribute resources at low cost to training/assessment professionals

• Improve uptake of new training packages because of available support materials

• Communicate confidentially or publicly between groups (RTO to its trainers, ITAB to RTO's) and within groups (eg group of trainers)

Performance

Launched in August 2001, the Resource Generator is hosted by Human Solutions on a server located in Hobart. The site is available 24x7 and achieves more than 99% of possible uptime.

Since launching, over 6,670 training resources have been added to the Resource Generator, with the number of new resources growing at 1-2% each month. Over 14,500 people have registered to use the Resource Generator, with the number of new registrations growing at 500 each month.

The Resource Generator is supported through email and telephone by Human Solutions. New registrants receive an email from the Resource Generator with any delivery failures followed up by the support team to ensure high quality customer service.

The use of the Resource Generator to provide widespread access to the latest in training materials and programs is assisting ANTA in ensuring compliance with the principles of Australian Quality Training Framework, a compulsory standard for VET training in Australia.

New and innovative uses for the Resource Generator are regularly being discovered. For example, the Seafood Industry has made extensive use of the Resource Generator to establish a community of practice.

The development and management of the Resource Generator is covered by a Quality Management Plan which is audited in accordance with ISO 9000:2000.

Potential

The importance of the global market for vocational education and training has been clearly identified in Australia's National Strategy for VET 2004-2010 endorsed by the ANTA Ministerial Council in November 2003. One of the 12 strategies was to "facilitate access to international markets" through two identified outcomes:

1. Increasing VET exports on-shore and off-shore; and

2. Improving the harmonization of Australian VET standards with international standards.

In a discussion paper on the Internationalisation of VET the authors Moran and Ryan observed that globalisation of training markets is not something on the horizon, it is here and growing fast. Education is Australia's third largest services export and a dramatic increase in the trans-national movement of students has been predicted. Since 2001 there has also been a trend towards the training provider moving rather than the student. 

One of the four export models used for education is Offshore delivery where the training provider delivers an Australian qualification in another country usually through a local partner. It is this model that the Resource Generator supports and where the opportunity is to develop further markets. It is of particular importance where quality standards must be met with risk management strategies in place.

The Resource Generator provides a proven, effective and robust tool for the delivery of training and assessment in the international market, and would provide training bodies with a demonstrated strategy for ensuring quality and consistency of training which would give them a distinct market advantage over other education providers.

In the last month, users from at least five overseas countries used the Resource Generator.

A recent email received by the support team demonstrates this:

"Firstly, thank you for a wonderful online resource.

For your information I am an Australian Volunteer, teaching young women and men in Malawi, Africa for a period of three years. I am here under the support of Australian Volunteers International, a non profit organization funded by Aus Aid. 

Malawi is one the poorest countries in the world. Students here have no books, in fact the Malawi Institute of Tourism where I teach has no books, for 600 students we have two antiquated computers, and even the chairs the students use should have been sent to hell 20 years ago.

My role here is to set up and implement an ongoing Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management

So I write to you for help…."

Other information the judges should know

About the Resource Generator

The Resource Generator is an application delivered via the Internet to registered users in the VET sector of education primarily in Australia. It was developed on behalf of ANTA, and designed by Human Solutions. The Resource Generator is constantly evolving, as new features are being added to meet the ongoing needs of the site's stakeholders.

Further information about the Resource Generator's features is also available in a PowerPoint presentation.

Site statistics

• Users: 14,500 registered users with the user base growing at approximately 500 each month

• Resources: the site now contains some 6670 resources with this increasing 1-2% each month

• Resource Kits: 700-800 kits generated each month

Support queries

The support team receives on average 20 queries per month. The support team provides assistance to users of the site as well as authors of content. Support is offered via email and 1800 telephone number.

Testimonials

This unsolicited testimonial can be found at Seafood Training Australia: 

"The Resource Generator is a website that enables users to find, view, pulldown and customise resources to support the development, delivery and evaluation of training and assessment programs. It contains the full suite of learning resources developed by Seafood Training Australia and references to other useful resources and websites. There is also the facility which allows users to customise learning and assessment materials and share these resources with their own 'group'. This facility will assist institutions with campuses spread geographically as well as private enterprises and sole operators working in remote places, even on fishing vessels. This site provides much needed support for training providers to produce uniquely tailored training programs and materials for the specific needs of clients…" 

This group has also established a Community of Practice group of individuals using the Resource Generator to facilitate the moderation of assessment tools across Australia. 

"Twenty two members are currently using the Resource Generator as a rather vibrant medium for communication. The medium is being used to discuss assessment issues and review the assessment resources under development. There are also sub-groups set up for the teams that are developing the assessment resources"

Human Solutions is a privately held Australian company that specializes in the design presentation and management of complex information. For over 15 years, Human Solutions have been at the forefront of the information management in Australia, working closely with both industry and government.

Our corporate maxim, Data + People = Information^®, emphasises the need to match content to users in order to maximise the knowledge gained. We appreciate and understand the differences in skill, capability and access to technology between individuals.

Our people are experts in the principles and practice of interface design, usability, information management and user support. We come from diverse backgrounds, including computer science, mathematics, physics, information systems, statistics, geography, psychology, sociology and the law.

We work with our clients to improve the design, presentation and management of their information. Our approach to project redevelopment is based on identifying and addressing the needs of both our clients and their customers and not just relying on a technical solution.

Integral to our business approach, we provide an end-to-end service, from the collection and analysis of content to the hosting and support of the site.

We place emphasis on quality of our products and processes. We were initially certified as ISO9000:1994 compliant in 1995 and have now successfully transitioned to ISO9000:2000 for the delivery of products and services in the design, collection, analysis, maintenance and presentation of information. We are externally audited annually to ensure compliance with the quality standard and processes.

Human Solutions was the first Australian IT company to commence the SoftwareMark Program. This accreditation program has four separate segments including a CMMI Class B appraisal. It was developed by SEA National in consultation with leading service providers across technical and business related disciplines, and is focused on company and business goals, making internationally recognised standards and process improvement models fit the individual business.

We are also recognised as an Australian Government Endorsed Supplier for the provision of information technology services. Endorsed supplier status recognises our ability to meet IT industry standards and criteria developed by the Commonwealth Government, including financial viability.

Further information about Human Solutions is available at http://www.hs.com.au/ 

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