skills

Women in Tech: A Complete Guide [Niles]

On 08/03/2022, in 21st century, career development, corporate / business world, engineering, entrepreneurship, mathematics, MBA, science, skills, society, sociology, STEAM-related, technology (general), United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Women in Tech: A Complete Guide — from techguide.org by Vasilia Niles

Excerpt:

This guide is all about how to get more women in tech. First, we will examine why the gender gap in tech fields exists and what we can do about it. And then, we will take a look at the best way to find opportunities for women interested in science, technology, and engineering — including scholarships, internships, and employment opportunities all geared toward the most cutting edge fields.

Closing the gap in tech is important for many reasons. Firstly, women make up 40 percent of the US workforce. With the tech industry being the fastest growing sector and others rapidly shrinking, there will be a disparity between supply and demand for employees if this continues. This is already the case in some tech sectors like cybersecurity.

Secondly, women-led companies and companies with more female employees historically outperform by 3x ones that are male dominant. In fact, in companies where 50 percent or more of executives are women, there are reported higher job satisfaction, better work culture, equal and higher pay, and less female employee turnover.

10 in-demand soft skills to supercharge your career [Rosenthal]

On 08/03/2022, in business, career development, collaboration, communications, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, ethics, morals/values, skills, training / L&D, Uncategorized, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

10 in-demand soft skills to supercharge your career — from fastcompany.com by Melissa Rosenthal
Your résumé and experience may get you through the door, but these soft skills could help you clinch the job.

Excerpt:

A LinkedIn Global Talent Trends report shows that 92% of talent professionals reported that soft skills are equally or more important to hire for than hard skills. The same study reveals that 89% surveyed said that when a new hire doesn’t work out, it’s because they lack much-needed soft skills.

The hard truth about hard skills is that they can have a short half-life. Constant innovation, technology updates, and new feature releases render many of these skills obsolete quickly. Meanwhile, soft skills never expire—they are relevant, transferable, and keep a person highly employable.

The workforce is changing. Can community colleges change with it? [Burke]

On 07/30/2022, in 21st century, adult learning, career development, communities of practice, community colleges, funding / grants, higher education, reinvent, research, skills, society, staying relevant, surviving, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The workforce is changing. Can community colleges change with it? — from workshift.opencampusmedia.org by Bylilah Burke; with thanks to Dr. Paul Czarapata for this resource
Advocates and researchers in education are asking if two-year institutions might transform to reach a fuller potential—serving as community hubs for social and economic mobility.

Excerpt:

Increasingly, they’re also the place students like Plunkett turn to when they find themselves at a dead end in their career and need to retool. And advocates and researchers in education are asking if these institutions might transform to reach a fuller potential—serving as community hubs for social and economic mobility.

That’s certainly the future envisioned by groups like Achieving the Dream, a leader in the student success movement. Karen Stout, president and CEO of the organization, has said that means colleges must take a more active role in bringing career-aligned education and reskilling opportunities—whether their own programs or those developed by industry—to the community.

“In the past, community colleges were lifelong-learning institutions,” Stout told Work Shift earlier this year. “Now we must become lifelong career-matching institutions—a source of upskilling, a rational pathway to career development that weaves together opportunities for students to move in and out of work and school that is designed to progressively lead to a career in a particular field.”

It’s a tall order, as the American workforce from Alabama to Wyoming is set to change drastically over the next few decades. Can community colleges rise to the occasion? Some already are.

Also from workshift.opencampusmedia.org, see:

A series of high-profile researchers and commentators this past week put the U.S. financial aid system under the microscope—looking at whether it reduces or perpetuates inequality. @kevincarey1, @dynarski, @linzcpage, @jscottclayton, Art Hauptmanhttps://t.co/YBhzEC3p3D

— workshiftnews (@workshiftnews) July 28, 2022

Coding Isn’t a Necessary Leadership Skill — But Digital Literacy Is [Matveeva]

On 07/30/2022, in career development, collaboration, computer science, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, data related items, leadership, programming, skills, training / L&D, United States, usability, user experience (UX), using teams, vision/possibilities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Coding Isn’t a Necessary Leadership Skill — But Digital Literacy Is — from hbr.org by Sophia Matveeva

Summary (emphasis DSC):

While most leaders now know that tech is a vital part of business, many are wondering what they really need to know about technology to succeed in the digital age. Coding bootcamps may appeal to some, but for many leaders, learning to code is simply not the best investment. It takes a long time to become a proficient coder, and it still doesn’t give you a holistic overview of how digital technologies get made. The good news is that most leaders don’t need to learn to code. Instead, they need to learn how to work with people who code. This means becoming a digital collaborator and learning how to work with developers, data scientists, user experience designers, and product managers — not completely retraining. The author presents four ways for non-technical leaders to become digital collaborators.

