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Challenges of Online Learning

Challenges of Online Learning
Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

What are the Challenges of Online Learning?  In my previous article, I looked at ‘Five Key Dimensions of Online Learning’, which explored what makes it popular.  But there’s a downside too – things that put students off.  What are they, and can they be fixed?

“Top reasons cited by students who do not intend to enroll in online education programs include fear of distraction, lack of discipline, and lack of motivation.”

McKinsey Article[1]

Why do Students Hesitate to Enrol in Online Learning?

Many students remain hesitant to enroll in fully remote programs, with students worldwide citing the following top three reasons: fear of becoming more distracted by studying online, boredom if the learning experience is not motivating, and a lack of discipline to complete the online program. Although these perceptions may be partially anticipated, they appear to show that for a segment of students, online programs have not been able to provide a compelling learning experience (see Exhibit 2).

Social factors influence opinions toward in-person, hybrid, and entirely remote models. Students who prefer hybrid learning say they value the combination of flexibility and peer-to-peer connections, whereas students who prefer in-person learning say it provides greater support and peer-to-peer chances. In 80 percent of the countries polled, students stated that the primary reason they prefer face-to-face education is that it is simpler to seek support from professors in person rather than online.

Barriers to Online Learning

But All is NOT Lost – We Can Fix This!

“Our research suggests that higher education institutions can increase their online learning, identifying a correlation between higher satisfaction levels and growth in online learning”

McKinsey Article

An Aside: What Doesn’t Matter?

Before we go on to look at some fixes to problems, it’s helpful to review what don’t we need to worry about.

Expensive qualities are not always valued. Most students do not place a high value on pricey online qualities such as virtual reality (VR), simulations, and complex visual content. This conclusion may indicate that educational institutions and students are still figuring out how to use these tools effectively. Nevertheless, investment in them is increasing. According to one estimate, the global market for education VR is expected to grow.  Networking aspects including “peer-to-peer learning in online settings” and “institution- or student-led networking” were likewise scored in the bottom quartile of relevance in most countries.

Interestingly, this suggests that the investment to achieve Levels 3 and 4 of E-Learning[2] may just not be worth it for most subjects.

Student age and program type had no substantial influence on the perceived quality of online learning experiences. McKinsey’s poll discovered that what students valued most about online learning did not differ significantly across age groups, fields of study, or levels of education (undergraduate versus graduate). Although there are some variances, the consistency of perceptions among groups within each geography might help schools build learning experiences that require less customization for certain student communities.

So What Does Matter?

As already stated, students fear that their online education program may be undermined by distractions at home, a lack of self-discipline, or a lack of motivation.  Let’s look at each of these issues in turn, examining the problems and some possible solutions.  There are also many useful resources at the end of this article.

Fear Of Distraction

If we are not in class then it follows that we are studying somewhen or somewhere else, in a time/place that may not dedicated to learning.  It is quite sensible to worry about being distracted.   

Relevant questions include:

  • Can I study in a place where I can read and work on assignments without distractions?
  • Can I ignore distractions around me when I study?
  • Can I study around people who will not try to distract me?

I have had to revise and study for many exams and qualifications over the years.  I’ve found that doing so in the same place and at the same time every day helps to build a robust studying habit.  (If you can, do schedule a day or days off where you don’t study at all – this will help too.)  

I also found listening to instrumental music (i.e. no vocals) helped me to shut out distractions and concentrate.  Mozart was especially good for maths.  Incidentally, in the modern open-plan office, I’m using this tactic again!

If your friends or family don’t help then tell them that you must withdraw from them for a set time and go to your study chair, corner, or other place.  Put the headphones on / earbuds in.  These are signals to them as well as yourself that you are not available for anything but study.  Take regular breaks and engage with them until your 15-20 minutes are up (set a timer).

If you have a significant other and/or children, then this all becomes much harder.  You will need your partner’s support; perhaps they could be studying or practicing a hobby at the same time.  If you have small children then studying after their bedtime is your best bet – but I know how hard that is.  My daughter was at preschool when I did my master’s degree. 

Can you take an hour off for lunch and find somewhere to hide and study at work?  Can you study on your commute (on public transport) or at least listen to audio while you drive?

Lack Of Discipline

If we are not accountable to someone else, then we may struggle with a lack of self-discipline to study.  Relevant questions to ask ourselves are:

  • Am I good at setting goals and deadlines for myself?
  • Do I finish the projects I start?
  • Do I quit just because things get difficult?
  • Can I keep myself on track and on time?
  • Am I willing to spend 10-20 hours each week on an online course?
  • Do I keep a record of what my assignments are and when they are due?
  • Do I plan my work so that I can turn in my assignments on time?

Just answering these questions honestly will help you be more disciplined.  If you recognize that you struggle with certain things, then you can put in place things to support your weaknesses.

Can you find a study buddy who is different from you?  If you’re always enthusiastic to try new things but they’re not, and they are good at completing tasks then you’re not – you complement each other.  You’re a good match!

Lack Of Motivation

Perhaps this is the most difficult problem to overcome.  Some of the tips we’ve just gone over will help, but there are other questions to ask, such as:

  • Do I have a good reason for taking an online course?
  • Will my online course be just as rigorous as a face-to-face course?
  • Will my online course take less time than a face-to-face course?
  • Will my online course require more than just memorizing content?
  • Can I get my assignments done and turn them in on time?
  • On an online course, I probably will not receive as much personal attention from the instructor (compared to a face-to-face course): does that bother me?

Naturally, if we have a specific reason for taking a course – some goal or reward – then we will be more motivated.  Can we imagine those rewards, those benefits?  Is there a poster or some other reminder of our dream that we can put in our study space?

I remember a world-champion snooker player revealing how he motivated himself to practice.  He would have a favorite snack or drink in reach, but he wasn’t allowed a bite or sip until he had completed a practice shot ten times.  And so on, until the treat was gone.  Could you reward yourself with ten minutes on social media?

A course that just gets you to cram facts is not exciting.  Can you choose a course with regular review sessions and self-assessment tests?  If not, can you add them?  Can you insert review periods when you reflect on what you’ve learned and try to apply it to something that you know about?  Use the model [3] below:

Finally, remember that this period of study, and self-denial, will not last forever.  Do it for a season, set an end date, and promise yourself a reward – if you succeed.  Perhaps you will find it easier to study during a particular season?  There are usually fewer tempting distractions in Winter (unless you are a skier, so do the opposite).

Technical Factors

It’s interesting to note that a mobile phone can help solve all these problems!  Only a few years ago, getting access to a computer with internet access was challenging for many.  These days, even a cheap smartphone will do most things that you need.  There are thousands of free and paid Apps that can teach you subjects or support your learning.

The problem with IT, phones, and Apps is that often we are just not aware of all their features.  It is said that most users exploit only a fraction of the features of their devices.  With some research, and a little practice, could we find the tools and skills to dramatically increase our productivity?

It is still always a good idea to identify a technical support group before taking an online course.

Online Learning Resources

Here are some resources to help you prepare for online study (acknowledgment of source at the end of this article).  

Self Direction

If you would like to pick up a few more time management skills, here are some tutorials.

 Learning Preferences

Here are some tutorials if you would like to pick up a few more relevant skills.

Active Reading

 Active Listening

 Problem-Solving

 Study Habits

Here are some tutorials if you’d like to pick up a few more good study habits.

Note Taking

 Writing Reports

 Online Learning Expectations

It is helpful to have realistic expectations about what it means to be an online learner. If you want to read more on this subject, please refer to the following:

My name’s Simon Di Nucci. I’m a practicing system safety engineer, and I have been, for the last 25 years; I’ve worked in all kinds of domains, aircraft, ships, submarines, sensors, and command and control systems, and some work on rail air traffic management systems, and lots of software safety. So, I’ve done a lot of different things!

