TAFE Queensland partners with Microsoft Australia to deliver seamless blended learning

For over 140 years, TAFE Queensland has been delivering practical and industry-relevant training to provide students with the skills and experience they need to build lifelong careers.

During that time, a lot has changed and TAFE Queensland has continued to be innovative and flexible to meet the changing needs of students and employers.

“Post pandemic, when the world of work changed dramatically and the demand for greater remote and flexible study arrangements increased, we looked to emerging technologies to enable us to continue to provide our customers with the same high quality, industry-standard training we are renowned for,” said TAFE Queensland Chief Information Officer Alan Chapman.

The challenge was to ensure all staff and students could collaborate and learn seamlessly and securely, no matter where they were. The solution, give students their own digital identity and provides access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.

The vision was to support students with best-in-class tools as TAFE Queensland expanded training into new blended delivery models, incorporating online, virtual and on-campus learning environments.

“Not only were we enabling student mailboxes for the very first time, but also making a fundamental change to student accounts to be centred around their newly provided email address as the cornerstone of their identity. Access to these tools ensured that we could provide our students with the industry-standard apps, services and support they need to be productive and successful in their chosen careers,” Alan said.

As well as Outlook, productivity tools like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel, cloud storage in OneDrive and OneNote, are now available to all students.

The aim is to allow both students and educators to freely work together while also keeping staff-only data private.

“As a result of implementing Microsoft 365 apps and services across TAFE Queensland, students have reported not only a greater level of service and positive user student experience, but most importantly they are telling us their productivity and training outcomes have also increased. They appreciate having the capability to now work on assessments, take notes, store files, communicate, collaborate and complete their learning on any device, at any time – all important skills they will take with them into the workforce,” added Alan.

“It has also meant that we can provide a standard set of recommendations to students when completing assessments. Now we know with confidence that they will be able to access the necessary apps and services to complete their study regardless of whether they are learning on campus or remotely."

“Enabling student accounts in Microsoft 365 has provided us the opportunity to unify our student identity for the very first time. This simply means that students just have one username (their email address) and password to remember, and it works consistently across all of our student systems for their entire study journey. “

With adaption of the Microsoft 365 suite also now in progress for staff, Alan says further technological innovation is certain.

“Focusing on our customers is one of TAFE Queensland’s core values and we are unwavering in our commitment to making sure our students have a safe and positive experience when they study with us. In fact, it’s one of the many things we are known for and sets us apart from other providers in the market.”