15 technical skills employers look for in 2022 [Dale]

On 07/27/2022, in 21st century, analytics, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, business, career development, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, digital video, marketing/social marketing, mathematics, platforms, programming, research, skills, social media, UK, workplace, by Daniel Christian

15 technical skills employers look for in 2022 — from wikijob.co.uk by Nikki Dale

Excerpts:

A technical skill is the ability to carry out a task associated with technical roles such as IT, engineering, mechanics, science or finance. A typical technical skill set might include programming, the analysis of complex figures or the use of specific tools.

Technical skills are sometimes referred to as ‘hard skills’ because you can learn how to do them and, in some cases, get qualified or at least certified.
…
Some technical skills employers are looking for include:

10 Arguments for Inciting Learning — from insidehighered.com by Cathy N. Davidson and Christina Katopodis
Active learning has been clearly shown to be more effective than traditional modes, write Cathy N. Davidson and Christina Katopodis, who outline its many merits to those who continue to resist it.

Excerpts:

So what can we do to convince more instructors to actually support and use active learning? Over the past several years, we’ve been researching and interviewing faculty members around the world for our upcoming book on teaching and learning, The New College Classroom. And a number of those faculty have asked us how they can best explain the merits of active learning to colleagues and administrators—and even to students and their parents— who continue to be resistant to it. Here are 10 principles, or convincing arguments, that we’ve shared with them.

“Nothing will change until faculty incentives do.
Until we change our academic reward structures for hiring and promotion, faculty members have no reason to take valuable time out from writing monographs or refereed papers to rethink their role in the classroom. We cannot incite students to learn without inciting—and incentivizing—their instructors first so they will invest in understanding and applying active learning. We’ve already made the case for why such an educational approach is vitally important, so we now say simply to top administrators: let’s do it!

Audre Lorde

I think we’ve run out of time to effectively practice law in the United States of America [Christian]

On 07/25/2022, in 21st century, accreditation, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Augmented Reality (AR), Blockchain, change, changing business models, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, communities of practice, copyright/ownership/NFTs, corporate / business world, Cost of legal services - including access, credentialing, cryptocurrencies, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, distance education, emerging technologies, engineering, entrepreneurship, experimentation, face-to-face, future, higher education, Holographic comms, human-computer interaction (HCI), hybrid learning, Hyflex learning, ideas, innovation, instructional design, law schools, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, learning spaces, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, Metaverse, Michigan, Mixed Reality (MR), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Near Field Communication (NFC), online learning, organizational change, pace of change, platforms, policy, productivity / tips and tricks, reinvent, robotics, skills, society, staying relevant, strategy, surviving, technology (general), telelegal, trends, Uncategorized, United States, universities, using teams, vendors, Virtual courts and law firms, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, Web3, workplace, XR - extended reality, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Given:

the accelerating pace of change that’s been occurring over the last decade or more
the current setup of the legal field within the U.S. — and who can practice law
the number of emerging technologies now on the landscapes out there

…I think we’ve run out of time to effectively practice law in the U.S. — at least in terms of dealing with emerging technologies. Consider the following items/reflections.

Inside one of the nation’s few hybrid J.D. programs — from highereddive.com by Natalie Schwartz
Shannon Gardner, Syracuse law school’s associate dean for online education, talks about the program’s inaugural graduates and how it has evolved.

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

In May, Syracuse University’s law school graduated its first class of students earning a Juris Doctor degree through a hybrid program, called JDinteractive, or JDi. The 45 class members were part of almost 200 Syracuse students who received a J.D. this year, according to a university announcement.

The private nonprofit, located in upstate New York, won approval from the American Bar Association in 2018 to offer the three-year hybrid program.

The ABA strictly limits distance education, requiring a waiver for colleges that wish to offer more than one-third of their credits online. To date, the ABA has only approved distance education J.D. programs at about a dozen schools, including Syracuse.

Many folks realize this is the future of legal education — not that it will replace traditional programs. It is one route to pursue a legal education that is here to stay. I did not see it as pressure, and I think, by all accounts, we have definitely proven that it is and can be a success.

Shannon Gardner, associate dean for online education

From DSC:
It was March 2018. I just started working as a Director of Instructional Services at a law school. I had been involved with online-based learning since 2001.

