Generative AI-Empowered Reform of Key Elements in ICT Talent Cultivation

The rapid advancement of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and intelligent agent technologies is continuously reshaping job structures, work patterns, and competency requirements within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry, thereby creating new demands for vocational ICT talent cultivation. Addressing challenges such as the mismatch between program structures and industrial needs, insufficient transformation of authentic engineering projects into instructional tasks, delayed updating of teaching materials and resources, inadequate digital-intelligence competencies among teachers, and the disconnect between training environments and real workplace scenarios, this study follows the reform requirements for the five key elements of vocational education: programs, curricula, teaching materials, teachers, and practical training. A “5×3” vocational education agent matrix is proposed, taking the five key teaching elements as the vertical dimension and industry–education integration, teaching reform, and research and industry engagement as the horizontal dimension, thereby establishing a collaborative reform framework. Based on this framework, reform pathways are developed for dynamic mapping of industrial demands, transformation of enterprise engineering tasks, dynamic construction of teaching resources, teacher competency development, and engineering-oriented training environment construction. Furthermore, a collaborative teaching model involving teachers, intelligent agents, and students is established. Real-world smart shipping projects are employed to support project-based learning, while multi-source learning evidence is integrated to diagnose and support student development. This study provides a practical framework for systematically empowering the reform of key teaching elements in vocational ICT education through Generative AI and offers an industry-oriented implementation pathway for cultivating interdisciplinary talents in the “Information Technology + Shipping” domain.