MINING.COM

Australian Study Shows that VET Should Focus More on Industry Knowledge

The Sydney Morning Herald reports on an Australian study shows that vocational education and training (VET) prepares workers more completely for the workforce if they are instructed in the fundamentals of their industry rather than focussing on learning specific competencies.

The study looked at the mining, solar energy and computer games industries. It found the VET system could not cope with always delivering courses that were highly specific to particular companies and continuously-changing knowledge and skills. "But VET can provide people with the capability to learn and adapt to innovation-induced change," the report says.

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | August 31, 2011 | 4:39 pm

The crime against silver

In 1873, the Fourth Coinage Act was enacted by the US Congress. Western silver miners labeled this measure the "Crime of '73" because it stopped the printing of US silver dollars. The US had, unofficially, abandoned its bimetallic standard in favor of a monometallic one – gold.

Richard Mills - Ahead of the Herd | August 5, 2011 | 6:14 pm

Runge Ltd. MD Tony Kinnane passes away

It is with great sadness that we advise that our former Managing Director, Mr. Tony Kinnane, passed away Saturday night at his home in Brisbane. Tony joined Runge Limited in 1986 as Operations Manager and in 1991 was appointed Managing Director, a position he held for 20 years.

MINING.com Editor | July 13, 2011 | 5:23 pm

South Australian training facility for mining and trades opens at Thebarton Senior College

The In Business website has announced that a $2.3 million training facility for mining, building and construction, welding, automotive, engineering and carpentry has opened at Thebarton Senior College in Torrensville, South Australia.

The new trade training centre at Thebarton Senior College forms part of the Australian Government’s Trade Training Centres in Schools Program. In the new facility, students will be able to use a wide range of hand and power tools for courses in metal machining, welding and metal fabrication, general construction, mining and infrastructure, general woodwork and furniture making, energy and automotive and electricity and electronics.

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | June 15, 2011 | 12:29 pm

Indians working Australian mining jobs may soon be needed back home

The Australian: Australia is facing a critical skills shortage in mining and other industries, and India seemed like the perfect place to get skilled labour. However with new projects opening in India, the question is arising as to whether India can spare that labour.

The Australian government this month announced it would fast-track 457 temporary migrant visas for mining companies seeking foreign recruits for positions they can't fill from the domestic labour pool. Austrade is championing the idea of Australian vocational training courses in Indian workplaces and institutions, and eventually an India-based Australian mining and engineering college, with the capacity to train as many as 100,000 Indian workers annually.

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | May 24, 2011 | 2:05 pm

Financial Times: Evraz focusses on comprehensive program to train mining managers

Natalia Ionova, head of human resources at Russian steelmaker Evraz, used the recession of 2008 to focus and unify the training of mine managers in their facilities worldwide. With Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, she developed an executive education programme, vital for giving managers an understanding of the company as a whole.

"The people on the courses know the company from the inside, so they can share experiences, and the programmes give them the tools to develop ideas and implement innovative solutions," says Ionova. "It’s better than hiring MBA graduates from outside."

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | May 11, 2011 | 12:44 pm

Navigator PF presents two-day financial modelling for mining projects course

Navigator Project Finance is presenting a two-day Excel-based modelling course for mining projects at various locations around Australia: Perth, Sydney and London this summer, and Brisbane and Perth this fall.

Attend this... course if you are involved in the management, development or appraisal of mining projects. It covers the core Excel and Scenario skills required to efficiently and professionally analyse, communicate and update the progress of a mining project. This course is presented by Navigator’s experienced mining project modellers and is focused on how a project finance banker or external party would analyse your project. This knowledge empowers you to create sensitivity and scenario framework that will hold up to the scrutiny of these stakeholders.

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | April 28, 2011 | 12:31 pm

Silver in SPX Selloffs

Silver’s massive surge since late January has naturally made it wildly popular these days.

Adam Hamilton - Zeal Intelligence | March 18, 2011 | 6:19 pm

The Big Question: How To Assess Informal Learning

How do you assess whether your informal learning, social learning, continuous learning, performance support initiatives have the desired impact or achieve the desired results?

I think we can group this stuff together as all those forms of learning which are not formal, i.e. courses. If you check out the blog you’ll find some fascinating answers to the question. As for me, I just don’t get it.

Why, because we don’t have to assess informal learning, at least not in the way we might (but very rarely properly) do for the formal stuff. There seems to be an assumption here that L&D have some sort of ownership over informal learning, but this never has been and never will be possible (or desirable).

Clive Shepherd | March 14, 2011 | 12:19 pm

Categories of eLearning

One of the biggest challenges in discussing elearning arises from different understandings of the field. Most often, we attach our experiences and career to our conversations, presenting an image of elearning that reflects what we have encountered. For an instructional designer, elearning often means courses or learning materials directed at meeting an objective within the larger scope of program development. A corporate trainer may view elearning as a combination of courses and knowledge management. No one perspective is symbolic of the whole industry.

A danger exists in discussing various segments of elearning: paying too much attention to distinctions across categories. The real focus and unifying theme is (or at least should be) learning – whether it is in a classroom, online, blended, or embedded. Each category presented here is most effective when properly matched with the appropriate learning environment and desired outcome.

George Siemens | March 3, 2011 | 12:47 pm