MEDIA RELEASE
Date:
__ April 2012
Subject:
Apprentices try ‘smart’ new iPhone App
The ability to track training progress, save time and improve accessibility are some of the benefits
electrical apprentices in the Northern Territory’s Darwin region will experience with the launch of a
new E-Profiling Smart Phone App for the iPhone.
“With 70% of electrical apprentices in this region using smart phones, this app has been developed
to improve accessibility and accuracy of information between apprentices, employers and
Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), allowing them to record details of their on the job training
directly into their online log books using their phone,” says Project Manager Purdey Eades.
As a licensed trade, the requirement for ensuring on the job competence is an integral part of the
Training Package for Electrical Apprentices, enforced by industry and regulators.
“In the past, apprentices have had to rely on handwritten entries that could easily be lost or input
data when they were able to access a computer in their workplace.
“This often resulted in a delay of six to eight weeks that caused issues with the ability to track their
own progress.
“This app is a transferable tool that will improve log book update frequency while recording data,
allowing for the RTO and employer to more accurately monitor the apprentice’s progress, which
could lead to a faster apprenticeship completion time,” she says.
The initial trial of the E-Profiling Smart Phone App for the iPhone commences this month, with a
future app for Android smart phones to follow. Upon successful completion of the trial, additional
apps will be developed for other trade areas, including Instrumentation, Refrigeration and Rail
Operations.
“So far over 180 apprentices in the Darwin region have been informed of the app via SMS and
email,” says Business Manager Janice Calcei
“This app has the capacity to be adopted across all trades and will be available nationally for use by
the 22,000 existing apprentices who currently use eProfiling technology across the country,” she
says.
Having won funding from the National VET E-learning Strategy, whose Access to Skills Programs
use e-learning to improve learner access to training, skills upgrading and improved employment
outcomes, the E-Profiling Smart Phone App is being led by the Major Industries Training Advisory
Council (MITAC), in partnership with Charles Darwin University, eProfiling and Kintek.
The National VET E-learning Strategy is the responsibility of the Flexible Learning Advisory Group
(FLAG), a key policy advisory group on national directions and priorities for information and
communication technologies in the VET sector.
“By sponsoring e-learning programs, we are expanding participation and access for learners, stimulating
innovative approaches to training and employment, and improving the skill levels of the Australian
workforce,” says FLAG Chair Raymond Garrand, Chief Executive of the South Australian Department of
Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology.
ENDS
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MEDIA RELEASE
Specific
enquiries:
General
enquiries:
Janice Calcei
Access to Skills Program Manager (WA)
WestOne
Tel: 08 9229 5200
Email: janice.calcei@dtwd.wa.gov.au
For general enquiries about the National VET E-learning Strategy, please
contact:
Secretariat of the Flexible Learning Advisory Group
Telephone: 03 9954 2700
Email: flag_enquiries@natese.gov.au Website: flexiblelearning.net.au
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