09-15

= = Facilitating remote assessment of practical skills using POV and mini video cameras toc

**RTO**
TAFE NSW Riverina Institute Natural Resource Management & Environment [|National Environment Centre], Albury

**Contact**
Gillian McDonald (gillian.mcdonald@tafensw.edu.au)

**Category**
Empowering learners/RTO-Business Partnership

**Business Partner**
Eurobodalla Shire Council, NSW

Executive summary
In 2008, the National Environment Centre (NEC) ran a successful E-learning Innovations project with Eurobodalla Shire Council (ESC) to deliver aspects of the Certificate IV in Civil Construction using e-learning techniques. This project demonstrated to ESC that e-learning could be integrated into many aspects of their training requirements where traditional face-to-face deliver methods are not available or practical.

Staff at the (NEC) have extensive experience in using e-learning to train and assess students at AQF levels 4 and 5, but they have always found it difficult to assess people in remote locations at AQF levels 2 and 3 due to the heavy reliance on skill demonstration as an assessment method. Our aim for this project was to develop and evaluate a range of e-learning methods employing point of view (POV) technologies and mini video cameras that can facilitate remote assessment of practical skills in the waste management industry.

To date, it has become apparent that learners in this group prefer to use the video cameras rather than the POV glasses. The video cameras were fun and easy to operate and provide instant replay options permitting reshooting of the sequence if required. A big plus is that there is no need to access a computer to see the product. From a practical perspective, the video cameras were small and compact, making them easy to carry in a pocket in the field when not in use. The memory cards could also be easily removed and replaced, permitting the assessor to take the assessment material without disrupting the learning/assessment process for the students.

The POV glasses on the other hand were more difficult to master, have no instant replay features and require a computer to view the resulting material. An added problem is that rapid head movements make the video results difficult to watch, which is not ideal for assessors. The glasses were comparatively expensive and required extra care when being used in the field. In addition, they had to be retrieved from the students at regular intervals to download the video content.

The students went through a series of stages as they mastered the technology. Initially, the challenge was to get them familiar with and comfortable with using the cameras and POV glasses. Once this was achieved, the challenge was to remember which aspects of the job in hand were required to be captured on video. The best way to do this was to give students a card or list of tasks which listed the items they were required to record for each unit of competency. This worked well and encouraged the students to go about the process in a methodical way.