The Marshall Government deploys experiential learning technology Practera, by Australian edtech startup Intersective, driving real-world learning
The South Australian Marshall Government has partnered with Australian education technology startup Intersective to launch and pilot a new program to give international students at SA universities work experience opportunities in local businesses, aimed at strengthening their cultural immersion and language skills.
143 international students from the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, UniSA and Torrens University undertook three-week projects for business, local government and not-for-profit organisations as part of the Adelaide Engage Work Experience Network (AEWEN).
Students, mentors and educators were supported through an Adelaide Engage app, which was built on Intersective's Practera, an experiential learning technology platform.
South Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment David Ridgway said the opportunity to work on real-world business problems while studying would provide a unique hands-on experience in the South Australian business environment.
"Students will be guided throughout by a range of experienced mentors and supported by the Practera app to learn project management and team building skills. Participation in Adelaide Engage will enhance their job opportunities here and in their home country," he said.
"Businesses including SA Water, Bupa, Trajan Medical & Scientific, Chooks SA, Barossa Fine Foods, and Bank SA can tap into the wealth of bilingual, regional and cultural nous students have to help businesses grow."
Jinhong Park, a Korean student from Adelaide University, said the opportunity to get real-world experience was massive. "It was a great experience to engage in a real business project that cannot easily be done by online research. I enjoyed the opportunity to use the skills and knowledge that I am learning at Adelaide University."
Peiyan Li, from Flinders University, agreed. "I met people from different backgrounds and we all learned from each other. In the real world, it is essential to work as a team and be an active team player.
"AEWEN provides a really great opportunity for international students to engage with real work experience. During the three weeks, our members and I worked hard and contributed and facilitated discussions on a variety of ideas. I really enjoyed
this program and highly recommend to my peers."
Sebastian Pabon, a student from Torrens University, said the experience gave him confidence in his future.
"Being the team leader for this project has given me very first insight into how to be a project manager," he said.
"Dealing with life, university, project, stakeholders, team members, etc, is certainly stressful. However, learning about myself and my strengths, how I managed the team and the outcome we delivered, makes me believe that I have qualities and aptitudes as a project manager."
Minister Ridgway spoke further about the broader context for the initiative.
"To support the international education sector the State Government has increased funding to StudyAdelaide to $2.5 million each year so it can continue to promote our state and encourage more students like yourselves, to live and learn in our state," he said.
"We are also looking to double the international student ambassador campaign and strengthen interaction with overseas education agents to promote our interests overseas.
"We want to be able to further our educational ties, through partnerships with other international educational institutes."
Recent ABS data revealing international student spending in South Australia reached an all-time high of $1.54 billion in 2017, up 9.4 percent from the previous year.
Minister Ridgway said international education is South Australia's largest service export, and our second largest export overall after wine.
"We are committed to further growing this crucial economic sector," he said.
"It's estimated that each international student enrolment contributes an average of $29,600 to the local economy and every four enrolments support one full-time equivalent job in South Australia.
"International students also contribute to city vibrancy, and our government is increasing its work with South Australian companies to support individual business export growth to markets such as China."
Intersective co-founder and co-CEO Beau Leese said his company was delighted to supporting the next wave of real-world learning in South Australia.
"The Adelaide Engage Work Experience Network is a perfect example of the kind of program we built our Practera platform to support – universities, students, mentors and businesses collaborating systematically in experiential learning.
"These types of programs are key for people and organisations to build real-world skills for the jobs of the future – but delivering them sustainably at large scale is hard. Practera helps program managers deliver better outcomes by keeping learners, mentors and educators engaged and aligned, and providing rich data analytics for quality management.
"We're excited to work with forward-thinking partners like the South Australian Government to enable this amazing program."
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