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Agribusiness decision makers, on the farm and in horticulture, have identified they want better business development opportunities for themselves and their team – and the Diploma in Agribusiness Management is meeting this demand. The qualification delivered by Aoraki Polytechnic, in partnership with Primary ITO, uses new learning technologies to help students add meaningful capability to their agribusiness. The first intake of students is two months into their learning, which has been very different to the traditional class-room based learning that is the norm. Mike Parr is one of Aoraki’s dedicated agribusiness tutors, working in Timaru, Ashburton and Oamaru. He has spent the first six weeks of the Diploma helping students gather evidence for the ‘ACCK’ process (‘Assessment of Current Competency and Knowledge’). Aoraki Polytechnic is the first organisation to use ACCK in agribusiness. This innovative method identifies that many people may already be skilled in many areas of their business, and this enables students to learn what they need to learn, rather than starting from scratch. Each student compiles a portfolio of evidence, which they can then choose to put forward for assessment. ACCK is a process of identifying previous experience, knowledge and transferrable skills sets and gaining recognition. It is an excellent way to fill-in gaps in skill-sets. “The purpose behind the ACCK process is to highlight to the student ‘Yes, I have covered this,’ or ‘There’s a whole lot of stuff that I don’t know’. It’s a navel-gazing exercise to look quite hard at themselves, at what they have learned, and what they need to learn,” says Mike. To kick-start their agribusiness learning, students attended a one-day workshop which showcased the software programme they’ll use throughout the Diploma. The online learning platform called ‘Moodle’ allows the student to learn at their own pace, at a time that is […]