(Photo: webinar participants)
SEAMEO TED, in collaboration with its partners, co-organized an International Webinar on the Theme: Skills Development for Youth on 29 November 2021 virtually (09:00-12:00 Cambodia Time). The webinar was aimed to share perspectives, expertise, knowledge and best practices relevant to skill development for youth. Three different topics were shared by three keynote speakers from Singapore, Indonesia, and the United States of America. 93 international participants registered for it.
Dr Ethel Agnes Pascua- Valenzuela, the director of the SEA MEO Secretariat, was invited to deliver the Opening Remarks. She addressed the important job of SEAMEO TED in developing technical and vocational education throughout the region. She pointed out that online learning and virtual classrooms are the key driver to help youth in developing their skills and learning opportunity.
The first speaker from Singapore, Dr. Goh Mong Song, Deputy CEO (Lifelong Learning & Digital Services) Institute of Technical Education, presented “AI Education: Use of Digital Application for Education”. He highlighted the Pervasive Digital Technologies, Digitalization & Smart Nation (Digital Readiness Blueprint, Digital Economy Framework for Action, Digital Government Blueprint). He discovered that Partnership between Educational Institutes and Industry is crucial for effective skills development of youth.
The second speaker from Indonesia, Dr. Steven Mckee, the President and founder of Lab Tech, presented “Updating TVET for the Post Pandemic challenges in Education (Observations on current Trends, Issues, Challenges and Opportunities in Education)”. He stressed on Digital Leaning as the Third Pillar For TVET- Mentoring, Digital Learning, and Lab/workshop. He shared assessment tool- Summative Assessment for final grades and Formative Assessment for boosting understanding and retention real time immediate feedback. He introduced the website of Labtech Academy and LabTech Smart Classrooms which has been turning average students into “A” students. Moreover, he pointed out Multiple Phases of Higher Education Response to COVID-19 and creating a continuous eco-system- Prep for TVET STEM, School Experience, and Post at Industry.
The third speaker from the United States of America, Prof. Ronald L. Jacobs, Professor of Human Resource Development, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and president of SiTUATE, LLC, presented “Developing Skills in Digital Learning Environments: Challenges and Solutions”. He shared Changes in Work and Workplace, Challenges for Skills Development, Structured On-the-Job Training (S-OJT), SiTuate, and Case Study- IT Apprenticeship. He introduced Situate Training Platform for skills development. He also stressed on Work Analysis which can help TVET fits with job market needs.
(Photo: Webinar participants)
Q & A session was facilitated by the moderator Mr. Tim Vorn. Remarkably six questions were raised by the participants to all speakers. Speakers shared their responses and discussion to all of the stated questions. The closing remarks were delivered by Dr. Songheang Ai, Director of SEAMEO TED. He stated that skills development for youth is one of the key catalysts to accelerate the economic growth of each country. He expressed his deep thanks to all eminent speakers and participants for their time and efforts in making the Webinar successfully ended with fruitful results. He hoped the lessons learnt from the webinar would be useful for the participants to apply in their field of work.