Acknowledgments

I gratefully acknowledge that the Section “Online Learning Readiness Help” is derived from the Online Learning Readiness Questionnaire[4] by Penn State University, which is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.  Vicki Willams of Penn State devised the original version of this assessment, which is available at  https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_7QCNUPsyH9f012B

[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/what-do-higher-education-students-want-from-online-learning

[2] https://community.articulate.com/articles/get-to-know-the-4-levels-of-e-learning

[3] From https://www.structural-learning.com/post/reflective-practice

[4] https://behrend-elearn.psu.edu/weblearning/questionnaire/ORQ.HTM

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Behind the Scenes Blog

Five Key Dimensions of Online Learning

Five Key Dimensions of Online Learning
Five Key Dimensions of Online Learning

In this article ‘Five Key Dimensions of Online Learning’, I discuss the learning dimensions and attributes that students are looking for.

How do I know what students are looking for? Fortunately “McKinsey surveyed more than 7,000 students in 17 countries to find out which elements of online higher education they value most.”[1]

Unfortunately, McKinsey didn’t bother to explain the edu-speak jargon in their article. So let’s look at the essentials and unpack them a bit.

Benefits

Students value several different things in online learning. The top three are:

  1. Recording classes and making them available to watch later.
  2. Easy access to online study materials.
  3. Flexibility that enables students to work and study.

But there are a lot more things that students want. McKinsey used a model with eight Dimensions containing 24 Attributes (see ‘Exhibit 1’, below). It turns out though, that only ten Attributes from five of the Dimensions made the grade. Read on…

Exhibit 1 from McKinsey Article ‘What do higher education students want from online learning?’

One. A Clear Roadmap

The first popular dimension is a clear roadmap. Within this grouping, students want an online program structure, readiness assessment, and readiness leveling. What does this mean?

Photo by cottonbro studio, Pexels.com

Online Programs Structure

Unsurprisingly, students want to know how to navigate their way around e-learning programs.

What is the structure of the online course program?  In which order should courses, lessons, and modules be studied?  Can some students skip some subjects, or are all of them mandatory?  Which items are assessed?

A good online learning offering will make this crystal clear, thus reducing a student’s anxiety. Remember that students may not be studying in their first language, so it is the training provider’s responsibility to make it easy for them.

Readiness Assessment

Not everyone is suited to online learning, either by circumstances, temperament, or for technical reasons. A Readiness Assessment enables students to self-assess their suitability.

“Before enrolling in an online course, you should first assess your readiness for stepping into the online learning environment. Your answers to the following questions will help you determine what you need to do to succeed at online learning.  Instructions: Choose the most accurate response to each statement. Then click the Am I Ready? button.”[3]

Pennsylvaninia State University

The link takes you to an online questionnaire, which is a bit out of date (technology has moved on). But it’s still a useful exercise and the questions will get you to think about whether online learning is for you.

(Spoiler alert: it doesn’t matter how you answer the questions, the website directs you to the same resources. But that’s OK: they are good resources and worth a look!)

Readiness Leveling

Conventionally, there are four levels of E-Learning [4]

Image from Shift E-learning [5]

“Level 1 e-learning is a passive experience, where the learner just consumes information. There’s little to no interactivity with the course and the learner mostly reads and moves forward by clicking Next.”

Shift E-learning

“At Level 2, e-learning courses start to incorporate some multimedia. Courses at this level can contain audio, some video, basic animations, and a few simple transitions. This level of content is often accompanied by narration and click-and-reveal interactions. Level 2 quizzes start to incorporate drag-and-drop interactions and matching activities.”

Shift E-learning

“With Level 3 e-learning courses, the interactions become even more sophisticated. In this level, you can expect to include extensive audio, video, transitions, animations, and more. Quizzing can involve branched, scenario-based questions that allow learners to explore multiple paths and feedback levels.”  [C.f. ‘Choose Your Adventure’]

Shift E-learning

“Level 4 e-learning uses all of the components in levels 1, 2, and 3, plus gamification or simulation. These courses may incorporate 360° images, games or complex gamification, scenarios, avatars, or interactive videos. These courses are more immersive than other levels of e-learning. As learners interact with the course, they receive feedback on their choices. And in some cases, their choices might even impact the content they’re presented with next.”

Shift E-learning

A lot of e-learning offerings are at Levels One or Two, as the higher levels are much more expensive to deliver. Not all learning needs will require these higher levels, so they are not used unless the scenario demands it.

Two. An Easy Digital Experience

This sounds obvious, but within this Dimension, there are three attributes. Only one is popular: Omni channel. What does this mean?

Omni Channel

Photo by Mike Beard, Pexels.com

“Omnichannel is a multi-channel approach to L&D that seeks to provide the learner with a seamless learning experience whether the learner is learning online from a desktop or mobile device, by telephone or in a bricks and mortar office.”[6]

LearningPool.com

“Omnichannel marketing — the use of physical and digital storefronts to reach consumers with a unified experience — is a fundamental strategy of modern retailing. Brands that aspire to this approach seek customers via multiple channels: direct mail, TV ads, YouTube channel, website, telemarketing, social media, mobile site, and storefronts. …omnichannel strategies assume that consumers will move from one channel to another.”[7]

Forbes.com

So, by extension, omni-channel L&D could offer us a mixture of face-to-face and remote delivery. That said, if the student and trainer COULD get together, then why would they be doing remote learning?

Perhaps we need to be a bit more imaginative about what omnichannel could mean in a purely online setting.

Three. Balanced Learning Formats

Students want two, seemingly contradictory things here – Asynchronous Classes and Synchronous Classes.

Get How to Demonstrate #SFARP
Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA from Pexels

Synchronous Classes

“Synchronous learning refers to instructors and students gathering at the same time and (virtual or physical) place and interacting in ‘real-time’.”

Stanford University

OK, so the mighty Stanford University is essentially referring to ‘live events’. We can deliver these face-to-face or via e-learning.

Asynchronous Classes

“Asynchronous learning means that learning takes place at all different times for students enrolled in a course. Asynchronous learning is any type of learning that you undertake on your own schedule and which does not require consistent real-time interactions with an instructor.”

Coursera

Here, we’re talking about recorded content (video, audio, text, interactive, etc). This is one of the great strengths of online learning – hence, it’s number-one popularity with students (see Benefits, above).

Four. Captivating Delivery

This sounds obvious, we need to work especially hard to keep students engaged when working online. Surprisingly, of all the things we might imagine, only two things come out of this strongly.

Up To Date Content

Students are looking forward to their future careers, so naturally, they are interested in the ‘latest thing’. In traditional universities, this forward-looking focus was shared by those conducting cutting-edge research. (That said, I have seen university courses in the 2020s based on what was hip and new in the 1970s!)

Those of us who work in online education may not be doing research. And we may be passing on our hard-won experience from long careers. So the challenge is to keep up to date by looking online at what our potential students are searching for – not what we think they should be learning.

Faculty Relevance

This attribute is explicitly referring to a bricks-and-mortar university or higher-education facility. So is it relevant to any other kind of training provider?

I think so. Whether we are a Registered Training Organisation, an industry body, a commercial provider, a consultancy, or even a sole trader, we can ask: how relevant are we to today’s students?

One way to find out is by research. There are lots of great tools out there that can tell us what people are searching for, like Google Trends, Answer the Public and Semrush. Or we might be more specific and look at special interest groups on LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media. If we have access to our target audience – or a competitor’s target audience – then so much the better.

Five. Practical Learning

Two attributes were popular within the Practical Learning dimension, first support for skills certification, and second portfolio building.

