Abstract

This chapter aim at presenting stakeholders’ perceptions of the integration of workplace learning and higher technical education using technology and how it affects their working environment and in turn their work and study life altogether. The chapter provides stakeholders’ understanding of the key concepts; their understand of the impact of technology in working and learning environment, the integration of the two learning modes, the factors affecting this integration, the role of policies and how they affect the success of this integration. This empirical research focuses on the higher technical education–an area which is under researched when it comes to the topics related to vocational education and training in connection with the workplace environment. Furthermore, the study has also looked at the developing countries environment, where adult learning education perspective is still limited in the very early definitions and understanding, thus; the support to adults who could not succeed in the main stream educational system of that particular country, and the focus has been to help them from reading and writing illiteracy, however, many advancement has been done in this area, especially in developed countries, where, adult learning is no longer bounded in those constrains. Technological advancement, the need for further education and contemporary theories of adult education and learning, in connection with the workplace learning, requires variety of changing in education systems, policies and curriculum development processes so as to make the educational sector as inclusive as possible. With reference to these reasons, authors of this chapter discussed on the matters in depth with the empirical references from the main stakeholders in this area. It is with good hope that, the shared experience and the perspectives discussed will bring constructive insights to readers and other researchers who have interests in these topics. The complexity and yet uniqueness of these topics, especially when are being subjected into one umbrella of discussion and researched, make them worth reading. The empirical data used from this study were collected via a semi-structured interview protocol, this was due to the exploratory nature of investigation, that’s the study lies under a qualitative paradigm. Interviews were conducted with the main stakeholders of the study, who were (N = 4) students, (N = 4) employers from various business sectors, (N = 4) educators from higher educational institutions and (N = 3) policy makers from the policy development bodies. Applying the bottom-up content analysis method, the transcribed interviews were analyzed to identify themes. Atlas.ti, a qualitative content analysis software was used to aid the authors discover and organize themes and their categories to answer the research questions based on perceptions, challenges, and experiences of the stakeholders. Various categories and codes were discovered and used in discussing the results for an easy understanding of the subject matter.

The findings from this research have also provided a good ground for further discussion and research in the subject matter, so as to bring and contribute valuable literature in the area of higher technical education, workplace learning and work life in general in connection with technological interventions. It is from this piloted study that researchers where able to run main, wide study in the subject matter to raise a doctoral thesis manuscript. With this short discussion and introduction of the core coverage of the topic, it is the hope of the authors that they have brought a valuable discussion and contribution that is worthy reading and included in this book. Authors, believe that this topic will open eyes and bring more in-depth research in this subject matter. We encourage and welcome further collaboration as well as comments, suggestions and questions concerning this study.

Keywords

Educational Technology, Workplace Learning, Higher Technical Education, Professional Development

Introduction

While technical skills play a significant role in both developing and developed countries in increasing job opportunities as well as promoting self-employment (Jepsen et al., 2014; U.S. Department of Labor, 2014), institutions offering technical and engineering education have also contributed to promoting career development by increasing the number of courses offered in their faculties and departments (Horvitz, 2017; Horvitz et al., 2019; James et al., 2013). The increased number of enrollment and courses offered in various higher technical and engineering universities and institutes in Tanzania (TCU, 2018; United Republic of Tanzania, 2017) shows that the government and its institutions, the private sector and young professions have realized the importance of possessing technical skills (Kreamer & Zimmermann, 2016).

Furthermore, the increased opportunities to get enrolled in technical universities, institutes and colleges, helped learners to pursue further studies to complete their degrees and upgrade their professions at their workplaces (D’Amico, 2016; Edokpolor & Owenvbiugie, 2017; Robison & Christophersen, 2008). At the same time, technology plays a pivotal role in supporting the teaching and learning process (Allen et al., 2016), which has shown an increased enrolment for students in online courses, including massive open online courses (MOOCs) in the United States. The increased number of MOOC offered by various universities, distance learning approaches and online learning, shows that technology has offered an alternative solution to many career development challenges in various specific knowledge domains (Kreamer & Zimmermann, 2016; Lokken & Womer, 2007; Mickey, 2014; Ouma & Nkuyubwatsi, 2019).

Despite all these increased opportunities in various universities, many countries are still facing several challenges in adoption of technology for teaching and learning, the case is even worse in technical education (Mathes, 2018; Selwyn & Gorard, 2004; Tynjälä & Häkkinen, 2005). Few studies have been conducted to realize the effectiveness of the use of technology in teaching technical/engineering education in developing countries (Ouma & Nkuyubwatsi, 2019). Also, there’s a scarcity of rich content on the integration of workplace learning and technical higher education learning and teaching using technology, although there seems to be a lot of available tools to support their integration (Braunsteiner & Mariano-Lapidus, 2018; Johnson, 2016; Ouma & Nkuyubwatsi, 2019; Snyder et al., 2005; Tynjälä & Häkkinen, 2005).

