New youth initiatives raise awareness of the skilled trades
Sporting a slick pair of spaceage googles while gripping controllers, Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (SATCC) Youth Apprenticeship manager Samantha Kitzul demonstrates how to use the newest addition to her high school presentation toolkit: virtual reality (VR) equipment.
The SATCC acquired VR sets that use computer technology to create a simulated environment which can be explored in 360 degrees. In January, Kitzul and her team began using the VR equipment in their visits to classrooms to help promote career opportunities in the skilled trades.
The reception of the VR equipment has been positive. Students and teachers are embracing the opportunity to try the new technology. Kitzul says it helps spark students' interest in apprenticeship and skilled trade careers.
“The VR equipment enhances our presence in the classroom. It builds off of our Saskatchewan Youth Apprenticeship presentation and leaves a lasting impression with the students,” Kitzul says. “It's something they will remember and gives them a better understanding of what working in the skilled trades could be like.”
VR places the user inside the virtual environment to give an immersive experience. The simulation software includes skilled trade careers such as Electrician, Machinist, Sheet Metal Worker and Welder. Each simulation runs about 20 minutes.
The VR equipment is part of a larger initiative to raise awareness of careers in the skilled trades to youth in the province. In 2021, the Government of Saskatchewan provided the SATCC with $180,000 in funding to deliver education and skills training initiatives targeted at youth to help grow a skilled workforce in Saskatchewan.
Some of the funding was allocated for VR equipment for career exploration of apprenticeship trades programs with youth throughout the province. The rest was allocated for teaching kits targeted at educators to broaden students' awareness of apprenticeship and careers in the trades.
The SATCC and the Saskatoon Industry Education Council (SIEC) partnered to create and implement the teaching kits. A team of teachers and representatives from the SATCC and the SIEC worked collaboratively to develop four Skill Sets kits: The Eco-home Project, CO2 Cars Project, Bicycle Repair & Headlight Construction Project, and Kitchen Basics Project.
Based on the Grades 7 to 9 curriculum, the kits are available to schools in Saskatoon and area by request to the SIEC. Teachers began using the kits in January and they are proving to be popular. Michelle Hardy, program coordinator at the SIEC, was part of the development team. Hardy says most of the kits are now booked until the end of the school year. She's happy that engagement has been high, and they are looking at ways to expand the kits' accessibility for future school years.
The kits provide teachers with the resources, tools, equipment, and materials needed to deliver hands-on learning opportunities and career exploration activities related to apprenticeship and the skilled trades.
The kits also aim to eliminate barriers by containing everything needed to complete the project and are designed for a teacher to use in any setting. For example, the Kitchen Basics Project contains induction burners, pots, pans, measuring equipment, mixers, bowls and small utensils which are used to complete six recipes.
The kits aid in delivering skilled trades-related curriculum and provide teachers with the resources to deliver experiential learning opportunities and career exploration activities for students. Each project identifies the curricular outcomes covered and is broken down into lessons with stepby-step instructions, links to online resources, student learning activities, and assessment techniques.
Hardy says the feedback from teachers has been overwhelmingly positive. “It was great to start with these four kits,” she says. “We've had some suggestions for other kits that we are hopefully going to look to incorporate [and] expand moving forward.”