Introduction
Michael Moe, Chief
Executive Officer of GSV Capital, recently remarked at the annual ASU-GSV
Summit that “you will no longer fill up your knowledge tank until age 25 and
drive off through life; you will continuously replenish it (Moe 2016).” This
paper examines why the American workforce needs an adaptive, lifelong learning
mindset. This paper also presents three design principles to facilitate
lifelong learning at the learning enterprise level. For decades experts have
debated what to teach to prepare the workforce; we argue the true imperative is
to teach all students why lifelong learning matters and how to approach a
lifetime of continuous learning.
Lifelong Learning Skills
Americans must become
lifelong learners. Learning enterprises (i.e., education institutions such as
secondary schools, colleges, universities, and new types of hybrid
organizations) must help learners develop and nurture an adaptive mindset
toward continuous education. They must also help learners value and refine
their uniquely human qualities (i.e., curiosity, problem solving skills,
creativity). Learners without a secondary or postsecondary degree will have
different continuous learning needs than those with a postsecondary degree.
Some learners will need remedial reading and arithmetic training. Others may
need language or scientific inquiry development. The skills for lifelong
learning, however, will be the same for everyone. All learners will need to
embrace the continuously evolving nature of the skills required to succeed in the
workforce. Learners need to chart their own career and education pathway
through informed decision-making processes. Learners will also need to refine
the skills that technology has yet to replicate (social skills, creativity, and
a strong curiosity for learning).
Continuously Evolving Skills
Technology alters how
work is done, and the technical skills required for success are changing
(Manyika, et al. 2013). Walk into any manufacturing facility and you will see
fewer line workers running machines with their hands and more technicians
operating complex computer systems. As technological change causes economic
disruptions along shorter and shorter timeframes, the pace at which Americans
are required to learn new skills will continue to accelerate. As John Seely
Brown, the co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for the Edge, explains, “We’ve
shifted from stable stocks of knowledge and an archived world to a world of
information flows, participation and states of confusion. Now we create as fast
as we learn. The game is more complicated (The Aspen Institute 2014).”
Flexing Human Comparative Advantage
Technology’s ubiquitous influences should trigger learners
to leverage and hone their most human traits. Learners must match their
adaptive mindset (ability to pivot) with social skills and a continuous
curiosity (desire to learn). While perhaps initially counterintuitive,
technology is placing an ever-increasing premium on social skills: critical
thinking, problem solving, empathy, communication, and perseverance, among
others (Thompson 2014). These skills are a constant in a typhoon of
technology-driven economic change. Some critics argue that the increased
mechanization of the economy will actually inhibit humans from finding
employment, as robots take over larger and larger swaths of the labor market.
We believe, however, that the human contribution to economic output will be
more important than ever, and Americans should proactively prepare for this.
Learning Enterprises
Institutions of
learning have an imperative to innovate and adapt to nurture lifelong skills
among more Americans. The present-state design of most educational institutions
is quite static. Educational institutions offer time-bound learning experiences
that in the secondary and postsecondary context are primarily associated with
career preparation and sometimes coupled with civic engagement and personal
development. New technologies, however, are changing the distribution methods
of knowledge and the learning preferences of students, creating a new dynamism
in education. Exploding costs, low completion rates, and state divestment also
threaten the financial models of existing educational institutions.
Lifelong Learning: Infrastructure
Learning enterprises can
design the infrastructure to make learning more appealing and accessible
throughout learners’ lifetimes. Such infrastructure could take many forms. We
offer three design principles we anticipate will be helpful to a broad range of
learners.
No comments:
Post a Comment