Taking into account the advantages of workplace learning, then considering again the importance and benefits obtained from the use of educational technologies in current teaching and learning processes, this study has been guided by the question on why technology is applied so marginally in the integration of workplace earning and technical higher education, and also, why there are no available policies and guidelines in supporting such integration, especially in developing countries, e.g., in Tanzania, the focus of this case study. To obtain answers to the questions above, this pilot study set out to examine the current situation and explore learners’, educators’, employers’ and policy makers’ perceptions as well as challenges with a view of creating a solid foundation for further research and also providing sound recommendations on the proper and customized application and integration of technology in workplace learning and technical higher education to support and facilitate teaching and learning.

Review of the Literature

This section gives a brief account of workplace learning and technical higher education matters in the Tanzanian context based on various studies and government documents/reports. Furthermore, it gives the operational definition of those key terms that have been applied in this study.

Context

Tanzania’s education system has several pathways to enable learners from different educational backgrounds to enter the higher technical education system, amongst them, the common ones are low level secondary education and higher-level secondary education, while all of the two programs can lead students to technical education upon meeting the entrance requirements, the former one is a four years secondary education program after a successful completion of primary education, and the latter one is a two years secondary education program after successful completion of former program, which will also lead to higher education system upon passing the national examination. These are the major and commonest paths that many adults, young adults and adolescents go through in order to join higher technical institutions, colleges and universities in Tanzania.

On the other hand, experienced and young professionals who are already employed or self-employed, yet would like to obtain a higher level degree/diploma in their field of expertise and have skipped the direct continuation mentioned in the previous section or obtained their vocational certificates from the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA), have an opportunity to apply and continue with further studies to obtain a higher diploma/degree, i.e., National Technical Awards (NTAs) 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (NUFFIC, 2014; Tanzania Commission for Universities, 2010). NTA 4 is qualified as a Basic Technician Certificate, NTA 5 as a Technician Certificate, NTA 6 as an Ordinary Diploma, NTA 7 as a Higher Diploma, NTA 8 as a Bachelor’s Degree, NTA 9 as a Master’s Degree and NTA 10 as a Doctorate Degree, all these are in Technical and Engineering field.

Several universities, colleges and institutions have been offering alternative evening programs to such fulltime workers. A low number of adult learning programs and the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) have tried to offer flexible courses to help such candidates obtain their degrees and diplomas, but most of the courses are not technical or engineering related. Therefore, most of the learners have either to take a study leave, quit their current job or attend the evening classes in order to pursue further studies. This means, they are also missing the important part of their professional development obtained at their workplaces, because workplace learning is another important learning path for professional development, as it equips the learner with real practical implications of the theories obtained from classes as well as the real challenges that might happen in the working environment (Billett, 2001; Cacciattolo, 2015; Metso & Kianto, 2014; Zhao & Ko, 2018).

Technical Higher Education

In this context, we refer to technical higher education as the vocational, technical and engineering education provided by universities, colleges and institutes offering a diploma, Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral degrees. Tanzania’s education system allows adult employees and young adults to engage in this level of education, there is an increase in the number of work-experienced students attending evening or fulltime studies. This is also facilitated by the fact that universities, institutes and colleges that used to focus on offering only a diploma or technical certificates have now expanded their scope into offering higher technical awards and more demanding and technological programs in the country (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, 2012; Ministry of Labor, Employment and Youth Development, 2007; NUFFIC, 2014; Tanzania Commission for Universities, 2010; TCU, 2010, 2018; United Republic of Tanzania, 2017).

Workplace Learning

Workplace learning has been commonly defined as an informal or formal learning process that occurs at the workplace rather than the formal learning process and formal professional development leading to upgrade of an individual’s certified qualification (Cacciattolo, 2015). (Silverman, 2003) categorized this learning process into three types, the in-house training, experienced-based learning, and continuous learning. Informal categories of workplace learning are salient and have a great impact on individuals at workplaces in their professional development as well as enhancing organizational performance; however, many formal education systems have not yet recognized and accommodated this kind of learning in their qualification frameworks (Silverman, 2003; Zhao & Ko, 2018). On the other hand, formal workplace learning, which mainly comprises organized and accredited training and workshops within the organization context, has also become a major way of professional development, yet it lacks its formal recognition in higher technical qualification frameworks in many countries, especially developing ones.

