In Vietnam a lot of information on different aspects of careers/jobs, training and education can be found online. This information can be very helpful for students, but also for teachers and parents who wish to provide some guidance to their students/children. In January 2012, VVOB and its partners explored the possibilities to develop an online portal which could serve as starting point for further exploration of the World Wide Web in support of career guidance activities in school and at home. It was decided to attract an external consultant to develop the portal and to develop content in partnership. Today all partners are pleased to introduce the first version of this portal and to unveil the carefully kept secret of the name. Curious readers can now have a look at the portal at the following url:
http://www.emchonnghegi.edu.vn (Which stands for “whatjobdoyouchoose”).
On 21 April, VVOB invited the partners in the Career Guidance programme in Hanoi for a workshop on Maintenance, Security and Content Management of the online career guidance portal. Twenty participants (including 6 female participants) represented the Departments of Education and Training, the Bureaus of Education and Training, teachers from Lower and Upper Secondary Education, and the Women's Unions of Nghe An and Quang Nam province. All participants actively participated in the workshop and provided valuable input for improvement of the portal.
The participants were split up to two groups. One group (with a background in ICT) focused on the technical aspects of the portal (maintenance and security) and received input from the consultant who developed and designed the portal. The other group reflected on the content and aspects of content management of the portal. This group developed three user profiles (one for parents, one for teachers and one for students) and developed quality criteria for links. Some new functionality has been introduced by these participants as well, such as the addition of a digital diary or portfolio for students to keep track search trajectory. It was also discussed that this portal is also very relevant and useful for students who are thinking to drop out of school. Towards the end of the workshop all workshop participants discussed on the eventual roles and responsibilities related to technical and content management aspects of the portal. The ICT staff of the DOETs knows now how to technically maintain and process inputs from end-users. A term of reference on content management will be developed and VVOB will explore together with the management of the DOETs to what extent the DOETs can follow up on that.
All participants (100%) were very satisfied with the content, training and facilitation methods and the achievement of the workshop objectives.
As it is the first stage of the portal, all partners are working hard to further improve the portal. Everyone who can contribute to the further development of the portal is very welcome to contact VVOB.
