Developing Job Ready ICT Graduates

The information technology sector has become one of the fastest-growing industries in the world in the last decade. The digital technologies sector contributes around A$122 billion (6.6 per cent of GDP) to the Australian economy each year. This figure is expected to grow 40 per cent between 2018 and 2023. (Source: https://tinyurl.com/2p9f3uhr)

As daily processes are becoming increasingly digitalised, the demand for IT specialists will only continue to increase. Therefore, there need to be more colleges offering practical ICT courses, providing real-life experience so that graduates can be job ready.

However, to offer such a practical IT unit, colleges may require a complex lab setup that supports multiple technical components, such as running in several operating systems within the lab simultaneously, like Microsoft Windows Server and Linux distributions. Then worldwide connectivity simulations between different sites are also required.

This complex lab setup then needs to facilitate every student so they can work independently on a project, demonstrating their performance and knowledge.

As this type of study cannot be completed within the college hour, labs need to be available for learners to continue their work from home as well. This is when virtual computer labs come in handy.

When accessing a virtual lab, sharing the lab environment will become a thing of the past. That means colleges will no longer need to refresh the labs after being used by the previous student. And each student will get their lap environment to continue their assignment at home from where they left it in class.

There needs to be some clarification about a virtual lab with cloud-based applications. Virtual computer labs consist of applications, various operating systems and complex network designs, which are contextualised to satisfy the training package. In contrast, the cloud-based application is software offered by a service provider. For example, your accounting software is in the cloud.

Virtual computer labs like eduLAB can be a one-stop cloud solution where you can access complex systems to deliver practical units. It offers the latest technology with predesigned real-life scenarios in one portal. Importantly, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

How much capital investment would we need to facilitate such a complex lab setup with physical equipment? Tens of thousands of dollars? I hope it’s not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Well, with eduLAB, we have a pay-as-you-grow model suitable for any college size. Therefore, when you access eduLAB, you don’t need to settle with theory-based units simply because it is simpler to deliver.

The college should be able to choose the technology in high demand on the market and offer it to the students as a learning tool. It should not be the other way around. If a trainer is still getting familiar with the technology selected by the college, the trainer should be able to do some professional development and deliver the class.

With eduLAB, colleges can provide a flexible learning place where a complex lab setup can become their virtual sandbox. In this sandbox, they could freely make errors while mastering IT skills to become job-ready graduates.

So how to support your ICT students to become job-ready graduates?

I would provide them with a safe virtual computer lab like eduLAB. Let them learn from real-life applications and scenarios.

If you would like to see the virtual computer lab demonstration, please get in touch with eduLAB.