Educational Technology

Educational technology is defined as all supporting tools; software and hardware involved in facilitating teaching and learning in higher technical education (Ahmadigol, 2016; Li et al., 2015). In this mode of teaching and learning, various technological systems and processes are involved in teaching and learning, from management of the education systems and processes (enrolment, admission, student management, etc) to the pedagogical aspects of teaching and learning (content delivery and assessment of the teaching and learning processes), so the whole system is responsible for ensuring the proper, smooth and successful interaction between learner and the resources as well as the management of the teaching and learning so that the expected learning outcomes and objectives are achieved (Ahmadigol, 2016; Bell, 2011; Kidd, 2010).

Adult Learners

In this study, adult learners are considered all students enrolled in technical higher education while already employed, being it privately or in an organization. As explained in previous sections, the number of this category of learner is increasing in many developing countries due to the socio-economic transformations taking place in many developing countries as well as the underlying history of the education systems. Many countries had adult learners involved in learning basic reading and writing skills, later expanded to vocational skills and now the scope has been expanded to include more advanced qualifications and higher technical/engineering professions. In this way, education systems are forced to accommodate adult learners in various levels of their education structures (Gale, 1978; Johnson, 2016; Knowles, 2014; Snyder et al., 2005). Another important aspect to be considered when designing teaching and learning for adult learners is their characteristics. Several theories of the adult learning have touched into important aspects of these adults, among them are the experience they have, problem solving approach, goal oriented learning, higher control of the learning process and contents, professional development, and organizational and social learning environment (Illeris, 2009; Johnson, 2016; Kidd, 2010; Slotte & Tynjälä, 2003a; Tynjälä & Häkkinen, 2005).

Technology oriented learning has provided and have been able to accommodate most of the learning requirements for adult learners (Gordon, 2014; Johnson, 2016; Mathes, 2018; Popescu, 2018), that’s why in this study integrating workplace learning and technical higher education using technology is considered a new approach in meeting the demand in these two learning environment, however, studying the perception of the stakeholders involved and challenges facing this kind of learning mode is the very first phenomenon to be studied before jumping into the implementation or suggestion of the better approach.

Statement of the Problem

Bringing together the four main concepts discussed above, this study identifies the two interrelated missing connections; 1) the proper utilization of technology in integrating workplace learning and formal technical/engineering higher education systems, and 2) formal recognitions of workplace learning which leads to higher degree qualifications. Referring literature by (Lusigi, 2019), (Mathes, 2018), and the (United Republic of Tanzania, 2016), it shows that, there is no mainstreaming guidelines and policies set aside by the regulatory bodies to recognize and integrate these two learning paths.

Although the missed connections above are relevant, yet there is no clear understanding of how students, educators and employers perceive the impact of integrating workplace learning and technical higher education in technical education, especially in the areas of content delivery, practical sessions and integration with workplace learning and/or activities in Tanzania.

Furthermore, policies supporting its implementation are still not clear in all three important settings, the government, the organization, and academic institutions. Therefore, before launching the integration process and devising policies to support such kind of integration, there is a need to understand the stakeholders’ views of the current situation. Hence, it is the purpose of this study to explore and understand how students, educators and employers perceive this integration, what challenges they meet in this integration, and finally, to understand how much they are aware of the available policies if they do exist.

Research Method

This pilot study aimed to explore and understand the perceptions and experiences of students, educators and employers concerning the integration of technical or engineering education and workplace learning in universities/institutes/colleges through technology in Tanzania. Apart from this, another purpose of the study was to test a semi-structured interview data collection tool devised for this study and expected to be used in the main study; therefore, a qualitative case study research design was selected. In this way, the researcher could describe the participants’ perceptions, experiences and challenges in addition to testing and improving the data collecting instrument so that it can later be used in a wider population.

Objectives of the Study

The study was conducted to achieve the following objectives:

1. To explore students’ perceptions and challenges towards the integration of technical or engineering education and workplace learning in universities/institutes/colleges through technology in Tanzania.
2. To explore educators’ perceptions and challenges towards the integration of technical or engineering education and workplace learning in universities/institutes/colleges through technology.
3. To explore employers’ perceptions and challenges towards the integration of technical or engineering education and workplace learning in universities/institutes/colleges through technology.
4. To explore policy makers perception and challenges towards the integration of technical or engineering education and workplace learning in universities/institutes/colleges through technology.

Research Questions

Based on the objectives of the study, the following research questions were formulated:

• What are the challenges faced by students, educators and employers in the use of technology in technical higher education?
• How do educators and students perceive the integration of technical higher education and workplace learning through technology?
• How do employers and policy makers perceive the integration of technical higher education and workplace learning through technology?
• What are the challenges faced by students, educators and employers in the integration of workplace learning and higher technical education through technology?