Skills Certification

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

This is easy for a university or higher-education facility since they are accredited to award degrees or other qualifications. Similarly, other bodies may be registered (such as RTOs in Australia) to deliver recognized training and award qualifications.

But what do we do if we want our eLearning from an unaccredited or unregistered body (e.g. because it offers Captivating Delivery)? What should commercial providers do who want to offer skills certification without the value-killing bureaucracy? It turns out that there are (at least) two options.

First, are microcredentials. To get a course microcredentialed, we must include some assessment method(s) to determine whether the student has ‘passed’. (Some will complain that this is training not education, but this can’t be helped.) The course itself must also be independently assessed by some government-appointed authority, which sets requirements to award a microcredential. An example of this is the Australian National Microcredentials Framework.

Second are Digital Badges. For this option, we still have to assess our students, but the digital badge is awarded by a third-party commercial platform. Several such platforms are operating online. These badge-givers have no official writ, so we rely on the fact that many thousands of users sign up with them to create a de facto standard.

Of course, microcredentials and Digital Badges can be combined!

Portfolio Building

Related to Skills Certification is Portfolio Building. Let’s not just collect random badges but follow a development path that builds related skills together. After all, what is a course of study, if not a collection of linked modules, made up of individual lessons?

We might assume that the tertiary education providers have cornered this market, but that’s not so. There are a lot of learning frameworks out there, like Skills For the Information Age (SFIA), or the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). There’s nothing to stop us from aligning our courses into these frameworks, providing that we don’t make false claims about these bodies endorsing them.

“The truth is, our industry is moving away from hiring based on years of experience or formal education credentials alone. Instead, hiring managers are more interested in the specific skills you can offer right now. This means, when they’re considering you as a potential candidate, they want to see evidence of your skills. And the best way to do this is by building an eLearning portfolio.”[8]

eLearning Academy

I’m not sure that I totally agree with this statement by the eLearning Academy. Sure, many firms are interested in what you can do right now: how you can make money for them. My range of skills (aerospace, safety, software, logistics engineering) has certainly got me higher salaries over the years. However, I also had Honours and Masters degree qualifications, which are valuable in the long term.

Conclusion

We said at the start that “McKinsey surveyed more than 7,000 students in 17 countries to find out which elements of online higher education they value most.” They presented the results ranked 4-10 like this:

Exhibit 4 from McKinsey Article ‘What do higher education students want from online learning?’

(Why don’t they include the top three? I guess that they keep back the best bits for the paying clients!)

It’s clear from the survey that the results are not uniform across all 17 countries. There is a striking consistency of results for Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Spain (all Spanish-speaking countries). The US, UK, and Australia follow the pattern moderately well. However, France, China, India, and Saudi Arabia buck the trend.

In fact, the overall response to online learning varies significantly from country to country (see Exhibit 3, below).

Exhibit 3 from McKinsey Article ‘What do higher education students want from online learning?’

The McKinsey survey offers a summary of these variations, but no analysis:

Across the Americas, students in general placed a greater importance on online learning attributes such as skills certification, omnichannel online experiences, and pre-course readiness-assessment and competency leveling. In the United States and most European countries, students said they enjoy studying independently, taking asynchronous classes, and having an intelligent virtual-support platform. In contrast, students in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru value more personalized support, such as a coach to help them navigate school, career, and personal issues. Students in Chile, Italy, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Spain highly valued having university support in finding internships.

McKinsey Article

It’s also worth noting that there are many barriers to online learning. These need to be overcome, so far as is reasonably practicable, to maximize the uptake of online learning. I will look at those in another article.

My name’s Simon Di Nucci. I’m a practicing system safety engineer, and I have been, for the last 25 years; I’ve worked in all kinds of domains, aircraft, ships, submarines, sensors, and command and control systems, and some work on rail air traffic management systems, and lots of software safety. So, I’ve done a lot of different things!

Five Key Dimensions of Online Learning: Comments?

Leave me your feedback, below:

[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/what-do-higher-education-students-want-from-online-learning

[2] https://www.pexels.com/photo/couple-standing-underground-berlin-4550436/

[3] https://behrend-elearn.psu.edu/weblearning/questionnaire/ORQ.HTM

[4] https://community.articulate.com/articles/get-to-know-the-4-levels-of-e-learning

[5] https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/190140/Levels-of-Interactivity-in-eLearning-Which-one-do-you-need

[6] https://learningpool.com/the-omnichannel-approach-7-steps-to-connect-learner-experiences/

[7]https://www.forbes.com/sites/annkirschner/2021/09/02/the-future-of-higher-education-isomnichannel

[8] https://elearningacademy.io/blog/how-to-build-an-elearning-portfolio

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Behind the Scenes

Which Skills Should Humans Learn in an Age of ‘AI’?

Human Skills in an Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh: https://www.pexels.com

Which Skills Should Humans Learn in an Age of ‘AI’? In my previous article, I looked at the new challenge that faces all who teach online. How do we stop students from using AI to cheat on assessments?

Well, the short answer is: we can’t. Not entirely. AI is now good enough at answering questions to pass some quite tough exams, for example, to become a licensed doctor. On many questions of fact, the AI could be generating the entire answer and the student would not be tested at all.

In such cases, we would really be testing students on how good they were at using AI.  This is not a facetious idea. As AI is such a wonderful research assistant, perhaps we should be training students to use it – wisely.

Learning & Writing with AI

We know that AIs don’t always give correct answers because the data used to train them is not always correct. So students using this technology need to check the answers. Also, I’m beginning to hear that Google is finding and eliminating AI-generated content from search results. If Google can do that, then plagiarism-checking tools will soon do that too (damn that AI).

So students will need to check their AI’s output, perhaps paraphrasing content and changing its style to suit. Ironically there’s an AI tool for that too! They may also need to add some personal touches. Google prioritizes E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Students probably need to do the same.

That said, AI really is a wonderful research assistant. Suppose you feed it your exam question: “Write me an essay about Napolean” and you add “citing sources used”. If your chosen AI does so, you might get a reasonable essay, with citations so that you can fact-check and correct it. Doing so will give you a better essay, which you can then make your own. Result: a good essay!

(Please note that Chat GPT-4 will not write you a whole essay, it will only provide the structure and sources.)

Enter Napoleon

Now, you still have to do some work. But without the AI, it would have taken you many hours to discover lots of things about Napoleon. (Remember: we don’t know what we don’t know.) You could submit a good essay much quicker than without your AI research assistant. Or …

… you could use the time saved to take it to the next level. Supposing you discover that there are two different schools of thought about Napolean (quite likely about any major subject). You could now instruct the AI to write the same essay but twice – once from each point of view. Using these results, you can compare and contrast them and make your own assessment.

You now have a great essay! Perhaps, more importantly, you’ve taken your learning, about Napolean and historical analysis, to another level. You used the AI to do the drudgery so you can focus on the clever stuff. Now you have – rapidly – learned some high-level, transferable skills that you can apply to any historical analysis.

Okay, I’m a safety engineer, so I’m not likely to be answering exam questions about Napoleon. I might conceivably be asked to discuss the approaches of, say, Jens Rasmussen versus Erik Hollnagel. Personally, I’d rather not, but understanding different theories on risk and accident causation is relevant to my profession.

Whatever you are doing there’s probably an AI for it, in fact, there’s a site with over 3,000 AI tools that do all sorts of things. However, this isn’t an article on how to do things with AI, so…

Back to the Challenge

The challenge facing online educators is to assess students in a way that tests the student, not the AI. Online education is a multi-billion-dollar business, and AI could undermine the credibility of most qualifications, so this is a critical issue.

I think it’s fair to say that we won’t all go back to physically sitting exams in a room with strict security (although I did just that to get my CISSP certification). The costs are too great, and we need remote assessment techniques.

