CVA's PICKS OF THE MONTH

Competency-Based Education: A Framework for Measuring Quality Courses
The growth of competency-based education in an online environment requires the development and measurement of quality competency-based courses. While quality measures for online courses have been developed and standardized, they do not directly align with emerging best practices and principles in the design of quality competency-based online courses. The purpose of this paper is to provide background and research for a proposed rubric to measure quality in competency-based online courses.
Tags : Competence - based education; eLearning; Evaluation - tool; Paper; Source: University of West Georgia;

Australia. Where Are the Returns to Lifelong Learning?
We investigate the labour market determinants and outcomes of adult participation in formal education (lifelong learning) in Australia, a country with high levels of adult education. Employing longitudinal data and fixed effects methods allows identification of effects on outcomes free of ability bias. Different trends in outcomes across groups are also allowed for. The impacts of adult education differ by gender and level of study, with small or zero labour market returns in many cases. Wage rates only increase for males undertaking university studies. For men, vocational education and training (VET) lead to higher job satisfaction and fewer weekly hours. For women, VET is linked to higher levels of satisfaction with employment opportunities and higher employment probabilities.
Tags : Analysis; Australia; Lifelong learning; Paper; Source: IZA - Institute for the Study of Labor; VET - vocational education and training;

Africa. Who is going to pay for higher education in Africa?
Under the spotlight has been the question of how to make education accessible to millions of young students, in a continent with the fastest growing youth population in the world. At the same time, Africa’s universities and research institutes are mandated to produce independent, socially relevant research within a global higher education sector increasingly shaped by privatisation, competition, the commercialisation of research and academic job insecurity. The question of how to ensure student access to education and invest in research, against a backdrop of economic stagnation, rising living costs, and the threat of global recession, is a vexed one.
Tags : Africa; Article; Financing; Higher education; Source: SciDev;

Women on the move: migration, gender equality and the SDGs
This brief presents an overview and analysis of the opportunities, risks and vulnerabilities for women migrants and refugees. It describes the realities of women migrating around the world, specifically the experiences of both high-skilled and low-skilled migrant workers employed in a range of ‘care’ professions, from domestic workers to nurses and doctors.
Tags : Briefing paper; Gender - equity; Migration; Source: ODI - Overseas Development Institute;

Are MOOCs Key To Ensuring Your Skills Remain Valuable?
Most courses are taken by those already beholden of a degree, and there is a strong sense that HR departments are failing to capitalize on the courses available to ensure that employees are constantly learning and developing their skills.
Tags : Article; Education - trend; MOOC - Massively Open Online Course; Source: Forbes; Trend - education;

Vocational knowledge in motion: rethinking vocational knowledge through vocational teachers' professional development
The paper presents empirical data to consider some of the current debates concerning the nature of vocational knowledge taught in further education colleges to students following craft, vocational and occupational courses. The concept of 'knowledge in motion' and workplace learning theories are employed as a conceptual framework to examine the continuing professional development (CPD) activities of vocational teachers. This is used to shed light on the ways in which teachers use CPD as a means of accessing and transporting vocational knowledge from occupations to classrooms. Findings suggests that vocational knowledge is distributed and networked and this conceptualisation makes visible some of the ways teachers are able, through CPD activity, to transport vocational knowledge from occupations to classrooms.
Tags : Colleges and Universities; Continuing education; Development - workforce; Paper; Source: VOCEDplus; Teachers - vocational; VET - pedagogy; VET - vocational education and training; Vocational teachers; Workforce - development;

Does the work-study combination among youth improve the transition path? An updated review Tags : Analysis; School-to-work transition; Source: ILO - International Labour Organization; Technical brief;

China. Jobs and skills for youth: review of policies for youth employment of China
Young Chinese face significant obstacles in their transition to the labour market, including high levels of underemployment, informality and graduate unemployment. The Chinese Government is strongly committed to addressing these issues. It recognizes that actively developing its human resources, bringing into play the full potential and value of each individual, and promoting people’s all round development is essential to China’s modernization and transformation from a human-resource-rich country to one with powerful human resources. This report has been developed to support those aims.
Tags : China; Document; Employment - youth; Review; Source: ILO - International Labour Organization; Youth - employment;

Iraq. Making an Impact in the Kurdistan Region
The study aims to help the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) expand access to high-quality technical and vocational education and training; improve access to and quality of health care through financing policy development, implementation of primary care recommendations, and quality and patient safety assessment and recommendations; assess the present and projected supply of labor and labor demand in the Kurdistan Region — Iraq (KRI) to improve labor market responsiveness to private sector needs; and build capacity at the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office to prepare, conduct, and analyze the first round of the Kurdistan Region Labor Force Survey.
Tags : Iraq/Kurdistan Region; Labour market; Source: Rand Corporation; Study; VET - vocational education and training;

Europe. The role of modularisation and unitisation in vocational education and training
This study investigates the role of modules and units in vocational education and training (VET) in 15 EU countries and aims to determine how these structures fit in the wider VET systems.It provides a comparative analysis of different modularisation and unitisation practices and the rationale behind their implementation, and an outline of the different national contexts in which modular and unitised structures developed over time.
Tags : Analysis - comparative; Comparative analysis; Europe; Source: Cedefop - European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training; Study; VET - vocational education and training;

