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<\/a> Figure 1.2.1 Using social media for communication is an essential skill for a digital age[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_451\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"530\"] Figure 1.2.2 From 'Humans Wanted', Royal Bank of Canada, 2018[\/caption]\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \r\nTwo of the main conclusions from the Royal Bank report were as follows:<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n Canada\u2019s education system, training programs and labour market initiatives are inadequately designed to help Canadian youth navigate this new skills economy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t Canadian employers are generally not prepared, through hiring, training or retraining, to recruit and develop the skills needed to make their organizations more competitive in a digital economy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n (a) are programs identifying clearly the learning outcomes expected from a program of study?<\/span><\/p>\r\n (b) do these learning outcomes sufficiently take into account skills as well as content\/topics?<\/span><\/p>\r\n (c) are these learning outcomes relevant for a digital society?<\/span><\/p>\r\nIn other words, we have a major pedagogical challenge in several parts:<\/span>\r\n <\/p>\n Knowledge involves two strongly inter-linked but different components: content and skills. Content includes facts, ideas, principles, evidence, and descriptions of processes or procedures. Most instructors, at least in universities, are well trained in content and have a deep understanding of the subject areas in which they are teaching. Expertise in skills development though is another matter. The issue here is not so much that instructors\u00a0do not help students develop skills – they do – but whether these intellectual skills match the needs of knowledge-based workers, and whether enough emphasis is given to skills development within the curriculum.<\/p>\n Prediction is always risky, but usually the big trends in the future can already be seen in the present. The future will merely magnify these current conditions, or current conditions will result in a transformation that we can see coming but is not here yet. Examples are many:<\/span><\/p>\n One thing is clear. We can either as individuals throw up our hands and leave all these developments to either state or commercial entities to manage in their own interests, or we can try to prepare ourselves so that we can influence or even control how these developments are managed, for the greater good.<\/span><\/p>\n This is what I mean when I talk about developing 21st century skills, or preparing for a digital society. We have a responsibility for ensuring our students are educated sufficiently so that they understand these issues and have the means by which to address them. This is a responsibility of every educator, because it affects all areas of knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n For instance the science professor needs to instill in her students an ability to identify reliable and unreliable sources of scientific data, and an ability to apply that knowledge in ethical ways that benefit mankind. This is a particularly important responsibility for those teaching computer sciences. We need to teach about the dangers of unintended or unknown consequences of artificial intelligence applications and of automated analyses of mass data, potential biases in algorithms, and the need to audit and adjust automated procedures to avoid unforeseen but harmful consequences before they do damage.<\/span><\/p>\n Digital (rather than purely online) learning has a critical role to play, because in order to develop these skills our students’ learning itself needs<\/span> to be digitally embedded. Only by mastering technology can we control it.<\/span><\/p>\n The skills required in a knowledge society include the following (adapted from\u00a0Conference Board of Canada, 2014<\/a><\/span>):<\/p>\n In 2018, the Royal Bank of Canada issued a report, called ‘Humans Wanted<\/a>.’ This was based on an analysis of big data derived from job postings over a 12 month period on LinkedIn, in which the actual skills being requested by employers were identified and analysed, and from which an analysis of the demand for different types of labour was conducted.<\/span><\/p>\n The main conclusion of the report was that there will be plenty of jobs in the future, but they will require different skills from those generally required at the present. In particular, many of the new skills needed will be what are perhaps confusingly called soft skills, such as attentive listening, critical thinking, digital fluency, active learning, etc. (confusing, because these ‘soft skills’ are often as difficult to cultivate as ‘hard skills’.) These are skills that automation and AI cannot easily replicate or replace but which will be needed in the new digital economy. The Royal Bank identified the following as key skills that will be in high demand between 2018 and 2023 (dark blue = very important; lighter blue = important):<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Two of the main conclusions from the Royal Bank report were as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n Canada\u2019s education system, training programs and labour market initiatives are inadequately designed to help Canadian youth navigate this new skills economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Canadian employers are generally not prepared, through hiring, training or retraining, to recruit and develop the skills needed to make their organizations more competitive in a digital economy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n What methods of teaching are most likely to develop soft skills? In fact, we can learn a lot from research about skills and skill development (see, for instance,\u00a0Fischer, 1980<\/a>,\u00a0Fallow and Steven, 2000<\/a>):<\/p>\n What are the implications of this for not only teaching methods, but also curriculum design?\u00a0It is worth remembering that unlike competencies, many ‘high-level’ soft skills such as critical thinking are cumulative and do not have a clear end-point. Serena Williams keeps winning not because she continues to get faster and stronger than younger players, but because she continues to hone her skills (including strategy) to a level that compensates for her diminishing strength and speed.<\/span><\/p>\n Soft skills need to be developed over a program (indeed a lifetime) rather than in a single course. How do we identify then how to build critical thinking skills for example from first year through to graduation in a particular discipline? How does the development of skills in later stages build on work done earlier in a program?<\/span><\/p>\n Another challenge is measuring skills. I was once questioned by a colleague when I said my students were learning to think critically.<\/span><\/p>\n ‘How do you know?’ he said.<\/span><\/p>\n My answer was: ‘I know it when I see it in their assessments.’<\/span><\/p>\n\r\n \t