Participants

All first degree (Bachelor’s Degree) students attending the evening program at Arusha Technical College (ATC), their employers, ATC academic staffs and persons in charges of the education policy development under the Ministry of Education were the participants of this study. Arusha Technical College was purposefully selected for this pilot study due to easy accessibility of the participants by the researcher. Purposive sampling technique was applied to draw samples from the population. Table 2.1 gives a detailed description of the participants.

Table 2.1. List of participants and their basic information

Research Instrument

The semi-structured interview guide was developed by the researcher based on the literature review and the objectives of the study. It contained 21 open ended questions in the seven areas listed below.

1. demographics of the interviewees, i.e., names, occupation, level of study, programs they study/teach, organization or affiliation, job responsibilities, etc.
2. overall understanding of the use of technologies in the teaching and learning process as well as their advantages and disadvantages
3. challenges faced in the use of technology for teaching and learning
4. overall understanding of workplace learning
5. overall understanding of educational policies
6. perceptions of the interviewees in the integration of workplace learning and technical higher education.
7. challenges of integrating workplace learning and technical higher education.

Since the sample contained four different categories of participants, the researcher could tailor the questions to the specific category of the participant whenever necessary. Relationships between the questions in the research instrument and the research questions are shown in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2. Relationships between the questions of the semi-structured interview guide and the research questions

Procedures

The interviews took place between 31st July 2020 and 24th November 2020. Data collection was done through Skype and WhatsApp calls due to the geographical location of the researcher and the participants, and the interviews were conducted in the Swahili language, the mother tongue of the researcher and the participants. The interviews were recorded and later transcribed, where necessary, translation from Swahili language to English was done, since part of conversations were done in Swahili language for easier understanding. The recording and interpretation were done after requesting the participants’ permission. The recorded interviews yielded a rich data base of 81690 words.

Data Analysis

Applying the bottom-up content analysis method, the transcribed interviews were analyzed in order to identify themes (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). Atlas.ti, qualitative content analysis software was used to help discover and organize themes and their categories to answer the research questions based on perceptions, challenges and experiences of the students, employers and educators.

Findings

In this section, detailed answers to the main research questions are given after analyzing the transcripts of the interviews. The answers are structured systematically in Table 2.3 based on their categories and themes, there after detailed explanations with examples are given citing from the interviews where necessary. Acronyms of the participants’ names are used to maintain anonymity of the participants.

As can be seen in Table 2.3 below, all (12) interviewees related to the first, third and fourth categories of integrating workplace learning and higher technical education. However, not all interviewees were able to provide a clear definition of workplace learning (9). While all the employers (4) were able to give a clear definition of workplace learning, including a detailed description of formal and informal workplace learning, only half of the students (2) have the abstract understanding of workplace learning, but none of the students (0) are aware of formal and informal workplace learning processes. On the other hand, the majority of the educators (3) were able to give abstract as well as detailed explanation of formal and informal workplace learning.

While all the interviewees (12) spoke of the themes under the rationale and challenges of integrating workplace learning and technical higher education, only half of the students (2) could speak of the immediate application of theories into real workplace environment as an important aspect, although all of them (4) agreed on the other remaining themes. All interviewees (12) mentioned the existence of challenges in the infrastructure for supporting technical education as well as the integration of workplace learning in technical higher education, however, half (6) of the interviewees could speak of technology illiteracy as a challenge in technical higher education.

Table 2.3. Distribution of categories and themes in relation to interviewees’ responses

None of the students (0) mentioned curriculum development process as a challenge in the integration, while more than half (3) of the educators and employers do agree that it has a significant effect. More than half (3) of the educators and employers agreed that the integration of workplace learning, and technical higher education lacks support from various educational policies.

As shown in Table 2.3 above, categories were derived from the interviews dealing with the perceptions of students, educators and employers as well as the challenges they face in using technology for learning and teaching in technical higher education as well as in their attempt if any in the integration of this technical higher education with workplace learning. The main areas are:

1. Perceptions and challenges of students, educators and employers related to the use of technology in higher technical education
2. Understanding and perception of workplace learning by students, teachers, and employers
3. Rationale for integrating workplace learning and technical higher education
4. Challenges related to the integration of workplace learning into technical higher education

Perceptions and Challenges of Students, Educators and Employers Related to the Use of Technology in Technical Higher Education

Effective Teaching and Learning

All interviewees perceived the usage of technology for teaching and learning in technical higher education as an effective way in the current era. Among the many advantages mentioned, students highlighted the flexibility of learning that is given by technology, motivation given through monitoring your progress, as well as management of your learning resources. This was noted by one student who pointed out that: 

The use of technology is good in many ways, you know for us working students, we have a lot of assignments both from school and job, but technology can help us in setting, managing and monitoring our resources, scheduling out time as well as setting reminders and seeing our study progress. You know when you see a message from the platform, that you have an assignment due this date, or an exam is coming next week, those kinds of notifications motivate and alert about your study progress (EO).