OECD Employment Outlook 2016
This 2016 edition of the OECD Employment Outlook provides an in-depth review of recent labour market trends and short-term prospects in OECD countries. The size of this group has grown in recent years in many OECD countries and governments will need to take vigorous policy measures if they are to meet the target, recently adopted by G20 governments, of reducing the share of youth who are vulnerable by 15% by 2025. Chapter 2 considers skills use at work: are countries doing enough to assure that workers are able to make full use of their skills on the job? Chapter 3 looks at the short-term effects of structural reforms on employment and identifies successful strategies for reducing transition costs. Chapter 4 looks at how to close the labour market gender gap in emerging economies, proposing a comprehensive policy response to the problem.
Tags : Annual report 2016; Employment trend; OECD countries; Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development;

G20 countries. Enhancing Workforce Employability in G20 countries
The report sets out the challenges confronting G20 economies and proposes a set of concrete actionable policy principles that are needed to improve the employability of each economy’s workforce by making skills more transferable and workplaces more adaptable.
Tags : Employability; G20 countries; Report; Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development;

UNESCO. Recommendation Concerning Technical And Vocational Education And Training, March 2016
For the purpose of this Recommendation, ‘technical and vocational education and training’ (hereinafter “TVET”) is understood as comprising education, training and skills development relating to a wide range of occupational fields, production, services and livelihoods. TVET, as part of lifelong learning, can take place at secondary, post-secondary and tertiary levels and includes work-based learning and continuing training and professional development which may lead to qualifications. TVET also includes a wide range of skills development opportunities attuned to national and local contexts. Learning to learn, the development of literacy and numeracy skills, transversal skills and citizenship skills are integral components of TVET. The application of the provisions of this Recommendation will depend upon the specific conditions, governing structures, and constitutional provisions existing in a given country.
En français. UNESCO. Recommandation concernant l'enseignement et la formation techniques et professionnels (EFTP)
Tags : Document; Source: UNESCO; UNESCO; VET - vocational education and training;

Evaluation of UNESCO’s Regional Conventions on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education
The evaluation focuses on the importance and role of the higher education recognition conventions in the various regional contexts; the relevance of and contribution of the conventions to UNESCO’s broader higher education programme; the effectiveness of the governing and management mechanisms of the regional conventions; and the effectiveness of UNESCO’s support for the development, ratification, and implementation of the regional conventions. It also identifies key lessons to be learned from the development, ratification and implementation of the regional conventions so far, as well as from the implementation of other standard-setting instruments in UNESCO. The report contains eight key recommendations and several proposed action points to strengthen and take the work forward in the future.
En français. Évaluation des conventions régionales de l’UNESCO sur la reconnaissance des qualifications dans l’enseignement supérieur
Tags : Diplomas - equivalence; Document; Equivalence - diplomas; Evaluation; Higher education; Source: UNESCO; UNESCO;

Millennial Careers: 2020 Vision
This report presents new findings with fresh insights from the perspective of both employers and employees. This report provides a practical guide with clear recommendations for employers on how to attract, retain, develop and motivate the best Millennials for the 21st century workforce.
Tags : Analysis - trends; Employment trend 2020; Report; Source: Manpower; Trend - analysis; Trend - employment 2020; Youth - employment; Youth - millenials;

The Human Capital Report 2016
The report seeks to serve as a tool for capturing the complexity of education, employment and workforce dynamics so that various stakeholders are able to make better-informed decisions. Last year’s edition explored the factors contributing to the development of an educated, productive and healthy workforce. This year’s edition deepens the analysis by focusing on a number of key issues that can support better design of education policy and future workforce planning.
Tags : Annual report 2016; Human capital; Source: World Economic Forum;

Canada. Reference Guide for Career Development Counsellors Working with Inuit Clients
This reference guide aims to equip counsellors working in Inuit communities or with Inuit clients so that they might better be able to identify cultural particularities in their interventions with this clientele while improving their understanding of the major issues encountered by Inuit seeking employment. For counsellors in the process of adapting their intervention techniques and tools, this guide offers strategies that highlight good practices and pitfalls which should be avoided.
En français. Canada. Guide de référence pour les conseillers en développement de carrière intervenant auprès de la clientèle inuit
Tags : Aboriginals/Inuit; Canada; Career - development; Employability; Guide; Source: RQuODE - Regroupement québécois des organismes pour le développement de l’employabilité;

Canada. Toolkit of Promising Practices: Best Practices in Aligning Skills with the Needs of the Economy
The Toolkit organizes initiatives into four broad themes: - Upgrading the Skills of Canadians - Aligning Secondary Education Programming to Labour Market Demand - Aligning Postsecondary Education Programming to Labour Market Demand - Supporting the Labour Market Attachment of Target Populations
En français. Canada. Le recueil de pratiques prometteuses: adéquation entre les systèmes d’éducation et de formation et les besoins du marché du travail
Tags : Canada; Mismatch training/workforce - skills; Skills - mismatch training/workplace; Source: CMEC - Council of Ministers of Education of Canada; Toolkit;

Ethiopia, Iraq and Uruguay. How-to guide: developing and implementing a vocational training public private development partnership
This guide discusses how to successfully develop and implement vocational training Public Private Development Partnerships (PPDP); it describes the lessons learned and challenges involved based on Knowledge Development Facilities experience of vocational training PPDPs in Iraq, Ethiopia and Uruguay.
Tags : Ethiopia; Guide; Iraq; Public/private sectors - partnership; Source: Learning and Knowledge Development Facility; Uruguay; VET - vocational education and training;

Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Tags : eLearning; Guidelines; Source: Contact North;