1.2.4 Developing skills<\/h2>\r\nWhat methods of teaching are most likely to develop soft skills? In fact, we can learn a lot from research about skills and skill development (see, for instance,\u00a0Fischer, 1980<\/a>,\u00a0Fallow and Steven, 2000<\/a>):\r\n
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1.2.5 Measuring skills<\/h2>\r\nAnother challenge is measuring skills. I was once questioned by a colleague when I said my students were learning to think critically.<\/span>\r\n\r\n'How do you know?' he said.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMy answer was: 'I know it when I see it in their assessments.'<\/span>\r\n\r\n'But how will your students know what you are looking for if you can't describe it in advance?'<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO)\u00a0published a report in 2018\u00a0<\/a>that claimed to be\u00a0'one of the first major attempts to measure employment-related skills in university and college students on a large scale.' The second study used a test designed to evaluate students\u2019 ability to analyse evidence, understand implications and consequences, and develop valid arguments.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe HEQCO study concluded that final-year students had somewhat higher scores in literacy and numeracy than their first-year counterparts, although there was considerable variation among programs, but little difference between the test scores of incoming and graduating students in critical-thinking abilities<\/span>, although critical thinking ability too showed considerable variation among programs.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThere are a number of possible criticisms of this study. One of the challenges that the HEQCO study faced was finding valid and reliable ways to assess soft skills. The first study\u00a0measured literacy, numeracy and problem-solving abilities of adults using everyday scenarios.Why assess these skills outside the knowledge domains in which they were taught, given the importance of context? Were the measurements sensitive enough to really discriminate differences in skill development over time?<\/span>\r\n\r\nNevertheless, it is worrying that HEQCO found that after four years of post-secondary study there was no noticeable difference in critical thinking skills. Is this because this is not being well taught, or because the tests used were not valid? Any attempt to identify learning outcomes involving skills requires consideration from the beginning of how these skills can validly be assessed. Instructors should not complain about HEQCO's assessment methods if they cannot justify their own methods of identifying and assessing skills.<\/span>\r\n
1.2.6 Skills and learning outcomes<\/span><\/h2>\r\nThe Royal Bank of Canada and the HEQCO studies both highlight that it is becoming increasingly important to define learning outcomes in terms of skills acquisition.\u00a0Both these are valuable studies that identify some of the issues around developing the knowledge and skills that students will need to succeed, not just in the workforce, but in life generally in the last three quarters of this century. However, the two reports have barely touched the tip of this particular iceberg. Neither for instance attempted to suggest how<\/em> students can develop these skills or what instructors need to do to help students develop such skills.<\/span>\r\n\r\nWhen developing curricular, in terms of deciding not only what but also how to teach, we need to ask the following questions:<\/span>\r\n
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1.2.7 Rethinking teaching and learning<\/span><\/h2>\r\nThese are essentially curriculum and pedagogical issues. It means rethinking not only the curriculum and how we teach it, but also the role that technology can play in developing such skills. How can technology increase empathy and understanding (for example, through creating virtual environments or simulations where students play the role of others)? How can technology be used to provide scenarios that enable skills development and testing in a safe environment? How can technology be used to enable students to solve real world problems?<\/span>\r\n\r\nThere are a million possible answers to such questions and they need to be answered by instructors and teachers - and by learners - with deep understanding of their subject matter. But subject knowledge alone is not enough if we are to make the last three quarters of the 21st century a time when all people can thrive and feel free.<\/span>\r\n\r\nChapters 2 and 3 explore different methods of teaching and will look at how well these methods accommodate skills development. But in the next section I discuss the dangers of tying skills development too closely to the immediate needs of the labour market.<\/span>\r\n
References<\/h2>\r\nThe Conference Board of Canada (2014) Employability Skills 2000+<\/a><\/em> Ottawa ON: Conference Board of Canada\r\n\r\nFallow, S. and Stevens, C. (2000) Integrating Key Skills in Higher Education: Employability, Transferable Skills and Learning for Life<\/em><\/a> London UK\/Sterling VA: Kogan Page\/Stylus\r\n\r\nFinnie, R. et al. (2018)\u00a0Measuring Critical-thinking Skills of Postsecondary Students<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Toronto ON: HEQCO\r\n\r\nFischer, K.W. (1980) A Theory of Cognitive Development: The Control and Construction of Hierarchies of Skills Psychological Review<\/em><\/a>, Vol. 84, No. 6\r\n\r\nRoyal Bank of Canada (2018) Humans Wanted<\/a><\/em> Toronto ON: Royal Bank of Canada\r\n\r\nWeingarten, H. et al. (2018)\u00a0Measuring Essential Skills of Postsecondary Students: Final Report of the Essential Adult Skills Initiative<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>Toronto ON: HEQCO\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_3803\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"251\"]
<\/a> For my comments on why skills development is so important in a digital age, click on the podcast below[\/caption]\r\n\r\n[audio m4a=\"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/teachinginadigitalage\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2015\/05\/skills-development-2015-05-03-5.56-PM.m4a\"][\/audio]\r\n\r\nActivity 1.2 What skills are you developing in your students? Part 1<\/h3>\r\n1. Write down a list of skills you would expect students to develop as a result of studying your courses.\r\n\r\n2. Compare these skills to the ones listed above. How well do they match?\r\n\r\n3. What do you do as an instructor that enables students to practice or develop the skills you have identified?\r\n\r\nThere is no feedback provided for this activity, but see podcast above..<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n1.2.1 The growing importance of skills development<\/h2>\n
1.2.2 The needs of a digital society<\/span><\/h2>\n
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1.2.3 What skills?<\/h2>\n
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1.2.4 Developing skills<\/h2>\n
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1.2.5 Measuring skills<\/h2>\n