The current logbook system in VET education in Iceland is paper based and considered outdated. This is why modernisation and move to digital for VET learners was recommended by a high-level working group as early as 2015.
The main goal of the project is to enhance the quality of work-based learning by creating a communication platform for students, enterprises, schools, and other stakeholders.
The content of the logbook is based on job descriptions and competence requirements that the occupational councils are currently updating. In the updating process rapid changes that have taken place in many professions due to technological advances are taken into account.
The Directorate of Education hired a project manager to develop and coordinate the digital logbook. The education ministry also entrusted the directorate with the task of undertaking the administration and services of all occupational councils.
Considerable work has been done on developing and programming the logbook software. The plan is to launch the new logbook gradually, as small working groups consisting of people working in the trade and representatives of the school community are established in order to define skills for work-based learning. This work is well under way and it is expected that the first learners will start using the logbook in 2021. Great emphasis is also placed on reviewing learning outcomes, considering the division of studies between schools and the workplace and ensuring that VET meets the requirements of a rapidly changing labour market.
The digital logbook will contain description of skills and competence requirements that the learner must have acquired at the completion of learning. The system will function as a venue for schools to assist learners in finding work placements and for enterprises to advertise their apprenticeships. It is foreseen that the digital logbook will both assist VET schools to plan learning pathways and will provide the learners with a better overview of their learning. The logbook is also seen as a medium that will enhance the attractiveness of VET among the Icelandic learner population.