John Anderson

Submission for the Digital Revolution Awards Category: Excellence in Learning and Development Award Introduction The Excellence in Learning and Development Award acknowledges an organisation that has demonstrated its commitment to cultivating cloud skills, and that has achieved results that help further the development of the industry. The winning organisation will be able to showcase how its approach to learning and development is yielding results and contributing to the collective upskilling of the cloud workforce. 2 Background and Problem to be Solved When it comes to the technology skills gap, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the disparities between organisational IT demands and workforce capabilities. As more industries adopt cloud services to accommodate their increased digital capabilities, many are finding that there are simply not enough seasoned individuals with the highly technical skill set required to meet the demand. Nearly 80% of IT decision-makers say their teams lack the skills they need, according to a Global Knowledge survey of 9,500 IT professionals by ‘451 Research’. The challenge is particularly acute when it comes to cloud computing, with 90% of organisations reporting shortages of cloudrelated skills in the survey. In Australia, the Australian Computer Society’s annual Digital Pulse report has been highlighting this shortage since 2015. Back then, Australia needed 100,000 more ICT workers. By 2018 that figure had jumped to 200,000 and the 2021 report called for an extra 60,000 ICT workers every year for the next five years. 3 On the face of it, it’s easy to see why there is now such demand for IT professionals as new technologies and business practices continue to change the market landscape. Increased digitalisation, a move to cloud infrastructure, the continued importance placed on cybersecurity and the high value of data analysis and artificial intelligence all mean that these specific skill sets are currently in vogue. Finding people to fill these roles can be difficult. Amazon, the largest cloud services company in the world is well across the problem. And for this reason alone, a unique collaboration was formed. The Solution – A Unique Collaboration Didasko in collaboration with Amazon Web Services and La Trobe University launched the world’s first 100% online degree – the Bachelor of Applied Cloud Technology. The online flexibility of this degree allows students to continue their workplace development whilst filling skills gaps in their cloud knowledge. This Case History Document was produced at the request of Amazon to enable AWS to spread the word on this outstanding La Trobe Cloud Technology degree. World first collaboration with AWS 4 2018 2019 2020 2021 Platform and Award-Winning Content The Didasko Learning Portal and Multimedia content have been recognised for four successive years –2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 – at the Educational Publishing Awards Australia (Tertiary – Digital). This year the judges said: “Demonstrating excellence, innovation and originality, this subject makes thoughtful use of twenty-first century learning pedagogy and technologies all in a professional, sleek design. Content and interactivity have been carefully curated to support and enable asynchronous learning. Responsive, embedded activities such as ‘Run the code’ will enable students to learn and demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes” Learn more about our platform and award-winning content in this video: The Digital Learning Experience. “Content and interactivity have been carefully curated to support and enable asynchronous learning” – Judge’s comments 5 Student Hub Our Student Hub provides students with a personalised space where they can track, manage and plan their entire student experience. Enabled by live, instantaneous data, students take charge of their own study and with a single click can instantly: + Track their progress, check grades and find out which subjects are coming up next on the Student Hub Homepage + Get study-ready and build skills that predict success with the self-paced and interactive Orientation: featuring the Study Skills Toolkit + Access live support via community channels that suit their lifestyle in the Student Enquiry + Browse electives, and plan the course of their study via the Course Map + Find work/study/life balance with articles packed with vitality and focus-boosting tips and healthy lifestyle guides in Health and Wellbeing + Open their eyes to their future potential with self-paced modules and live personalised coaching in the Career Centre. This fully integrated and easy-to-navigate hub interacts with all other Didasko systems, rolling out instant updates and notifying staff regarding live or scheduled demands. A unique blend of self-paced and interactive modules, self-service administration and live support provides Didasko students with ultimate satisfaction and control. Watch the video for a guided tour of the Student Hub: The Didasko Student Hub. 6 Online Learning Pedagogy This Didasko – Committed to Better Ways of Learning document provides a deep insight into our philosophy and vision in the provision of online education. We are passionate about ensuring an employment outcome for our students, through the provision of affordable, accessible learning. The document provides an understanding of our learning portal (pages 18-22), course design (pages 23-27) and pedagogy (pages 28-42). We are confident that this will give you true insight into the deep thinking behind the solutions that our students rave about. Importantly, the highly qualified academic team are there for our students every step of the way. Our academic team is involved in the creation of the subjects and are available from 7:30 am until 10:00 pm (Monday to Thursday), and 7:30 am until 6:00 pm (Friday). These same lecturers provide the live online lectures and subject introductions. Our student support team helps create the students’ personal study plan even before they begin their course. They are there to help students with enrolment questions and support them throughout their studies. A small insight into the proactive and responsive academic support that we provide can be seen in this video: Academic Support at Didasko. 7 The Didasko LMS Platform and Subject Samples This login provides access to a sample LMS, and housed under the section ‘My Course’ are two samples of the multimedia subjects that our students enjoy. It’s very important that you have pop-ups enabled. https://wl.didaskogroup.com/demo Username: digitalrevolutionawards Password: Password#1 What do our Cloud Students Think? What have you enjoyed about the cloud course? “This La Trobe-Didasko course has enabled a full-time worker like me to study for a career change. Having two subjects per study period four times a year is much more doable than having four subjects twice a year like in most other universities. All resources and exams are fully online, and I could literally complete the entire degree from my couch. Also, my interactions with the academic staff and the Student Experience Team have been super positive and I am grateful.” How well has the course equipped you for your career goals? “The subjects in this course help me to learn complex concepts in a structured way, and the practical assessment tasks teach me to search for solutions rather than spoon-feed me. When I describe my assessments to my ICT friends, I am told the assessments are relevant and spot on. I have no doubt that the course will prepare me well to achieve my career goals.” – Joe (Bachelor of Applied Cloud Technology) 8 Success of the Program This course continues to gain interest and growth, filling a vital skills gap need in cloud computing. 395 enrolments to date. With further exposure and added marketing support from AWS, student enrolments will continue to surge. In 2022, we will launch further variations of this cloud degree with an additional higher education partner, plus integrate shorter course options. 9 Further Information Requests or Questions Should further information be required, please do not hesitate to contact Adam Cossar – Chief Operating Officer- 10