MCAST launches video conferencing link with Gozo Xaghra centre

MCAST has set up a video conferencing link between the Main Campus in Paola and the Xaghra branch of its Gozo Centre. Through this investment, MCAST has provided a means for interactive learning for Gozitan candidates and students together with their Maltese colleagues. This link has also drastically reduced the need for lecturing staff and students to travel between Malta and Gozo.

This is yet another of its innovative development that MCAST's Professional Development Centre (PDC) through its Vocational Teacher Training Unit (VTTU) has embarked on to enhance the learning environment and expand its learning communities.

MCAST has so far concentrated the use of this technology on the direct delivery of pedagogical knowledge and expertise for the Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) Certificate in Further Education Teaching.

In the near future, after conducting a cost-benefit analysis, other MCAST institutions may also start using it. Increased use of the technology to provide distance interactive learning will obviously make the investment even more cost-effective and sustainable than it is today.

MCAST Gozitan assistant lecturers are using this modern technology to follow the taught part of the BTEC certificate in Further Education Teaching, Level 5.

In all, 78 candidates are benefiting from the programme and from this new technology; 23 of these are part-time instructors in full-time employment with the Education Division.

Another MCAST milestone

All assistant lecturers at MCAST are required to further their studies in pedagogy for progression to the lecturing scale according to the current collective agreement with the Malta Union of Teachers. This led the PDC, together with Frank Edwards, MCAST Principal/CEO, to look intensively into ways of disseminating the BTEC Certificate in Further Education Teaching through distance learning for the benefit of our Gozitan colleagues.

MCAST is investing heavily in the PDC staff. It has set up their offices as well as a Learning Centre. It sponsors candidates' registration fees and lecturing costs. It is also committed to deliver part of the lecturing/tutoring hours of this certification during normal college hours. The candidates reading for the certification have to commit themselves to attending the remainder of the course in their own time.

Since lectures are delivered on Mondays between 3 and 7 p.m. it would, undoubtedly, have been a hardship for our Gozitan colleagues to follow the course if the video conferencing link had not been installed. Not only would they and MCAST have been burdened with time-consuming travelling arrangements and costs, but also the students at the Gozo Centre would have less exposure to their time and expertise.

MCAST's recently published 2007-2009 Strategic Plan emphasises the training and continuous professional development of staff for the benefit of the student population. When considering the projections of the plan, one clearly understands that the MCAST administration has taken certain decisions.

Video conferencing undoubtedly enhances learning quality as it assists and improves the full use of our infrastructure and human resources while reducing the pressure on our educational staff.

Equipping for tomorrow's needs

In the recent years there has been an enormous emphasis on seeking to construct and monitor teacher and pupil standards. Video conferencing is one way of enhancing the learning experience while reducing costs. This automatically implies that funds can be freed and used to purchase other learning resources or to develop other programmes and initiatives.

Findings indicate that students at the remote site have to develop learning strategies and skills for dealing with the videoconference lecturing. For this reason, it was decided to provide tutoring assistance especially in the initial stages. A member of the VTTU team is thus travelling to Gozo to provide mentoring on a regular basis to assist these candidates in person.

By using this modern technology MCAST lecturing staff will become more culturally attuned to other modern technologies available and be better able to deal with similar situations in the future. As they say, "It's easy when you know how", and the resources are now available!

The video conferencing link has become a reality thanks to the dedication and eagerness of MCAST personnel in both Malta and Gozo. The link's use will provide opportunities for professional collaboration and sharing between and among staff and students without the limits of time and space, which are traditional constraints in the practice of conventional teaching.

It is not an easy task to achieve the standards and future projections that MCAST is working on today. However its dynamic momentum is providing it with the impetus to be pro-active in finding alternative avenues to meet our islands' socio-economic demands.

On behalf of all the candidates, present and future, undertaking the BTEC certification in Further Education Teaching, the PDC-VTTU appreciates the contribution of all those who have worked hard in making this project a reality.

This article was submitted by the Vocational Teacher Training Unit team