As Jobs and Skills Australia examines how GenAI is changing the world of work and thus the way the VET systems supports learners for the future labour market, Deakin University’s CRADLE (Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning) has recently developed a resource to prompt discussions and thinking within education institutions about how GenAI can and should be used in work-integrated learning (WIL) contexts.
Although the guide has been developed to support higher education institutions, with the lack of a similar resource currently available in the VET sector this guide will be very useful for the many RTOs and VET practitioners offering courses which involve WIL.
It starts with a set of questions for students to think about, such as:
- “How do you feel about using GenAI for university of personal use?
- What are your thoughts on the potential biases or misuses of GenAI tools?
- What do you know about your chosen professional field (e.g., health, finance, engineering) and its use of GenAI?
- How could you use GenAI to help write a list of questions for your host supervisor or mentor to support your induction?
- GenAI is moving rapidly – how can you stay updated on the latest developments before you start your WIL experience?
- What new skills related to GenAI are you developing during this WIL experience?”
It then goes on to identify ‘red flags’ for students to watch out for ‘before, during and after’ their WIL experience.
The guide states that they should “be aware of situations that may potentially breach ethical, security, or privacy practices. These include:
- Entering client, patient, organisational or human data into an unsecured or public GenAI tool.
- Claiming GenAI work as your own or hiding, omitting, or obscuring that you have used GenAI to produce work.
- Sharing anything from your use of GenAI tools outside your host organisation without permission; as with all internal information you encounter or create, your host organisation owns it.
- Validity or accuracy of information it generates.”
The Guide also includes specific advice and questions for educators and WIL practitioners which explains what GenAI is, and offers advice and structured questions related to:
- setting up the WIL experience (i.e. guidelines and agreements; ethics, privacy and data security; and future considerations)
- assessment and feedback design (i.e. designing assessment materials; feedback processes; ethical considerations; stakeholder involvement; training and support; and continuous improvement)
- preparing students for WIL (i.e. awareness and understanding, ethical conduct and risk management, support systems)
- working with students during WIL (i.e. workplace orientation, working with dissonance, ethical and practical considerations, reflective practice)
- debriefing students after WIL (i.e. reflective practice, career development and applications, debriefing and feedback, and continuous learning).
And finally, there is also a suite of questions for institutions to share with industry and community partners hosting students during their WIL placement.
Even if not all of these aspects of GenAI in the WIL process are relevant to your RTO – the CRADLE resource will (a) prompt important conversations within your training organisation and (b) offers suggestions about where to go if you need more assistance and guidance.
