In the first foray into the nitty gritty of the VDC VET National Teaching & Learning Conference, we are featuring presentations by Dr Ben Hamer and Vicki Abraham.
Speaker 1
Ben is a Futurist and an Adjunct Professor at Edith Cowan University. In his keynote presentation (“Everything, everywhere, all at once”) he focused on the faster and faster pace of change, and how – as a result – we can get stuck in negative thought loops (How can things go wrong?). However, he thinks it’s better to think about how things could go right.
He talked about all the concerns out there about ChatGPT. But then he focused on the good things, for example its facility for simultaneous translation from one language to another and back again to facilitate communication across the language divide.
Other technological advances he highlighted are robot service people that will perhaps become a feature of supporting old people in nursing homes and brain computer interfaces that will greatly help those which disabilities to lead more active and ‘normal’ lives. 3D printing is making great strides, he points out, including in housing construction and in cookery. Using augmented reality in hair salon mirrors will enable people to envisage a new hairstyle before the hairdresser starts cutting. (No more dissatisfaction with the finished product?).
Thus, he urges us to fight against chronic short termism and be prepared to promote innovation and try new ideas. He urged us to learn, to unlearn and to relearn.
Finally, he pointed out how all of this was leading us to have a greater focus on soft skills, including in our teaching and learning. Skills like time management and working in teams are now very important, he suggests.
Speaker 2
Vicki is an Occupational Therapist and is inspired every day by the patients she works with. In her presentation she talked about finding balance in our work and life so that we can truly love what we do.
There are 5 things she thought were important:
Showing passion, and this shines through when you have balance
Having flexibility in work/life balance and its potential to increase productivity
Being open to change to expose yourself to new experiences and ideas
Thinking about and working on how to make your role into something you find sexy, and finally
