The Role of Technology in Engaging Disengaged Youth: Final Report

The VET sector encompasses a highly diverse range of learning sites and settings that extend from formal classrooms to workplaces. It also attracts a highly diverse range of learners. This is particularly true now that the Australian Government has instigated its ‘learn or earn’ policy in relation to the Youth Allowance. Many of the at-risk young people who have opted out of traditional schooling are now expected to access VET courses through TAFE and other service providers. This creates a heightened need for the VET system to find ways of engaging disengaged young learners. What do we mean by disengagement? Disengaged learners may feel alienated or isolated within the learning environment. This may show itself in passivity or lowered effort, lowered achievement, disruptive behaviour, withdrawal, poor attendance or, ultimately, early leaving. Research shows that new technologies play an integral role in young people’s lives. Their capacity for interactivity combined with the vast range of information available through them are constantly changing the way young people access information, learn and interact. Emerging evidence from this and other recent research also suggests that the use of ICT may have a significant impact on the education and training outcomes of disengaged young learners. Affordable, high speed broadband connections are the building blocks for a new world of teaching and learning. Levels of connectivity and bandwidth are currently inconsistent across the country, but the roll-out of the Australian Government’s $43 billion National Broadband Network has the capacity to greatly enhance access to resources and online training, particularly for regional and remote VET providers. As such, it represents an unprecedented opportunity for the VET sector to build a learner-centred, technologically rich pedagogical framework that improves the retention and learning outcomes of young people who are at risk of disengagement. Despite this powerful potential, research suggests that the sector’s current application of technology for learning purposes is extremely variable. This inconsistency, its causes and its possible solutions, are discussed in detail in this paper.