Technology Illiteracy

Half of the interviewees pointed out technology illiteracy as one of the challenges that hinder successful use of technology in technical education. As the educator and yet in the management team, one of the educators pointed out the illiteracy issue among students and educators in the use of educational technologies. This is one of the barriers and challenges faced by both students and educators in the attempts to use technology for learning and teaching.

There are good technological tools to support teaching, but if the educators themselves are not aware of or do not know how to use such tools, they will not be comfortable to bring them into classes, tools like, simulation software. So mostly, educators end up using mainly office tools for delivering the content (BK).

Speaking of the literacy challenge, one of the employer went far on the awareness of the technology by its users, many have not been educated on the proper use of technology, especially in abide to government laws as well as security issues, saying that;

Technology is a good thing, especially now in this globalization world, technology usage is inevitable. But the problems are the reliable internet connectivity, networking infrastructures. But also, awareness of the proper use of the internet, we need to emphasize the proper use of online issues, people need to be trained on the proper use and advantages of using technology (BK).

Infrastructure Problems

Stressing in this challenge, students, educators, and employees pointed out that the usage of technology is being hindered by lack of reliable infrastructures, electricity and internet connectivity. Recalling one of the participants’ statement, saying that:

…in fact, due to the limitations on the condition of our country’s economy, we don’t have much in terms of technology. But what we’ve been using so far is some software systems that where locally developed…. But nothing intensively has been done so far… Technology is not too much with the exception of a few, maybe practical laboratory exercises, whereby we have computers for just normal exercises. But for tutors, the lecturers, professors, nothing more than just laptops and projectors (AM).

Understanding and Perception of Workplace Learning by Students, Teachers and Employers

Abstract Understanding of Workplace Learning

When given a detailed explanation of the term, students and some of the educators could understand the term well and relate it with their prior understanding of the term workplace learning. This is what was revealed as abstract understanding, because they had experienced learning activities at their workplace, but consciously did not note what had happened concerning their professional development. This was shown during the interview, when they were asked if they understood the term, workplace learning, some could directly say no, and later when given more elaboration and examples they realized the term as well as pointing out the learning activity that had happened. For example, one student said:

…Yes, apart from studying in the class, I improve my skills through working. When I come across tasks, related to those subjects which I learnt at school, it becomes easy for me to understand deeper what I have learned. …Yes, I have times my colleagues help me during my job and also teach me…Yes, there are training, and short courses provided by my employers (ZM).

Therefore, more than half of the interviewees, especially students and teachers have little experience in the use of the term “workplace learning”, it could easily be understood as “on job learning, workshops, seminars, etc”, which are mainly organized by the employer as the need arises or when there is a new technology or equipment to deploy.

On the other hand, interviewees under the employer category, could easily explain the term and have wider understanding of the term. One of them when asked could give an abstract understanding as well as broader explanation of the term. One employer could explain workplace learning as:

We consider workplace learning as a way in which employees get opportunities to develop themselves to get more skills and to get experience and new skills in their profession and their work activities. Workplace learning can be formal or informal learning. Mainly we consider those organized and long-term or short-term studies as the formal learning, here we have a study plan for our staff, they get opportunities for short or long-term training in each year. When we talk about informal workplace learning, it is when employees also call it on-job training, in this way employees get a chance to learn from experienced employees, sometimes under the supervision of senior employees or with minimal support from their senior. It is a kind of coaching and mentoring system. Those are the two main types of workplace learning practiced here at our college. Although there are other ways of informal learning too, where employees have their own project and activities, they learn on their own (PL).

Understanding and Experiencing Formal and Informal Workplace Learning

More than half of the students have experienced it in several activities that have led them to formally and informally gained new skills. Even though no student and only half of the educators could explain in detail the term formal and informal workplace learning, however, when it was explained with several examples, they could share their experience and gave examples of their workplace learning activities.

Connecting Workplace Learning and the Courses

Half of the students have reported that some courses have a connection with what they are doing in their workplace, although not a hundred percent and some are in the intermediate levels of understanding, like here one of student was noted with less confidence saying that,

Actually, yes. Although, not in all, for example we had a new task that required installation and configuration of networking between two devices, and I, the one studying, was supposed to do those tasks in collaboration with other workers, however due to the advanced program used, we could not solve the problem, till now I haven’t been able to learn it and provide a solution. However, some tasks like repairing a corrupted PC, or installation of software to a PC, those are relevant to some courses I did, and I do perform those kinds of tasks normally (EO).

