Andrea is Head of Research at the Edge Foundation and an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford Department of Education. Andrea has over 20 years of research experience and worked for Oxford and Warwick universities before she moved to Edge. Her areas of research interests include TVET, apprenticeships, work-based learning, employability and skills development, youth transition, employer engagement and educational policy. She also has an interest in comparative and international education, in particular in the former East-European countries. She has widely published in these areas. Her current main projects include Young Lives, Young Futures and Degree Apprenticeships in England.
Can Online Learning Help VET Students Prepare for a Changing World?
Presentation
Co-presenting with Katherine Emms
Since the onset of Covid-19, education systems have been disrupted, with much teaching and
learning shifting swiftly online to mitigate any loss of learning. The success of this switch to
remote or online learning varied greatly depending on level, context, and individual learners
(e.g. Green, 2020). In many cases, vocational education and training (VET) has been
disrupted heavily, since VET integrates practical elements that often involve equipment,
hands-on tasks and in-person demonstrations. These are difficult to translate to an online
context. Additionally, VET, especially work-based learning, is characterised by having close
links with the workplace. Consequently, VET was badly affected due to workplace closures
(Avis et al., 2020).
This research seeks to understand the ways in which further education (FE) colleges in island
settings within the British Isles adapted their VET courses to online delivery during
lockdowns due to the pandemic (Dabbous et al., 2022). Some island colleges have been
providing online learning at the higher education level for some time (Plenderleith, 2000;
Simco and Campbell, 2011; Pancrioli et al., 2015) in order to maximise resources for learners
in remote places. However, there is minimal literature on post-16 provisions and particularly
courses delivered by colleges that require practical training or industry experience.
The research includes reflection on pre-Covid VET delivery modes and explores how
teaching and learning have adapted during the pandemic, whilst investigating the benefits and
challenges for learners, teachers, and colleges. In particular, we question what online learning
has meant for VET students in terms of meeting the aims of practical-based courses and in
preparing them for employment.
Research paper by:
Andrea Laczik, Head of Research, Edge Foundation
Dana Dabbous, Senior Researcher, Edge Foundation
Katherine Emms, Senior Researcher, Edge Foundation
Holly Henderson, Tutor, Fircroft College
