Apprentices in lockdown
In mid-March, vocational education and training at ETH Zurich also had to swiftly make the move to distance learning. We took a look at the IT and laboratory technician programmes to find out how trainers and apprentices are coping with the situation.
ETH is home to 170 apprentices in 15 different vocational training programmes – but currently, they're all working from home. "The IT teaching lab is in a comfortable position. Apart from now working from home and having to meet on video chats, not a lot has changed for us," says vocational trainer Martin Schneider. But the situation is very different depending on the training programme, with laboratory technicians in particular relying on access to ETH's physical infrastructure. Technicians in physics, chemistry and biology laboratories complete their first training station at a teaching lab before typically going on to work in different research groups and laboratories. Currently this is no longer possible, and with most research activity on hold, there is little work to be done in this area.
Creative solutions in demand
Simple and creative solutions are needed in order to continue training and supporting ETH's apprentices during the crisis. This means that certain subjects have been put on pause for the time being: for example, now that physics lab technicians don't have lab access, they are focusing more on computer programming. ETH is also making use of various vocational training initiatives so that apprentices can continue their apprenticeships virtually, acquiring job-related knowledge and gaining hands-on project experience from home. The "Lern mit mir" (Learn with me) platform allows young people from all vocational training programmes to share knowledge with other apprentices and provide high school students with information about their chosen occupations. Severin Zimmermann is a physics laboratory technician in the fourth year of his apprenticeship. He is extremely active on the Lern mit mir platform, where he tutors other apprentices in maths and physics and is even offering courses on space travel. Limay Beron, a biology lab technician in her second year of training, is also active on the platform. Since it is currently not possible to conduct information events on vocational education and training opportunities, she holds video conferences with high school students to share insights into her career path.
Another vocational training initiative is called Young'n'Rising (YnR). The idea of having a cross-vocational team of apprentices work on real jobs and projects from across ETH already came about before the corona crisis hit. YnR also offers apprentices the opportunity to gain experience on projects while working from home. Jonas Wiesendanger, a systems technology trainee in the second year of his apprenticeship, is part of the first generation of YnR users, along with four other apprentices from IT, three from interactive media design and one from business administration. Over the past few weeks, he has been able to independently complete jobs from the YnR portal: for instance, he helped to produce an interactive world map for the Cybathlon – which had been scheduled for early May – where visitors can find out more about the participating teams from all across the globe. "This project helped me expand my programming knowledge," says Wiesendanger. "It would be great if I'm able to be there when the map is eventually unveiled at the Cybathlon."
Staying in touch
The vocational trainers' mentoring work has become more difficult and time-consuming in the absence of direct contact with their young teams. However, on the whole, both the trainers and the apprentices seem to be coping astonishingly well with the situation. But what are the signs that maybe one of the apprentices is not doing so well after all? "The key is to stay in touch with them to find out how they're coping with their new routine," says Fabienne Jaquet, Head of Vocational Education and Training.
"The key is to stay in touch with the apprentices to find out how they're coping with their new routine."Fabienne Jaquet, Head of Vocational Education and Training
The two vocational trainers we spoke to also confirmed that it is essential to have regular interaction with the apprentices. "With distance learning it's harder to 'read' how the apprentices are doing. We get in touch with them at least three times per day and sometimes finish up the day with a bit of entertainment by playing online pictionary," says Martin Schneider. By staying in close contact, it is easier to tell if someone is exhibiting unusual behaviour. Cornel Andreoli holds frequent Zoom meetings with his team of apprentices. At the end of the week, he assesses the general mood by asking the question "How are you doing?" and compiling a word cloud with all the answers. "If I notice that someone is pulling back, I try to talk to them one-on-one," he says.
Silver linings
Decreased motivation, social isolation, lack of interaction with peers: these issues are also on apprentices' minds as they work from home. At the same time, though, the unusual situation can also open up new horizons and tap into new sources of energy. "The current crisis is also giving me the chance to show that I'm independent and can organise myself well," says future physics lab tech Severin Zimmermann. In mid-June he was scheduled to take his written final apprenticeship exam, but they have been called off all across Switzerland. "On the one hand I'm happy about it, but on the other I don't want to have any gaps after the crisis, so I'm going on with studying," he says. Zimmermann's final project involves building a furnace for use in carbon-14 dating, but so far he has only been able to develop the plans and work with computer modelling. The actual construction and testing of the furnace depend on when he is allowed to return to ETH.
Biology lab technician-in-training Limay Beron has also been able to find silver linings in the crisis: "A lot is happening even though we're always at home. I find it good that I can now also see more value in the little things – and that we can still rely on our trainers even in these hard times."
Further information
All information about the measures taken by ETH Zurich during the coronavirus pandemic can be found on the coronavirus website.