This means that universities and other education or training providers will look for assessment strategies that AIs struggle with. This means that – if we want top marks – we will need to be good at things that AIs don’t do well.

Are there any things that AI can’t do (yet)? If so, what are they?

We Reflect on ‘AI’

We have to remind ourselves that ‘AI’ is not really intelligent. A lot of what is sold as ‘AI’ is just using statistics to analyze lots of data. I’ve worked with a statistician, and I was amazed at what she could deduce from a data set. Even human behavior is amenable to statistical analysis. We all like to think that we’re original and unique, but we’re mostly not. Sorry.

The next level up from statistics is Machine Learning (ML). This is a phrase that represents what’s going on much better than ‘AI’.

Machine Learning

ML is much more powerful than statistics because it uses a variety of algorithms. These can be much more complex than generic, statistical equations. Specific algorithms are developed to solve specific classes of problems.

Nevertheless, all ML works by training algorithms on a data set. Humans review the results and tweak the algorithms or the data set, or both, to produce better results. Or perhaps we give the machine a goal and it tweaks itself to get there better and/or faster.

ML is so effective because decades of research by the best human minds have gone into developing it. An awful lot of human ingenuity is encoded in those algorithms.

ML itself though works by brute force. Computers are very fast, and they can process vast amounts of data. This data is now easily accessible on the internet, which contains a significant proportion of the vast treasure store of human knowledge. ML isn’t intelligent, it just appears to be because it has been trained by vast repetition. It impersonates human intelligence by copying, merely by rote learning.

It’s been said that to really be intelligent AI must be able to create something truly original. That article refers to an AI playing the Asian game ‘Go’ – a game rather like checkers. The AI beat a world champion using a revolutionary strategy that no human is ever taught. However, even with this example, I note that Go is a 2D board game where all the counters are identical in character. Surely, this is a problem that is inherently amenable to being solved by a computer?

But so what?

Well, if we humans want to stay relevant, then we need to do things that machines can’t. If we understand what they can and can’t do, and get better at the latter, then we add value.

We Reflect to be Different from Machines

In my previous article, I mentioned that Chat GPT-4 struggles to reflect on learning. If we go online and look up the word ‘reflect’, we get:

embody or represent (something) in a faithful or appropriate way.
think deeply or carefully about.
(of an action or situation) bring credit or discredit to the relevant parties.

Google Search

We have three meanings here, as follows:

  • To represent – to portray, describe, or paraphrase, but not copy – something faithfully or appropriately. We are not simply repeating details, but capturing the essence of something.
  • To think deeply and carefully – not quickly or superficially.
  • To make a value judgment about something, its validity, morality, or desirability.

At this point, my fellow engineers, as well as scientists and mathematicians, might be wondering what this has got to do with them. After all, 2+2=4, and what is there to reflect on? This ‘reflection’ sounds like something that arts and humanities folk do. OK, perhaps psychologists and business studies too. But us?

I think we do. In terms that might appeal to engineers, etc., let’s call it the difference between ‘verification’ and ‘validation’.

Verification versus Validation

Verification asks: “Did we build the thing right?” We can answer that question by testing it, inspecting it, or analyzing it: does it do what it’s supposed to? If we can’t fully verify the product, perhaps we need some process evidence as well. Did we develop it using a sound process? Does it comply with or conform to applicable standards?

Verification may be complex, but it’s mechanistic. In verification, “right” means correct – and only that.

Validation asks: “Did we build the right thing?” In this case, “right” means a whole lot more than just correct.

It means complete: did we do the whole job? Meet the overall need and not just the written specification? It means comprehensible: does it make sense in context? is it usable by those who need to? is it appreciated by those who paid for it, or wanted by those who might pay for it?

It may also mean other things. Does it help? Is it ethical? Sustainable? Valuable to a person, group, or society as a whole?

A thing can be successfully verified yet fail validation, in one or more ways. Becoming skilled at reflecting on the wider implications of what we do can help us all, no matter what our field of endeavor.

We Curate, not Just Collect as Machines Do

One of my hobbies is writing fiction – badly. Again and again, I read that to get better, I must read better. I must read a lot, but not just in quantity; I must read the best quality I can get, the best, most successful authors. Writers should not just read within their chosen genre, either, but they must get out of their comfort zone and read all sorts.

Similarly, I’ve heard it said that ‘the best bands have the best record collections’. The best is not the biggest, but the broadest collection of good-quality music. The aim is not just to collect, but to curate.

This makes sense as we seek to differentiate ourselves from competing machines. Earlier versions of Chat GPT (and other ‘AI’s) were trained on millions or even billions of web pages. We can’t compete with machines on quantity. Referring back to my previous article, I note that Chat GPT-4 is “safer and more aligned” (good validation words) because it was trained on a human-curated data set.

Mere repetition is not going to help us. We need to reflect on a broad range of the best-quality stuff we can find. Looking deeper, and slower, asking those ‘validation’ questions. Skills like comprehension, summarising, and producing a precis of others’ work are valuable (b*gger me, my English Literature teacher was right all along). Drawing what I see, not what I think I see (thanks are also due to my Art teacher). Learning from disciplines other than the ones we practice.

Being a well-rounded person, I guess.

What do You think?

Categories
Behind the Scenes Blog

How Should We Learn in an Age of ‘AI’?

An open book full of text.
Image by Wendy Van Zyl, from Pexels

‘How Should We Learn in an Age of ‘AI’?’ is the first in a series of articles addressing this topical subject.

Introduction

I’ve created and taught courses on technical subjects for about 20 years now.  I started when I inherited a half-finished course on software supportability in 2001. The Royal Air Force relied on software in all its combat aircraft but knew precious little about software, and less about how to support it.  We needed that course.

After I left the Air Force, I joined a firm called QinetiQ. I discovered that we had a contract to teach safety to all UK Ministry of Defence staff that required it; the classroom was just down the road from our office.  I joined the instructing team.

With that experience, I created and taught bespoke safety courses for the Typhoon, Harrier and Raytheon Sentinel platforms.  I also helped create a safety course for the UK Military Aviation Authority.  Since moving to Australia, I have created and sold courses commercially, teaching home workers online for the first time.

It’s still difficult to access system safety training in Australia, and that’s why I started the Safety Artisan.  In my business, I am only teaching online.

The Problem

Recently I’ve been in discussions with colleagues in industry and academia about improving system safety education in Australia.  Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, learning has gone through a revolution.  We are now learning online much more than we ever did; in fact, it’s the ‘New Normal’.

Now another revolution has occurred: generative Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“Generative AI is a set of algorithms, capable of generating seemingly new, realistic content—such as text, images, or audio—from the training data. The most powerful generative AI algorithms are built on top of foundation models that are trained on a vast quantity of unlabeled data in a self-supervised way to identify underlying patterns for a wide range of tasks.”

© 2023 Boston Consulting Group, https://www.bcg.com/x/artificial-intelligence/generative-ai

This presents a challenge to anyone designing an online course that leads to a certification or award. How do we assess students online, when we know that they can use an AI to help them answer the questions?

In some circumstances, the AI could be generating the entire answer and the student would not be tested at all.  What we would really be testing them on is how good they were at using the AI.  (I’m not being facetious. As AI is such a wonderful research assistant, perhaps we should be training students to use it – wisely.)

Enter Chat GPT-4

OpenAI, the creators of Chat GPT-4, make some big claims for their product.

“GPT-4 is more creative and collaborative than ever before. It can generate, edit, and iterate with users on creative and technical writing tasks, such as composing songs, writing screenplays, or learning a user’s writing style.”