But on the other hand, half of the students pointed out that, they have missed the connection between what they are learning and what they are working on. Some of the reasons for this were the usage of old curricula that require students to achieve outcomes that were outdated as well as having educators with little exposure to new technologies and newly required skills in the market to solve the existing problems, these students pointed out that…

My career is technology related… and you find that technology is changing every day. So, if the technology is changing every day, there is a need that what is being taught in classes should correlate with what is current in the market on the job. So, the studies have to correlate or have to give a solution to the problem that are currently happening in society (EF).

Rationale for Integrating Workplace Learning and Technical Higher Education

Effective Professional Development Approach …the Integration of the Two-Learning Environments: Workplace and Technical Higher Education

Students were more in favor of the idea. Most of them have mentioned that the integration would be more advantageous to them. As quoted from three of the four interviewed students below, the integration would help them save time that they would have spent attending lectures after working hours. Furthermore, they could spend their working activities and roles in the same way they would work in the university’s laboratory or workshop at the same time achieving a more realistic result.

Yes, it is good for me, because I will do the same task in a more practical way than just theory. Also, I will be doing it as my normal working responsibility and later submit it as my assignment. See like now in this Corona period, we have spent months at home without schooling, so if technology had been deployed before, we could have continued with classes even in this closure period (EO).

The integration of technology is good. For example, when you are occupied with work at your workplace, but at the same time, you are supposed to meet with your supervisor, in this case, we can use skype or zoom to communicate. Another very possible scenario, let’s say you are working on a project for your Master’s thesis, using a certain programming language which is the same language you are teaching in your Undergraduate courses as an Instructor, so in this case, you could use the assignments and prototypes you give to your students as part of building your system. Though in the current learning mode, that is not possible (PS).

Yes, they are related. As I told you, I’m working as a computer technician, and also in network management. So, most of the activities I study relate to my daily activities. Therefore, integration of these work activities and my studies would be of more advantages to me. This would help us much as working students. And technology could help the integration and also improve the supervision of my teachers and seniors at work. I do not see many disadvantages, there are more advantages in improving our skills as employees than disadvantages (DF).

Solution for Qualification Upgrade Challenges Encountered by Employees

Many employees have gained experience from their workplace, and would like to upgrade to higher qualification, however time has been the most challenging issue, few employers could offer study leave to employees who are the key personnel in their companies. Therefore, having this integration, could help them attend school, meanwhile continue with their studies. This was pointed out by one of educators too, saying that, “Many students can learn at a time with one instructor/lecturer; students flexibility in learning will increase their studying pace” (PK).

Furthermore, employers also pointed out that this is one of the good solutions to support many employees who are missing the opportunity to attend higher education or have been doing a lot of research at their workplace although they get no recognition. However, they pointed out that policies are not yet in place to support this integration.

It is a good idea to connect them. But when we come to the staff development policies and educational policies, mostly many of them in Tanzania are not yet in support to such approach. It needs more support by several other stakeholders, because it is a new approach, but it is a good idea. Many of the staff are interested in such learning mode and would be happy to join, the college would also have more qualified employees (PL).

Integration of Theories and Practices

Students have seen this as an opportunity, and it gives them a chance to implement the theories they learn in class in practice in their real working environment. As one of them said:

It’d be good, because it would be theories being implemented practically. So, I would be doing it for my job and later do it as an assignment to be submitted in the class. Also, my workplace recommends employers to develop themselves, therefore, this integration would be more advantageous to them, as I would be improving my skills while doing their work, and they do appreciate and recognize my studying (EO).

Another student also said:

Yeah, a lot of of activities, that we’ve have been assigned in class, are related to what I’m doing here, now as a computer technician, so yeah, I deal with mainly computer maintenance and repair issues. I’m also dealing with management of computer networks, and there are some systems and servers. So sometimes they seem the same, the same issue that we’ve learned in class, is the same as what I’m doing in my daily activities at work. So, they, they relate somehow, but, as you know, in Bachelor levels, there are other managerial subjects. That is not directly related to what I’m doing, but somehow, they teach how to manage activities, or how to relate to what you’re doing with managerial issues. But most of what I learned in class is what I’m doing in my daily activities at work (DF).

Effective Way of Meeting Demanding Skills

By knowing what is needed in the industry, educational institutes can know what to offer and where to improve their curriculum. One of the employers pointed out saying that. “Many students can learn at a time with one instructor/lecturer; students’ flexibility in learning will increase their studying pace” (PK).

