Social care and nursery students are eager to learn new digital technologies but unprepared using these from the point of view of employers, study finds.
“There is a mismatch between the eagerness of students, teachers’ skills, equipment at vocational colleges and workplace expectations,” said Virpi Kaasinen from Kainuu Vocational College, Finland. “Vocational colleges teaching nursing and care have a field of work to do in preparing future staff who is has both basic skills and attitudes to start using new gadgets and solutions.”
Study of wellness technology teaching and usage was conducted by DigiCareVET project consortium in February. Total 364 respondents answered online survey.
From the perspective of vocational colleges there is a need of both training of teachers and better solutions of how the equipment is maintained. “Just buying new things is not enough. There must be a system of mentoring, charging, maintenance,” said Kaasinen, herself responsible for teaching care students.
Survey gives detailed overview of the current situation of wellness technology in five partner colleges, students opinions, teachers skill gaps and staff and employer expectations from the care institutions.
Erasmus+ project DigiCareVET aims to bridge tech to care and cultivate digital mindset in care education.
The survey results will be used as a foundation for the next phases of the project: guiding the development of teacher training materials, practical learning scenarios, and recommendations for vocational colleges.
Download the whole survey: https://digicarevet.ametikool.ee/study-report-care-students-eager-but-unprepared-when-it-comes-to-digital-technology/
Author(s) full name(s): Taavi Tuisk
Role(s) in the organisation: project manager
Name of the organisation: Kuressaare Ametikool