WEF carried out a global poll of 11,000 young people on future skills using u-report platform.
WEF Youth Perspectives
I wish life was a game which came with instructions, but unfortunately we don’t have that roadmap that can tell us exactly what we should do to get to where we want to be.
Praise Majwafi, 22, South Africa
63% believe, given the current economic and social changes, they will have the career that they want in the future?
30% can’t afford training and its their biggest barrier to develop the skills they need to pursue career aspirations.
In Australia, which was a small sample size – don’t know what skills they need came up top.
32% job ready skill program and 28% access to on the job training would make the most difference to achieve their career goals. Thats also reflected in Australia’s small sample.
Its worth checking out the knowledge graphs – you have to create a WEF account for free, as well as easily accessible ureport
Insightful article by Craig Robertson on the future of micro-credentials – the value of formal and informal qualifications. Also, worrying data from Productivity Commission on Australia’s report card for VET reform goals where 3 of 4 important metrics not met.
– Those without Cert III – target not met – those with higher level quals (diploma & advanced diploma) – not on track – employment outcomes for VET – negative change
IDEO and Imaginable Futures attempt to provide an accessible global viewpoint on disruption in the education sector and potential ways to mitigate future impact.
IDEO and Imaginable Futures attempt to provide an accessible global viewpoint on disruption in the education sector and potential ways to mitigate future impact.
Unfortunately it’s scope is limited. For example I didn’t see mention of higher education, vocational education or lifelong learning so learning re-imagined, though a worthy browse doesn’t provide as holistic a view of the complex education and employment ecosystems.
Its signals or examples do offer useful anecdotes of how some issues are being addressed. More research, a key part of design thinking, to ensure that it was tackling the right disruptive trends in education would have helped this report considerably.
“Radical Thinking for Equitable Futures” claims heights it simply does not reach but at least its attempted to ask some important questions – how is education likely to be disrupted and can we be better prepared? Its certainly worth flicking through and you’re likely to get something out of it but probably not as much as you hoped.
A study by the Australian Catholic University shows slightly improved learning outcomes for uni students provided a video instead of a physical or live class.
The article from The Conversation by authors from the Australian Catholic University is a cause for celebration as even though students are being deprived of that authentic university experience, they won’t be deprived of that educational experience.
The Conversation’s article goes on to provide resources on improving videos such as giving students more control, making videos more authentic and interactive.
Having recently edited a video for an education institution I’d also add a couple of simple but important tips for online recording for lecturers.
Editing is your friend
Review your video and edit out extraneous detail and repetition. It can save student’s time and improve their learning experience.
With live recordings you may find that some of the informal chat between lecturer and participants can be removed if they aren’t adding any significant value.
So don’t simply record and publish, take a little time and use simple editing techniques that can make a big difference to the student.
Thinking out loud
Watch out for umm’s or err’s!
Too many of these can distract the viewers and drive them a little crazy. Just catch yourself and try pause as you think. Try to edit them out if its an issue.
Watch your video and note how often you do it.
It’s all about the audio
Your students can live with poor visual quality but not with poor audio quality.
In the age of Zoom we are saddled with an unreliable NBN with lags and disruption in recording common. Record in tandem using a second hardware source – maybe your smartphone and the worst case you can substitute in backup audio.
Audio software can also be used to dramatically improve the sound quality.
You won’t go wrong investing in a decent microphone or headset with built in quality microphone.
I’m delighted to share this video from CC&C Solutions. It uses storytelling and describe the challenges facing enterprises embarking on digital disruption, architects and skills gap and service providers needing to move up the value chain. It highlights CC&C’s unique value proposition as a global training and advisory firm.
It’s also my first freelancing engagement as I embarked on a portfolio career. I use my love of poetry, narration, creativity, animation and video production to tell their story in what I hope is an engaging way.
We all need to add mastery of storytelling to our armoury as a key skill of the future!
I’m thankful to the wonderful C C and C Solutions team for trusting me and giving me this opportunity.
If you’re interested in telling your companies story in an inspirational, creative and innovative way, then please reach out.
Its no secret that secondary schools have never been very good at supporting vocational educational pathways into jobs. New vocational education facilities are being built at Seven Hills High School and that’s an important and commendable signal in the change of emphasis by the NSW state government.
Its no secret that secondary schools have never been very good at supporting vocational educational pathways into jobs. New vocational education facilities are being built at Seven Hills High School and that’s an important and commendable signal in the change of emphasis by the NSW state government. [1]
The German experience, long a hallmark of a dual education system, shows that there are issues to resolve. [2] Low achieving and migrant students find themselves increasingly marginalised and competing with academically bright students for vocational education places. Female students are often encouraged to undertake courses in care industries instead of higher paid and traditionally male oriented jobs. Metrics and targets for female and low achieving students will help ensure equity.
Students, parents, teachers and employers are all confused by the myriad of options available in a fragmented education sector. Many fail to understand the importance of early decisions. Many simply do not know or are too busy with the day to day to care. How do we reach them? Age appropriate communication and tools to explore pathways, implications of early decisions and future consequences are important adjuncts to providing much needed new facilities.
There’s no silver bullet but an understanding of the issues and risks will help schools navigate their way through Australia’s emerging education sector of the future.
Foundation of Young Australian’s new report asks what is good work in an increasingly deregulated job market and makes policy suggestions to turn that around.
FYA looks at what part time, casual, self-employed and gig work – or flexible work – means for young people, their livelihoods and careers.
The future looks bleak for many and we cant rely on free markets alone to to create new jobs. We’ll end up with generations of young people not living up to their potential or be given the opportunities that they deserve in life. Unless good work can be created by government backed up with training pathways for skills of the future. Lets give our children a future they deserve.
If 73 senior professors wrote me a letter I would listen as we simply cannot afford to get this wrong.
The governments well intentioned objective is to “...better align Commonwealth funding to emerging labour market priorities, including nursing, health occupations, teaching and IT“.
Surely providing student more data and insights on skills of the future, occupation pathways, employability and revenue potential would surely have been a less drastic starting point? Ultimately better informed students would vote with their feet and we would achieve the same outcome while remaining true to open market principles.
Open badges and microcredentials with their focus on competency-based recognition rather than time spent learning will become important foundations for rebuilding our economy and equipping people with the skills of the future.
Open badges and microcredentials with their focus on competency-based recognition rather than time spent learning will become important foundations for rebuilding our economy and equipping people with the skills of the future. They won’t help institutions to figure out what should be in a course but they standardise a way of displaying it with key metadata including links to evidence.
The highly visual nature of open badges, especially when designed well, gives more faith to future employers on the skills of the badge recipient.
Its still a confusing field.
The following article is a great overview for educators looking to for a practical understanding of this emerging field and ecosystem.
Tables of stature half height
Dust settling on mornings glow
Chairs tucked in
Uncharacteristically
For once
Lined in a row.
Silence deafeningly unnatural
Fills the room
Remnants of children's laughter
Echo
Poignant reminders
Remnants that reverberate
Faint shadows.
Dusk pervades the classroom
Teachers weep at time now frozen
As a generation now chilled
For their time has been stolen
Lives full of promise
Unfulfilled
Remain on hold.
The Spoken Word 