Challenges Related to the Integration of Workplace Learning and Technical Higher Education

Technological Infrastructures Supporting the Integration

Although, all participants have seen the rationale for integrating workplace learning and technical higher education, nevertheless, they have all stated that the underdevelopment or unavailability of advanced and efficient technological infrastructures are one of the challenges faced by most of Tanzania’s educational institutes and universities. As stated by one of the students in reference to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education system in Tanzania.

During the COVID-19, we tried to use Moodle, but we did not have enough infrastructure that could support all students. So, because of poor infrastructure and availability of internet connection, we failed to use Moodle during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In infrastructure, we also lack more specialized and advanced platforms (DF).

Several other challenges related to technological infrastructures were mentioned by students and educators, such as the cost of internet connectivity, efficacy of the connection, and the inadequate technological infrastructure of higher education institutions. Educators also underlined this challenge, saying that; – “Main barriers are internet access and student’s affordability to have full time internet access and computer and other required learning resources” (PK).

The Link Between Industry and Educational Institutes

To employers, this was the main challenge raised, because they thought that educational institutes need to strengthen collaboration between them and the industries. Also, when teaching, educational institutes need to be aware of what is going on in the industry. As was said by one of the employers:

I think what is missing is the linking between the institution, the university I mean and the company, which is the industry, and the main challenge here is that most of what students learn in universities is not what have been exactly applied in the industry. …For me I think the university should conduct needs analyses so that – when they teach students – they will know exactly what they are going to meet in the company (MS).

Educational Policy Support

Although policies and their implementation strategies recognize the importance of using ICT in connecting workplace, informal and nonformal learning, few institutes have been able to meet the need. This finding has also been cited by Tanzania’s Educational policies and strategic plans among the major challenges. Employers pointed this out as well as follows:

We have examples of staff who have a done a lot of research in which if the policy allowed, they could be recognized and offered a higher qualification, although they have gained a lot of skills and they can perform more than their current level of education. We have real examples here of staff who perform higher than their current education, and also they complain about not being recognized or offered a higher education qualification, however, we cannot offer them one because our staff development policy does not support this, even the government policies do not support yet such a kind of educational recognition (PL).

Students as well pointed out the issue of policy support, that is why they are forced to attend part time (evening) studies to be able to acquire a higher educational qualification: –

There are no policies in our institution or in the government that support the integration. However, policies do recognize the use of technology. Few higher education institutions tried to continue with learning during the COVID-19 period, but it was not fully operational, they too faced several challenges similar to those we faced at Arusha Technical College (DF).

Curricula Development Processes

Employers, on the other hand were also positive to the proposed approach, although they too would like to see that the shift and changes are done in phases, with closer look on the quality of the education offered, so that they won’t compromise their goods or quality of services, company policies and privacy. Employers’ main concern was in the process of developing relevant curricula and teaching the students relevant courses and contents. As one noted; –

So, the university should make more efforts to make sure that they produce skilled students. And they should make more efforts to initiate collaboration with industries. The communication between the university and the industry will help them in curriculum development, knowing what is needed in the industry as well (MS).

Discussion

The results have shown that there’re significant advantages of integrating workplace learning and higher technical education, furthermore, technology plays a vital role as an integration tool and it adds values into those advantages. The advantages found in this study: the effective teaching and learning approach, the effective professional development approach, bringing theories and practices, the effective way of meeting demanding skills and the solution for qualification upgrade challenges encountered by employees are also found and mentioned in several other previous studies. Slotte & Tynjälä, (2003) in emphasizing the important of industries and universities collaboration have mentioned how several industries and universities have started collaboration for the purpose of supporting their employee’s professional development. Stated that, “To remain at the forefront of education, many companies already cooperate with universities and other higher education institutions to support their employees’ efforts to invest in their general competence development” (pg. 448). Speaking of turning implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge and bringing theories into practical application, Hager, (2005); Slotte & Tynjälä, (2003b); and Tynjälä & Häkkinen, (2005) have shown how important is for the professional development of expertise.

In relation to the challenges facing the integration of workplace learning and technical higher education, available technological infrastructure supporting the integration is one of the challenge that was mentioned by all participants. The fast changing in technologies and the diversity of the organization and working environment require an intensive review and evaluation of the system to be implemented. Slotte & Tynjälä, (2003b) in their empirical study on the implementation of the e-learning system at the workplace, discovered that, although the approach was welcomed and many participants obtained news skills and knowledge, however, many of them could not complete the course and they could not obtained the required credits, furthermore, the platform used lack several other factors that could influence more participation and completion of the course, to be more specifically, they pointed out the missing ingredients, stating that;- “…more advanced technological solutions which would support many problematic issues in virtual interaction, such as difficulties in reaching shared understanding, in coordinating different perspectives or in establishing the sense of co-presence especially in distributed teams, remain lacking (pg. 329)”.