OpenAI, https://openai.com/product/gpt-4

“GPT-4 can accept images as inputs and generate captions, classifications, and analyses.”

ibid

“GPT-4 is capable of handling over 25,000 words of text, allowing for use cases like long form content creation, extended conversations, and document search and analysis.”

ibid

But perhaps most significant of all is GPT-4’s claimed ‘safety’:

“We spent 6 months making GPT-4 safer and more aligned. GPT-4 is 82% less likely to respond to requests for disallowed content and 40% more likely to produce factual responses than GPT-3.5 on our internal evaluations.”

ibid

In other words, GPT-4:

  • Is less likely to regurgitate nasty sludge from the bottom of the web; and
  • Is more likely* to not make stuff up.

*Notice that they said “more likely” – this is not certain or assured.  (More on this in a later article.)

This is because the creators were more selective about the data they used to train the model.  Presumably, this implies that previous efforts just used any old rubbish scraped off the web, but nobody is admitting to that!

The Beginning of an Answer…

One of the academics I’ve met (sorry, but I can’t give them credit, yet) has studied this problem.  They’ve come up with some interesting answers.

In their experiments with GPT-4, they found that it was very good at the things you would expect it to be. It was great at answering questions by gathering and collating facts and presenting written answers.

But it wasn’t good at everything.  It was not good at reflecting on learning, for example. GPT-4 could not reflect on the learning that the student had experienced.  Similarly, it could not extrapolate what the student had been taught and apply it to new scenarios or contexts.

Therefore, the way to assess whether students really know their stuff is to get them to do these things. Most assessment marks can still be straightforward questions, which an AI could help answer. But a few marks, maybe only 20%, should require the student to reflect on what they had learnt and to extrapolate it to a new situation, which they must come up with. This bit of the assessment would separate the also-rans from the stars.

…And a Lot More Questions

Now there are obvious, mechanistic, reasons why the AI could not perform these tasks.  It had not been exposed to a student’s learning and therefore could not process it.  Even more difficult would be to take a student’s life and work experience – also unknown to the AI – and use that to extrapolate from the taught content.

(Okay, so there are possible countermeasures to these mechanistic problems.  The next stage is that the AI is exposed to all the online learning alongside the student.  The student also uploads their resume and as much detail as they can about their work to teach the AI.  But this would be a lot of work for the student, just to get those last 20% of the marks. That would probably negate the advantage of using an AI.)

However, the fact is that GPT-4 and its brethren struggle to do certain things. Humans are great at recognising patterns and making associations, even when they are not logical (e.g. ‘whales’ and ‘Wales’).  We also have imagination and emotion. And we can process problems at multiple levels of cognition, coming up with multiple responses that we can then choose from.  We also have personal experience and individuality. We are truly creative – original. Most AI still struggles to do these things, or even pretend to.

So, if we want to truly test the human learner, we have to assess things that an AI can’t do well.  This will drive the assessment strategies of all educators who want to teach online and award qualifications.  

And, guess what?  This is where the $$$ are, so it will happen. Before COVID-19, education was a massive export earner: “Australia’s education exports totalled $40bn in 2019.” This is according to the Strategy, Policy, and Research in Education (SPRE).  

This then begs the question:

What Else Can Humans do that AI Can’t (Yet)?

Why? Because if these are the skills on which we will be assessed, then we need to focus on being good at them. They will get us the best marks, so we can compete for the best jobs and wages.  These skills might also protect us from being made redundant (from those well-paid jobs) by some pesky AI!

This is what I’m going to explore in subsequent articles.

Categories
Behind the Scenes Start Here

Safety Engineering Jobs in Australia

group-of-people-sitting-on-brown-wooden-chairs
Photo by Mikhail Nilov via Pexels

Are you looking for Safety Engineering Jobs in Australia?  Thinking of moving into the profession and wondering if it’s worth it?  Already a safety engineer and thinking of moving to Australia (Poms, take note)?  Then this article is for you!

Introduction

The most popular online job site in Australia is seek.com.au. If we go on this website and search for jobs, let’s say, up to $200,000 salary, we will see about a quarter of a million jobs listed.

I can tell you from personal experience that the market for skilled jobs is very buoyant at the moment. Recruiting is very difficult and this is driving up salaries.

Now, out of those quarter of a million jobs, if we search on the terms safe or safety, we will get somewhere between 45,000 and 60,000 hits. Of course, this does not mean that there are that many safety jobs.  Lots of job ads include the word ‘safe’ or ‘safety’ as a motherhood and apple pie statement. “We are committed to having a safe working environment”, or something like that.

Specific Types of Safety Jobs

The seek search engine helps us. If we just type in the word ‘safe’ it comes up with five suggestions, and these are safety advisor, safety engineer, safety officer, safety coordinator, and safety manager.

  • Safety Advisor – 2,000 jobs;
  • Safety Officer – 2,000 jobs;
  • Safety Coordinator – 880 jobs;
  • Safety Manager – 2,200 jobs; and
  • Safety Engineer – 700 jobs.

Let’s quickly deal with the terminology here. Safety officer, safety coordinator, and safety advisor are jobs that tend to be in the work health and safety or WHS area. This is what we used to call occupational health and safety in Australia.

If you want a job in these areas you will often find that you need industry-specific experience, because you are dealing with quite hands-on issues of occupational health and safety. Wages are okay in these sectors, although not spectacular.

If you want to work in Safety and earn more money, you probably need to look at becoming a safety manager or safety engineer.

There are quite a lot of safety manager jobs available. And they are in all sorts of industries. You’re going to need quite a lot of safety experience in order to get one of these jobs, be it in WHS or safety engineering. You will also need to be able to manage other people, rather than doing hands-on engineering work yourself.

We will look at safety management another time.

Let’s Look at Safety Engineer Jobs

Out of 700 safety engineer jobs, this is where they are.  No surprise that engineering is top of the list, but only 44% of safety engineer jobs are in engineering.

Engineering310
Construction86
Mining, Resources & Energy76
Government & Defence58
Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics48
Trades & Services41
Information & Communication Technology17
Human Resources & Recruitment16
Sales13
Administration & Office Support10
Hospitality & Tourism7
Accounting5
Call Centre & Customer Service3
Science & Technology3
Education & Training2
CEO & General Management1
Consulting & Strategy1
Marketing & Communications1
Real Estate & Property1
Retail & Consumer Products1
Table – breakdown of Safety Engineer Jobs by Employment Sector

We can see the breakdown better in this table.  Construction, Mining, Resources & Energy, Government & Defence, Manufacturing, Transport & Logistics, and Trades & Services account for another 44% of positions.  Many of these categories should come as no surprise.  Mining and Resources are Australia’s biggest export earners (followed by education, interestingly).  Ours is a vast country with plenty of room to expand, so construction, Transport & Logistics are always going to be big employers.

Histogram – breakdown of Safety Engineer Jobs by Employment Sector

Government & Defence are big purchasers and operators of sophisticated equipment, so their need for safety expertise is high.  We still make things in Australia, so Manufacturing is in there, and we also have a very strong service economy (remember I mentioned education earlier?) so Trades & Services feature as well.

Pie Chart – breakdown of Safety Engineer Jobs by Employment Sector

Last, ICT, Human Resources & Recruitment, Sales, etc., mop up the remaining 12%.  In this ‘tail’, a wide variety of sectors advertise for just a few positions.

It’s clear that if we want to do safety engineering then we should not limit ourselves to the ‘engineering’ industry.  Many more domains need and want our services.

Diving Deeper into Engineering

As Engineering is the biggest sector, let’s look deeper into that.  Systems Engineering and Civil/Structural Engineering comprise a third of positions, as do Project Engineering, Electrical/ Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.  Again, a wide variety of other sectors make up the final third.

