Above: NESC’s Kofi Toney receiving the award.
NESC Technical Institute won an award in recognition of exemplary technical vocational education and training (TVET) in blended training delivery at the recently concluded 6th International Conference on TVET in the Caribbean, hosted by the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.
Head of Curriculum Services at NESC, Kofi Toney, presented the winning case history in the medium blended learning category with a paper titled, “Constructing a Blended Delivery Model for TVET: Implementing Online Learning in the Diploma Electrician Programme” at the conference, which was held from May 16th to 19th 2023 in Kingston.
The paper, which was co-authored by Toney, Ria Seecharan – Research Assistant and Richard Mohammed – Subject Matter Expert for the Electrician diploma programme, presented NESC’s real-life case of pivoting from in-person classes to blended delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The blended delivery model introduced by NESC combines digital technology with the institute’s physical resources to create an engaging and effective learning experience that goes beyond traditional classroom instruction and fosters active learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among students with diverse learning styles.
Encouraged by the success of the model, which included consistent feedback from students and faculty so that the curriculum team could address challenges speedily, NESC will begin implementation across all ten diploma programmes. “Our goal is to also integrate virtual reality into our instructional design, allowing students to explore concepts in a more detailed and immersive way, while addressing safety concerns and equipment limitations,” explained Toney whose Curriculum Services department is leading the transformation of TVET training at NESC.
Among the prizes awarded to NESC at conference are freemium access to Educator 3.0 training for faculty as well as faculty and student licences for EON-XR, an augmented and virtual reality app with features for conducting remote learning and training in a hands-on, immersive environment. Additionally, the case history paper will be published in a selected Caribbean journal.