Furthermore, organization support and individual awareness and readiness plays a vital role in successful implementation of technology enhanced learning environment between the industry and the academic institution. However, to obtain these several factors have to be considered from the planning, designing, introduction, and implementation of the educational technology to be used and an integration of workplace learning and technical higher education. Taking an example of the groupware systems that support learning in an organizational settings, Hakkarainen, (2004) provide several factors to be taken into consideration, such as organization’s culture, structure and changes, usability of the system from individual, group and organization levels, end user’s skills and training process, etc (pg. 40).

As the Tripplex Theories indicates (Leydesdorff, 2012), the Government, Organization and Higher learning institutions have to consider more possible ways of bringing this integration in a more practical way. With reference to Illeri’s workplace learning theory for professional development of vocational teachers, (Zhao & Ko, 2018) have pointed out the key features that would lead to a successful implementation of a workplace learning. When looking at the individual’s perspective, learners need to identify themselves first, then know their competence, incentives and what skills they want to improve. Meanwhile, the organization too has an important role in setting a conducive environment for workplace learning to occur through the organizational mission, capacity and knowledge (Billett, 2001; Illeris, 2003; Mmari et al., 2022; Zhao & Ko, 2018).

(Hanover Research, 2014) in their study on MOOC trends in community colleges (which are similar to higher technical institutions in developing countries or vocational education training colleges, or an adaptation can be done) among the major finding and recommendations they gave is the importance of community colleges looking into the blended or flipped classroom approach in order to acquire fully benefits of using technology in teaching and address several challenges that were faced due to total dependence on technology or remaining with in-class mode. Similar approaches and recommendations seem possible or can highlight the concept of integrating workplace learning and higher technical education in practical-wise.

Conclusion

This study observed various perceptions, challenges and future possibilities on the integration of workplace learning and higher technical education. Even though there are challenges that hinder the realistic implementation, the findings of this study show that there is a need for it, and various stakeholders have expressed the significance of considering this mode of study.

The purpose of the pilot study was, first to test and validate a data collection tool, which is a semi-structured interview guide containing 21 open ended questions in seven areas. The second purpose was to understand the perception of students, educators, employers and policy makers of the integration of workplace learning and technical higher education using technology with the help of three research questions. In response to the first purpose, it can be concluded that the semi-structured interview guide generated a rich source of data that were relevant to the original purpose of the study; of which it proved to be valid and usable measurement tool. In response to the second purpose, the rich data collected using the aforementioned tool have been able to answer the research questions accordingly.

First of all, it has been observed that, the integration of workplace learning, and technical higher education is an important aspect to be considered in the future technical higher education and the industrial settings, as it plays a vital role in several areas, such as professional development, effective teaching and learning approach and effective way of meeting the skills demand in the labor market and within the organization structure. On top of that, the use of appropriate educational technology brings and facilitates this integration in a more sophisticated and advanced manner that, universities, organizations and learners acquire the advantages on this teaching and learning environments at its higher value.

Second, this integration is faced with several issues to be addressed and solved for successful realization of the learning approach, such challenges are available infrastructure and appropriate systems that will cover across all aspects of learning and teaching in organizational settings, institutional settings, individual settings and social settings. This finding leads the future study into another aspects of considering what are the proper approaches and suggested modes of integrating educational technologies to support learning and integration between an engineering and technical education institute and an engineering organization.

The third and last but not least, is the important of considering the triplex theory in implementation of this integration, the successful approach in realizing the suggested teaching and learning mode, requires all three bodies: the Government, the Industry and the Academic institution, being involved deeply without ignoring all involved stakeholders.

These requirements of the workplace learning are in line with what successful learning through technology can achieve, as well as the self-regulated learning theory. Therefore, there’s a need for all counterparts to have well-structured systems to be able to achieve this integration, policy makers, organizations, academic institutes as well as learners and educators need a deep understanding and awareness of such systems and full participation in their specific roles in order to achieve the intended goals.

This pilot study was limited to the purposively selected population of Arusha Technical College in Tanzania, however due to the pandemic situation caused by COVID-19, the interviews were conducted via mobile/internet communication. Another limitation of this study is the fact that the focus was given to the higher technical education and not lower-level vocational training colleges of which although they are many in Tanzania, they are not categorized as higher education.

A larger-scale study with the input from this pilot study is expected to be conducted in the near future, with the application of the tool created and validated in this study. It is also expected that the next phase will be conducted in the field, in Tanzania, with the participation of more than one technical higher education institutes and a larger sample size; therefore, the expected results can be hypothesized to be more generalizable within the Tanzanian context.