Systems Engineering62
Civil/Structural Engineering40
Project Engineering37
Electrical/Electronic Engineering35
Mechanical Engineering30
Building Services Engineering19
Maintenance16
Other14
Management10
Process Engineering8
Project Management8
Aerospace Engineering7
Environmental Engineering6
Industrial Engineering6
Chemical Engineering4
Automotive Engineering3
Engineering Drafting3
Water & Waste Engineering2
Table – breakdown of Safety Engineer Jobs in Engineering by Sub-sector

This is illustrated nicely by the histogram, below.  Note how diverse safety engineering disciplines are – no one sector really dominates here.  

Histogram – breakdown of Safety Engineer Jobs in Engineering by Sub-sector

Again, the split is nicely illustrated by the pie chart, below.  We can clearly see how the top five sectors offer two-thirds of the jobs.

Pie Chart – breakdown of Safety Engineer Jobs in Engineering by Sub-sector

System Safety Engineering Job Adverts

To see what employers say they are looking for (not everyone can write an accurate job description), I have analysed a bunch of job adverts.  I looked at 22 adverts for system safety engineering jobs offering a full-time salary of up to $100k, which is basically entry-level in Australia.  I concentrated on the responsibilities that applicants should expect to hold. The results are summarized in this word cloud (thanks Tag Crowd ), below.

Word Cloud – from 22 adverts for system safety engineering jobs

As we can see, there are some obvious words that come up repeatedly – engineering, experience, safety, system – which really tell us nothing.  The next level down is more useful – development, design, management, requirements, and project.  (I notice also ‘support’ and ‘team’ but these are very widely-used words, aren’t they?  Nobody wants an uncooperative loner who won’t provide support.)

For context, and a better understanding, let’s look at the most common phrases in our sample (thanks Online Text Analyzer).  These all recur four times in our sample:

  • “experience with aerospace and/or defence projects”;
  • “strong understanding of systems engineering principles and lifecycle”;
  • “with aerospace and/or defence projects highly”;
  • “aerospace and/or defence projects highly regarded”;
  • “understanding of systems engineering principles and lifecycle management”; and
  • “experience in complex technical development and integration projects”.

We need to be a little bit careful here.  Clearly, there are one or more employers looking for experience in aerospace and defence, and their ads are using certain stock phrases repeatedly.  As we’ve seen earlier in this article, ‘Government and Defence’ is a significant employer of safety engineers, but aerospace jobs are quite rare. 

Nevertheless, if we look through this bias we can discern a need for understanding, particularly of systems engineering principles and the systems engineering lifecycle.  We also need to deal with complex technical development and integration projects.

Thus, in summary, there is a discernible focus on:

  • Development & design;
  • Management;
  • Requirements;
  • Systems engineering principles;
  • Systems engineering lifecycle;
  • Complex technical development; and
  • Complex integration projects.

There is nothing here to surprise an experienced Systems Engineer (but this article isn’t really written for experts but for those who want in). It’s nice to see it spelt out: this is what employers are willing to pay for.

Next Time…

That was ‘Safety Engineering Jobs in Australia’ – back to the Blog. Need some courses to help you along? They’re here.

Next time I will look at exemplary safety engineer resumes, and I will analyse some salary bands … until then, what’s your view of the safety jobs market in Australia?

Categories
Behind the Scenes Blog

Career Change

Crystal Ball
The Safety Artisan - anticipating risk

Career change: in my lecture to the System Engineering Industry Program at the University of Adelaide, I reflect on my career changes. What can you learn from my experiences? (Hint: a lot, I hope!)

I want to talk about career changes because all of you – everyone listening – have already started to make them. You’ve already made the ‘career change’ from being a school student to coming here. You’re going to graduate – hopefully – and then move on into industry or academia or whatever you choose to do. And there are a lot of things to take in. Some of them are directly relevant to safety. But a lot of these things are relevant to whatever you’re doing.

I’m a High-School Student: How Can I Plan My Career Path?

When I was a student at school, I knew what I wanted to do. I guess I was quite lucky in that respect. I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. But then I flunked my first eye test at 14, and I knew that was the end of that dream. So I had to choose something else. And I ended up becoming an engineer in the Air Force.

The relevance of that is that I joined the Air Force before I went to university, and they paid me some money. They paid my fees (Well, there weren’t fees at the time.) I know it’s a strange concept these days, but University was free back in the day. But far fewer people went to university, so it’s swings and roundabouts.

But I’d gone from school, where I was in the top three of everything in every class.  Then I started doing my engineering course at university. I found myself in the bottom quarter of the class in terms of performance. So that was a bit of a shock, I have to say. I suddenly realized that I was now a small fish in a much bigger bowl. I suppose if you never leave Adelaide, you never have to experience that.

But if those of you do move on and move out of the Goldfish Bowl is ‘Adle’-brain, you’ll discover there’s a big world out there. One with lots of competition. And it’s a very exciting world, but it can be a little bit frightening sometimes. But anyway, I got through it. Most of us got through the course. I was doing an aerospace systems engineering course, and we had a wash-out rate of about 10% in the first year. But if you survived your first year, it got easier.

I’ve got these questions – I lifted these questions, actually, from an essay education website. It’s a bit tongue in cheek saying, ‘How can I plan my career path?’. Because when you’re at school, you don’t really have any idea about what work is all about. Unless maybe you’ve got a part-time job. Or your family owns a business or whatever, and you’ve worked in it, and you have a more realistic idea of what work is. But work is very different from school, as I’m sure you know, and University is very different from school.

I’m a Graduate: What Do I Do Next?

And then when I graduate, I think, ‘Well, I had a career path mapped out for me’, which was ‘Join the Air Force’. But I had some second thoughts. University opened my eyes and widened my horizons. And I thought about doing other things. ‘Should I stick with the Air Force?’. Although, there was always the issue that I’d have to pay them back lots of money, which I didn’t have. So, I decided to stay.

And so, you’re thinking as a graduate, ‘Well, what do I do next?’. There’re opportunities in the public sector, working for the government. There’re opportunities in the private sector. Do I go for a small or medium or work for a large firm? Do I stay in academia and do some research? What do I do? (Do you all go straight to a master’s on your course? Or is it a bachelor’s?) So maybe you think, ‘Well, do I stay and do a master’s?’ ‘Do I stay and do a Ph.D.?’ My results weren’t good enough to do a Ph.D. so that was a decision I didn’t have to make.

There are lots of choices. And there are pros and cons of working for large firms and small firms or the public sector. I have to say the public sector is probably better at training you and investing in you. This is because they typically employ large numbers of people. And certainly, the Air Force was very enlightened about the way it did education.

And a lot of people in the Air Force studying – even the troops who had maybe joined the Air Force early, those who left school at 16 with very few qualifications. Lots of people were doing a part-time study with the Open University. A lot of people I worked with did that. Part of my job was to help them get through trying to do a master’s degree in software engineering or safety part-time and support them. Which was a great privilege and I really enjoy doing that. So, you’ve got lots of choices.

So, there’re lots of opportunities out there for you. Do go out and look at what’s out there. And as I say, some firms will have a formal graduate development scheme. Others will not. It’ll be an informal scheme, but make your mind up about which way you want to go. And what you want. Always bearing in mind, of course, that, as you’ll have seen, I ended up making a series of big career changes. I had no idea I was going to do those things. I got into software by accident. I got into safety by accident. Sorry, but no cheesy pun intended.

I’m a Veteran: How Can I Make the Career Change into Industry?

And then when I left the Air Force after 20 years, I had to make a career change from Air Force into ‘Civvy Street’, as it was known. And fortunately for me, the Air Force – in fact, all the armed forces in the UK – had a really good career change scheme. A scheme where you’re entitled to go back to the classroom and you could do courses. There were some basic courses everybody had to do.

