Keynotes and Speakers for ITx 2018
ICT Manager, Gallaway Cook Allan
Jamie Vaughan is the ICT Manager of Gallaway Cook Allan, a historical firm providing legal services from their offices in Dunedin and Wanaka.
As a 13-year veteran of the IT industry, Jamie is currently tasked with looking after the information and technological requirements of the firms’ 70+ users.
Jamie is a member of the NZ Institute of IT Professionals and currently working towards completion of his Master of Professional Practice degree through Signal ICT Grad School.
As part of his ongoing studies, Jamie offers a unique perspective on the role of work-based learning and the benefits it provides not only to the learner but to the employer as well.
In this paper, we describe the processes, actions, thoughts, and mindset of an Xtend/Master of Professional Practice candidate, via a first-hand account of his returning to tertiary education via a Work-Based Learning (WBL) programme.
We look at the changes the candidate has made to his overall work practice, in terms of development as both professional and student within the ICT industry, what problems or difficulties have arisen and how these have been mitigated as part of the ongoing process.
The WBL approach as described in this paper is still in its relative infancy, compared to traditional methods of learning such as the standard full-time degree or diploma, it is our hope that this account of how this process has worked and the benefits gained from it will encourage a discussion about the role of professional practice research and education in IT.
In this paper, we describe the methodology of existing tools for the self-assessment of professional skill sets, from the perspective of a work-based learning student in the IT industry.
We consider how the industry is widely non-regulated, with an ever-increasing multitude of potential certification and career progression options but very few resources to guide the learner through these options and choose the most effective development pathway for their needs and circumstances. Outside content-controlled instruction programmes, the available methods for independent skill set auditing or introspective self-assessment can be limited.
We have attempted to address this via the use of the SFIA and the FlipCurric Learning Capabilities frameworks. These have then been adapted to the requirements of the ICT and Legal industries, as well as the individual being assessed by manually applying the principles laid out in each Framework and the environment of the learner.