A sustainable model for using mobile devices to assist with analysing learners’ literacy and numeracy skills will be developed in a pilot program being conducted by Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE (GippsTAFE).

Funded by the National VET E-learning Strategy, the project will develop, trial and evaluate an e-learning mobile solution to test literacy and numeracy capabilities of disadvantaged young people in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.

When poor literacy and numeracy skills are combined with youth experiencing intellectual disabilities or mental health issues, or where they come from dysfunctional families, the chance of them remaining in formal education is greatly diminished.

“Failure to properly diagnose and consequently assist learners with very low literacy and numeracy capabilities is a significant contributor to youth becoming disenfranchised with their education,” says project manager Malcolm Jolly, Team Leader of the Innovation Department at GippsTAFE.

“Anecdotal evidence from practitioners working in the literacy and numeracy areas in Gippsland suggests that students are more inclined to engage and participate in training at various levels when technology is an integral part of the delivery strategy.”

“By emphasising the use of mobile technologies, the outcomes of the testing will direct the development of innovative teaching strategies to build the literacy and numeracy skills of this youth cohort,” says Jolly.

The project team is collaborating with individual employers, local government, schools and volunteer organisations, to build engagement in vocational education and training programs, with longer term goals of increasing learners’ paid employment opportunities or allowing them to transition into voluntary work with local councils or community groups.

“This means the project will also foster greater opportunities to share knowledge through and community partnerships,” says Jolly.

The Partnerships for Participation program of the National VET E-learning Strategy targets funding to develop e-learning approaches to improve the e-literacy, foundation skills and pre-vocational skills of individuals experiencing disadvantage.

The National VET E-learning Strategy is the responsibility of the Flexible Learning Advisory Group (FLAG), a key policy advisory group on national directions and priorities for information and communication technologies in the VET sector

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