Specifically, one where you were taught how to deal with grief, surprisingly. Because if you’ve been institutionalized in a large employer for a long, long time and you only know one way of doing things, then it’s difficult to leave. Then when you leave that and you’ve got to go out and make your own decisions and stuff, and that’s really challenging.

And the forces introduced this career change scheme based on – I think it was at a New York Police Department experience. The New York police discovered that a lot of their veterans who left the police force were dying after only a few years of retirement. And they thought ‘This is weird. They’ve done this dangerous job all their lives, and then they leave and then they all die’.

Of natural causes, I should say, and suicide. And the New York police said, ‘We’re not preparing our people to leave the stresses and strains of the police and get used to a completely different way of life.’. Fortunately, the force has introduced this career change training to help you do that. To learn practical skills. I did my project management training, et cetera.

So, that was helpful. And often I would say, if you’re going to make a career change, retraining is often a big part of that. Whether it’s the cause or the effect of the career change.

I’m Looking for A Career Change: What Are My Options?

In all of these things – as I say, I’ve done a lot of changes in my career. Some of my career was planned, but a great deal of it was not. And that’s okay. Sometimes choices are made for you by personal circumstances or whatever. I decided I had to leave the Air Force because our daughter was about to go to secondary school. We couldn’t afford to move around anymore and disrupt her education. So, the choice was made for me.

But also you might be tracking along quite nicely in your job and an opportunity comes up. And you think, ‘Well, I’d never thought about doing that, but actually, this is interesting. I’ve just got to try this.’ And I would encourage you to do that.

I’m An Employer: How Can I Ensure I Have the Workforce I Need?

One of the things I do nowadays – what I have done for a long time – is interview people. Whether it be for Frazer-Nash, QinetiQ before, or even in the Air Force. Because some of the jobs I was in were specialists and we had the right to interview. We could choose people. We could choose volunteers. So, I’ve interviewed hundreds and hundreds of people over many years. And potential employers are looking for the right people to employ. You’re looking for a good employer. How do I perform an interview and get that job? Or that career that I want?

And it’s not a secret, but when I’m interviewing people, if you rock up at the office, I’m going to find out what you do. What you’ve been doing academically. What you do outside of work. Because obviously – it’s not ‘obviously’, sorry. Often some of the most interesting things about people are what they do in their spare time. And you can learn a lot about somebody. People have got interests, particularly those who serve in different ways. Whether you volunteer for anything or sport or something like that. Because you often find that high achievers in life tend to be high achievers in everything.

And I’ve interviewed one or two people and they’ve gone out the door and I’ve looked at the other interviewer. And I’d say, ‘Well if we hire her, we’re all going to have to raise our game, aren’t we? Because she’s going to make us look bad.’. Which is a wonderful problem to have, by the way. You think ‘Great. We can get this person on the team who’s going to allow us to do something we’ve never done before.’. So, we’re looking for people that we can utilize. That we can deploy. What have you done? What tools and techniques are you able to use?

Consultancy is a bit unusual. Most of you will probably not start in consultancy. You probably won’t start in safety. In safety, most of us tend to have done another job first and then got into it for whatever reason. So, we’ve made that ‘career change’ as a graduate or an ex-graduate early in your career. I guess we’ll be looking mainly at your potential.

It’s not the technical skills so much that we’re looking for. Technical skills can be taught. If I want somebody who can do fault tree analysis, we can teach you how to do fault tree analysis. We can send you on a course. What I can’t or what is not so easy to teach is attitude and the way you approach work. And are you a team player and all those kinds of things? So, that’s often much more important.

I’m An Educator: How Can I Inspire or Educate?

I suppose this is what I’m trying to do today. In my spare time, I also run my own business called The Safety Artisan so please check it out. You can go to www.safetyartisan.com. And there’re lots of lessons on there about safety. About Australian WHS and system safety. Some of it is free and some of it you have to pay me some money for which I will be very grateful. Thank you very much. The only problem is you have to listen to me talking, but never mind. You can’t have everything.

There’re a lot of opportunities out there, and I think the Australian jobs market is very dynamic. And it works both ways. Big firms will hire hundreds of people to do a project. And then some of them will then fire you just like that when the project is over. Not all firms are like that. Many are looking for people with transferable skills. If one door shuts, usually another door opens. So, we’re looking for people who can be flexible and adaptable. This is why I find myself doing cybersecurity these days as well as safety.

Reflections On a Career in Safety

I’ll move on to some quick reflections. It says ‘Reflections on a career in safety’ but you could apply this to almost anything. At University, I learned – and in training courses throughout my career – I’ve learned a theoretical framework. Whether it be engineering. Whether it be marketing. Marketing is a science and an art and a very complex one, for example.

So, whether it’s engineering or not, there’re lots of things to learn during your career. And you’ll get to learn on a course, or an institution like this – You’ll get to learn some theory. A framework to plug things into. But actually, it’s the practical experience where you sort of put the flesh on the bones, and the two go together.

And then the second point I’d just like to make on reflection. To a degree, I would say go with the flow because opportunities will come up that you hadn’t planned for. That you hadn’t thought of. But give it a go. If you’ve got an opportunity, try it. Particularly as I found, if the alternative is doing something you really don’t want to do. That makes the choice a lot easier. But go for it.

Also, you’ve got to remember to stick to your principles. So, you’ve got to decide what’s important to you and hold on to those values. Otherwise, you could end up doing something you’re not happy with. In fact, somebody much cleverer than me once said that the secret or the art of progress is to “preserve change amidst order and preserve order amidst change”. And those are very wise words. So, decide what’s really important to you. What you will not change. What you will not compromise on under any circumstances. But other than that, go for it.

And finally, in safety and in many other things, I’ve seen people tend to overcomplicate things. I think Einstein said, if you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t really understand it. And that’s a very challenging quote but it’s very true. So, there’s a lot of complexity out there. And that’s the whole point of systems engineering, isn’t it? To deal with complexity. So, big programs, are complex things and difficult to understand. But it’s all about boiling it down to something simple. And then, understanding what those core principles are and holding fast onto them while dealing with the complexity. So, a little plug for systems engineering.

I’m very happy to talk about systems engineering, it’s so important to safety.

Do You have any Career Change Questions? Leave a Comment, below.

Categories
Behind the Scenes Blog

Testimonials

Testimonials from 20+ years in the industry. Hear what some clients and ex-colleagues have to say about The Safety Artisan.

General Testimonials

The way you teach this subject makes it comprehensible and part of an integral whole. It seems like your approach is rare (and valuable) in the world of System Safety.

Thomas Anthony
Director, Aviation Safety and Security Program
Viterbi School of Engineering
University of Southern California

“Hi Simon, I would just like to say that the content you have been putting out recently is absolutely amazing and I enjoy reading and listening through it.”

James Moodie

“Simon, Love the even-handed approach you’ve adopted and also the tongue-in-cheek comments.” 

Paul Bird, Former Manager Safety Engineering, BAES Australia

“Explanation about the military standard was very interesting, because for the first time somebody talked about possible disadvantages.”

Henri Van Buren, reviewing “System Safety Risk Analysis Programs”

“Valuable information, Clear explanations, Engaging delivery, Helpful practice activities, Accurate course description, Knowledgeable instructor.”

Manuel Louie B. Santos, reviewing “Risk Management 101”

“Understanding safety law can be difficult and, at times, confronting.  Thankfully, Simon has a knack of bringing clarity to complex legal requirements, using real work examples to help understanding.  I highly recommend Simon to any director or manager wanting to understand their legal obligations and ensure a safe workplace.”

