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Education Dive
How
new learning modes will shape the 'future of work'
Hallie Busta
April 22, 2019
Dive Brief:
The function and makeup of the workforce will change as industries
adapt to new technology and processes, raising questions about how
educational models are responding to deliver relevant training,
explains a new white paper from the World Economic Forum and the Boston
Consulting Group.
The report examines eight possible outcomes for the future of work
based on three variables: educational models, workers' economic
mobility and the rate of technological advancement. A combination of
the outcomes is most likely, the authors note.
One common theme throughout the outcomes is what the report positions
as a consequence of educational models being slow to adapt to workforce
needs: displaced workers competing for fewer jobs as industries become
increasingly automated.
Dive Insight:
The ability for workers to develop the skills and knowledge needed to
succeed in the workplace "is one of the most impactful and uncertain
variables for the future of work," the authors write.
They see two paths forward for workforce education: learning outcomes
staying mostly the same or undergoing a "rapid learning evolution."
Their recommendations to business and government leaders count on some
degree of change across lower- and higher ed. Proposed reforms include
adding tech-based and soft skills to the curriculum; combining offline
and online learning; "professionalizing and enhancing" teachers’ roles;
and developing "better and more inclusive" lifelong learning systems.
They don't count out challenges. For instance, how successfully workers
can refresh their skill sets will depend on "the quality of and access
to" those supports and "the costs and time associated with it as well
as clarity around its potential returns."
The ability to do so is among "the most critical actions" in the
report, the authors explain.
It is also an area of greater focus across higher ed. A policy paper
released in September from the Association of Public & Land-grant
Universities put workforce development under the purview of four-year
research universities and urged institutions to find ways to connect
their programs to their local and regional economies.
Several institutions are looking to lock down this pipeline of
prospective students, which is shaping up to be an important revenue
stream as traditional enrollments decline. Arizona State University and
the nonprofit National University System have each in recent months
launched ventures designed to work with employers seeking educational
opportunities for their workers.
Although the for-profit nature of Arizona State's InStride has raised
eyebrows, observers told Education Dive that the ability to attract and
retain the adult learners brought in through these arrangements is
often not something traditional universities do well.
Other institutions are growing their online offerings to reach this
group. Among them, the University of Massachusetts system recently
announced plans for an online college targeting adult learners. And the
State University of New York is underway with an online expansion that
hopes to reach this group and fend off competition from online
powerhouses like its neighbor Southern New Hampshire University.
Colleges are also adding job-related knowledge to their curriculum.
Embedding certifications in degrees, long an option at two-year
institutions, is slowly gaining traction in four-year curriculum as
well. Other recent work on short-term credentials includes the
development of badges in soft skills employers have asked for, such as
oral communication and problem solving.
Critical to the uptake of these credentials is finding ways for
students to present to prospective employers their full range of skills
they learned on their path to a full degree — something institutions
are working toward with approaches such as new kinds of transcripts.
Read this and other stories here
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