How technology can help top prepare learners for the world of work - Jisc Digital Festival 2015

How can technology help to prepare learners for the world of work?

» Lisa Gray, Senior C0-design manager

» Peter Chatterton, Consultant and HE lead

» Geoff Rebbeck, Consultant and FE and skills lead

Introductions

09/03/2015 Jisc Digital Festival, 9-10 March 2015, ICC Birmingham 4

» Background and context

» Technology as an enabler

» Examples of practice

» Key themes and issues

» A framework for the student journey

» Activity

» Summary and close

Overview



Background and context – previous Jisc activity

» Ensuring opportunities are provided throughout the curriculum to support learners reflect, plan, articulate and showcase their skills using technology

» Embedding digital literacy skills across the institution

» Enabling lifelong learners to engage with higher education at all stages of life


Background and context – previous Jisc activity

» Enabling increased engagement between employers and institutions

» Ensuring assessments are ‘authentic’, promote reflection and dialogue around feedback, and are aligned to real world tasks

» Empowering students as agents of change

Technology as an enabler


» Supporting learners to more efficiently manage, plan, develop, evaluate and showcase their employability skills

› University of Edinburgh

» Supporting more active approaches to learning which reflect authentic ‘real world’ experiences

› St. George’s Medical School and College of West Anglia

Benefits

Technology as an enabler


» Rapid and timely feedback that prompts reflection and self-regulation

› University of Dundee

» Easier engagement with employers in curriculum design and delivery

› Birmingham City

Benefits


» December 2014 - study funded

» Peter Chatterton - study lead and exploring the HE perspective

» Geoff Rebbeck - exploring the FE and skills perspectives

» February - open invitation for examples of practice

Employability study


» April – study completes

› Jisc guide

› Case studies and vignettes

› Analysis of the technology landscape, issues and challenges, impact

› Gaps and recommendations

Employability study

http://employabilityproject.jiscinvolve.org/

http://employabilityproject.jiscinvolve.org/

» University of London - employability & careers MOOC

» University of Greenwich - Greenwich Connect and GWizards

» Birmingham City University - creative problem solving and digital story-telling

» Birmingham City University - online simulation and gaming

» University of Northampton - social innovation and enterprise

» Glasgow Caledonian University - wikis to support students and employers

Examples of practice


» SW College Cookstown, Co Tyrone - Innotech Business Centre

» The Mindset - Reed Employment branches in college

» Portland College - Employment and Disability awareness

» City of Glasgow College - Stonemason Apprentice e-portfolios

» Reading College - Student-centred Project learning

» Job Centre Plus - Prep for employment

» S. Devon College - General Moodle Employment module

Examples of practice



» Different visions of “maturity” and variation in approaches to developing employability skills and attributes

» Many creative uses of technology, but “embedding” remains elusive to many institutions

» Embedding employability/attributes into curricula may be “ideal”, but there are challenges

Theme 1: Institutions are on various points of the continuum towards student employability “maturity”

Three key themes emerging (so far)


» Authentic experiences can develop skills, but depend on the degree of “authenticity” and the degree to which students learn/reflect on them and articulate them

» FE very focused on “line of sight” to employment

» “Lifelong employability” needs to be a core student capability – with students encouraged to “take ownership” early on

Theme 1: Institutions are on various points of the continuum towards student employability “maturity”



» Variation in practices and understanding of potential of technologies – by institutions, students and employers

» Institutions could do a lot more to unleash student creativity in using digital networks/media to engage with employers, alumni…

» Digital literacies underplayed for underpinning employability skills

» Employers and HE/FE generally have low aspirations in relation to “digital entrepreneurialism”

Theme 2: Technology under exploited



» Technology issues e.g. lack of integration, lack of mobility of data

» Variation in degree of data collection/analytics

Theme 2: Technology under exploited



» Core employability skills and attributes are typically being addressed, with variations… but they are continually evolving

» Unclear the degree to which employers (large and small) are involved in defining and developing employability skills

» Not much evidence of institutions evaluating impact of employability policies/initiatives with employers

Theme 3: Insufficient engagement and partnership working with employers



» Not always easy to identify “truly” authentic learning experiences with employers for ALL students, though there is much potential for student cohorts to work in partnership with employers on “real and challenging ” employer/sector problems

» HE needs to develop greater partnership working with employers e.g. to raise aspirations for “digital entrepreneurialism”

Theme 3: Insufficient engagement and partnership working with employers



“Lifelong employability”

A framework for the student journey

Planning for lifelong

employability

Developing and applying

transferable skills and attributes

Networking, communications and engagement

(peers, tutors, mentors, alumni, employers,

employer bodies…..)



Planning for lifelong

employability

Activities Tools


» Developing self-awareness and critically evaluating personal, social and professional capabilities, skills and attributes

» Identifying career, sector, job, self-employment options and skills required

» Developing personal strategic plan for career and graduate job, aligning with aspirations, goals, needs, values and strengths

» PDP/e-portfolio

» VLE / EMA

» Social media e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter,Facebook, blogs, web-sites, wikis

» Mobile devices

» Self-diagnostics tools

» Career planning tools

» Web-conferencing

» Online surveys




Developingand applying

transferable skills and attributes

Activities


» Identifying approaches to development and application of transferable skills & attributes e.g.

› Research / e-learning / course modules

› Creative problem-solving

› Innovation / change agent projects

› Authentic experiences

› Simulations

» Developing a plan for skills and attributes development

» Implementing selected approachesfor skills and attributes development

» Seeking feedback from peers, tutors, employers, mentors

» Recording, reflecting and evidencing

» Critically re-evaluating skills/plan


Tools


» PDP/e-portfolio

» VLE / EMA

» Social media e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web-sites, wikis

» Mobile devices

» Self-diagnostics tools


» Web-conferencing

» Digital story-telling

» Simulations/virtual reality

» E-Books

» Multimedia capturing, editing and production

» E-learning resources & OERs




Networking,

communications and

engagement(peers, tutors, mentors,

alumni, employers, employer bodies…..)

Activities


» Horizon scanning and developing intelligence on careers, markets, jobs, self-employment, alumni, employers and employer bodies

» Identifying a range of approaches to real/virtual networking

» Developing a plan for communicating and engaging with stakeholders with clear objectives and measures of success

» Developing engagement “collateral” e.g. CV, digital resources, evidence of skills

» Implementing a communications and engagement plan and evaluating regularly


Tools


» Online libraries & databases


» Simulation tools e.g. mock interviews

» PDP/e-portfolio

» Social media e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web-sites, wikis

» Mobile devices

» Web-conferencing

» Digital story-telling

» Multimedia capturing, editing and production


» Discuss the themes and issues raised. Do these reflect your contexts? What are the gaps?

› What’s working well

› Barriers and challenges

» How can we achieve the vision presented of technology-enhanced employability skill development?

› What can institutions do

› What can Jisc do

Activity


Find out more…

Contact…

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND

Peter Chatterton

Geoff Rebbeck

[email protected]

[email protected]

How technology can help top prepare learners for the world of work - Jisc Digital Festival 2015

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