Jonathan Carroll, Senior Leadership, Pacific National

“Simon, You are and always will be the master at explaining the way Safety management works in real life. It is great to see your broad and vast experience being available through this medium and The Safety Artisan website. I will definitely be dropping in to seek your trusted guidance.”

Kevin Payne, Systems Safety Consultant at QinetiQ

Testimonials from Udemy Courses

Principles of Software Safety Standards (scores 4.42 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 97% said YES!
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  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 95% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 86% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 94% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 97% said YES!

Get your discount here (please use this link, otherwise Udemy take 67% of the price).

How to Design a System Safety Program (scores 4.29 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 100% said YES!
  • Are the explanations of concepts clear? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 100% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 100% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 75% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 100% said YES!

Get your discount here (please use this link, otherwise Udemy take 67% of the price).

How to Prepare for the CISSP Exam (scores 4.61 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 100% said YES!
  • Are the explanations of concepts clear? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 100% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 100% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 100% said YES!

Get it for FREE here.

Risk Management 101 (scores 4.48 out of 5.00)

Performance by course attribute:

  • Are you learning valuable information? 100% said YES!
  • Are the explanations of concepts clear? 100% said YES!
  • Is the instructor’s delivery engaging? 100% said YES!
  • Are there enough opportunities to apply what you are learning? 94% said YES!
  • Is the course delivering on your expectations? 97% said YES!
  • Is the instructor knowledgeable about the topic? 100% said YES!

Get it for FREE here.

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Behind the Scenes

How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #3

This is ‘How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #3’.

Last time #2, I posted about the two major focus areas for The Safety Artisan’s teaching. These are System Safety and Australian Work Health and Safety or WHS.

In my first post, I talked about the fundamental lessons under the start here topic. Even if you are experienced in safety, you may find that things are done very differently in another industry or country – I did. 

Now for Something Completely Different

Hi everyone and welcome, to The Safety Artisan. I’m your host, Simon. In this post, I want to talk about how you can connect with me, The Safety Artisan, and get more out of the website.

There are three ways you can do this.

Sign Up for Free Monthly Email Updates

First of all, you can sign up for free monthly emails. In these, I share with subscribers what has recently been released on the website, and what is coming up in the near future.

You will never miss a topic or a subject that you might be interested in!

Front cover of PHIA Guide
Subscribe to The Safety Artisan Mailing List and get your Free Gift!

If you sign up, you will also get a free digital download and a discount offer on a bundle of courses. So what are you waiting for?

Follow on YouTube or Social Media

Second, you can follow the safety Artisan on YouTube or on social media. If you sign up on my YouTube Channel and tick for notifications, you will be reminded every time I issue a new video lesson.

I’m also on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google My Business, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Vkontakte. Phew! 

On LinkedIn, you can see my full resume/CV and find my most popular articles.

Just Get in Touch

Third, you can directly get in touch with me by commenting on a post – ask a question! There is no such thing as a ‘dumb’ question, only dumb accidents.

You can also ask general questions by filling in the form on the Connect Page. (This is better than sending me a Direct Message on social media, as I get a lot of spam.)

There are a lot of different topics that I could cover. It is surprisingly difficult to find out what people really like to hear about. So, if there’s something that you want to learn about then just ask. I will bump the topic up on my ‘to do’ list.

That’s All, folks!

Well, that’s it from me, I hope you enjoy The Safety Artisan website and get as much as you can out of it. See you soon!

How to Get the Most from #3: What subjects do you want?

Leave a comment.

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Behind the Scenes

How to Get the Most fromThe Safety Artisan #2

Crystal Ball
The Safety Artisan - anticipating risk

Hi everyone, and welcome to The Safety Artisan. I’m Simon, your host. This is ‘How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #2’.

In my previous post (#1) I talk about the Start Here topic page. There you will find lessons that deal with fundamental issues – most of them are free.

This time I’m talking about two other topic areas, which are the main focus of The Safety Artisan – so far. 

System Safety

The first topic is system safety. I spend a lot of time talking about system safety because it’s used in so many different industries. You can apply its principles to just about anything.

And because it takes a systematic approach to safety you can scale it up or down. It is used on the biggest, multinational, multi-billion dollar projects you can imagine. You can also tailor it so that it can be used sensibly on much smaller projects. You can get good results for a lot less money and time.

So I present a whole suite of sessions on system safety, in particular how to do system safety analysis according to a US Military Standard 882E. Whether you’re working on US military systems or not doesn’t matter. The principles, practices, and procedures in the standard will equip you to tackle almost any standard.

But you’ve got to understand your standard, and what it was designed to achieve. Then you can make it work for you.

Australian Work Health and Safety

The second topic that I cover in detail is Australian Work Health and Safety (WHS). I’ve done a series on WHS because I find that is often misunderstood.

Unusually for health and safety legislation, WHS covers not just workplace health and safety, but the duties of designers, manufacturers, importers, installers, and users of plant, substances, and structures. In fact, anyone who is involved through its lifecycle.

Coming to Australia?

WHS also contains and concepts like ‘So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable or SFAIRP/SFARP. These are often misunderstood and misapplied. This is a shame because the public guidance that is out there is excellent.

For example, I introduce Codes of Practice, especially the ones that tell you how to manage risk and Consult, Cooperate, and Coordinate on WHS matters. From my personal experience, I explain how to use this guidance and how to get results.

Even if you don’t work in Australia, you’ll find that many principles used in WHS law are found in other western nations. For example, I compared safety laws in the UK and Australia, based on my experience of working in both countries.

How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #3: Coming Soon…

Next time, I talk about how you can connect and interact with The Safety Artisan to get better learning results for you!

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Behind the Scenes

How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #1

Photo by Teona Swift from Pexels

In this post, ‘How to Get the Most from The Safety Artisan #1’ I will show you some of the free resources you can access…

Welcome

Hi everyone, and welcome to The Safety Artisan, my name is Simon and I’m a professional system safety engineer with more than 25 years of experience in various industries.

Simon Di Nucci, FIE(Aust), MSc, CPEng NER

In the next three posts, I’m going to tell you how to get the most from The Safety Artisan website. I’m going to start with the basics. 

Start Here

As the name suggests, start here is a good place for newcomers to start looking at blog posts and lesson videos. Most of them are Free!

Now, before you skip this bit because you’ve done some work in safety before, let me share two things with you.

Concepts

I have worked on many projects where we didn’t have a clear and unambiguous idea of what ‘safe’ means. I’m not joking!

That’s right, we were spending lots of money trying to make something safe, but we didn’t really know what that meant. Surprisingly, the bigger and more expensive the project, the more difficult it is to get a clear picture of the basics. This might sound daft but on a big project, you have to work hard to stay focused on the fundamental principles of what you’re trying to achieve.

If from the very beginning, you can understand clearly what safe means in your particular domain is, and how are you are going to manage risk, then you can arrive at a successful end game. But it’s not easy.

Second, Differences Across Countries and Industries

Another point to note is that many industries do things differently. You may have worked in rail, or in a chemical plant, or with ships, submarines, or planes and you know how safety works in your industry. But it’s still good to learn from others – and their mistakes.

‘Learn from others’ Mistakes’ said Bismark.

I have worked in all of these industries – and more – and I can tell you that the way things are done in different domains varies greatly. So when you’re going for an interview, or when you’re starting a new job, you might get some surprises…

The law on safety (and environmental protection) also varies from country to country. I’ve worked on projects in the UK, Australia, Europe, and the USA, and there are significant differences in practice. In particular, I emigrated from the UK to Australia, and I’ve compared practices in the two countries.

Coming Next…

Next week I will tell you about the more advanced topics that I cover. In the Third Post, I will talk about how you can connect with The Safety Artisan and get the online learning that YOU want.