I was absolutely shocked at how far behind law schools were in terms of offering 100% online-based programs. I was dismayed to find out that 20+ years after such undergraduate programs were made available — and whose effectiveness had been proven time and again — that there were no 100%-online based Juris Doctor (JD) programs in the U.S. (The JD degree is what you have to have to practice law in the U.S. Some folks go on to take further courses after obtaining that degree — that’s when Masters of Law programs like LLM programs kick in.)

Why was this I asked? Much of the answer lies with the extremely tight control that is exercised by the American Bar Association (ABA). They essentially lay down the rules for how much of a law student’s training can be online (normally not more than a third of one’s credit hours, by the way).

Did I say it’s 2022? And let me say the name of that organization again — the American Bar Association (ABA).

Graphic by Daniel S. Christian

Not to scare you (too much), but this is the organization that is supposed to be in charge of developing lawyers who are already having to deal with issues and legal concerns arising from the following technologies:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) — Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), algorithms, bots, and the like
The Internet of Things (IoT) and/or the Internet of Everything (IoE)
Extended Reality (XR) — Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), Virtual Reality (VR)
Holographic communications
Big data
High-end robotics
The Metaverse
Cryptocurrencies
NFTs
Web3
Blockchain
…and the like

I don’t think there’s enough time for the ABA — and then law schools — to reinvent themselves. We no longer have that luxury. (And most existing/practicing lawyers don’t have the time to get up the steep learning curves involved here — in addition to their current responsibilities.)

The other option is to use teams of specialists, That’s our best hope. If the use of what’s called nonlawyers* doesn’t increase greatly, the U.S. has little hope of dealing with legal matters that are already arising from such emerging technologies.

So let’s hope the legal field catches up with the pace of change that’s been accelerating for years now. If not, we’re in trouble.

* Nonlawyers — not a very complimentary term…
I hope they come up with something else.
Some use the term Paralegals.
I’m sure there are other terms as well.

From DSC:
There is hope though. As Gabe Teninbaum just posted the resource below (out on Twitter). I just think the lack of responsiveness from the ABA has caught up with us. We’ve run out of time for doing “business as usual.”

Law students want more distance education classes, according to ABA findings — from abajournal.com by Stephanie Francis Ward

Excerpt:

A recent survey of 1,394 students in their third year of law school found that 68.65% wanted the ability to earn more distance education credits than what their schools offered.

Aurora Institute: Create Learning Ecosystems & Competency-Based Pathways Aligned Across K-12, Higher Education, Career & Technical Education, & the Workforce

On 07/25/2022, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, active learning, adult learning, Alternatives, assessment, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), budgets, career development, change, changing business models, collaboration, colleges, communities of practice, community colleges, competency-based learning/education, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Design Thinking, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning preferences, legislatures / government / legal, lifelong learning, love of learning, more voice more choice more control, motivation, participation, passions, personalized/customized learning, policy, real-world assignments, reinvent, skills, society, staying relevant, strategy, student-related, surviving, teachers, teaching & learning, training / L&D, United States, user experience (UX), vision/possibilities, vocational / trades, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

“We must invest in building the new policies, practices, and infrastructure that drive transformational
change toward aligned, lifelong learning ecosystems w/personalized + #CBE pathways. In learning ecosystems, learning is organized around individuals…” https://t.co/xWCIngcEV5

— Emily Liebtag, Ed.D. (@EmilyLiebtag) July 21, 2022

Aurora Institute: Federal Policy Priorities and Recommendations 2022 — from aurora-institute.org

Introduction:

It is critically important for our country to reimagine education and focus on investing in our future, not our past. The current K-12 education system has not produced equitable outcomes for all students. We must change policies and invest in innovation to transform our education systems. Student-centered policies are needed for true systems change and innovations for equity. We must challenge frames and investments that perpetuate tinkering with the existing system, rather than reimagining it. The time is ripe to redesign education to align with future needs and purposes to achieve human flourishing.

To ensure all learners are prepared for life’s uncertainties, as well as a more knowledge-driven workforce and economy, we must restructure the education system to universally recognize anytime, anywhere learning. Many states and districts have taken steps to move in new and improved directions, but more work must be done to meet students where they are and accelerate them to successful futures and prosperity. We must question the fundamental purposes of our education system, align our goals to that purpose, and expand learning to anytime and anyplace, with greater opportunities for next generation learning.

Aurora Institute’s latest Federal Policy Priorities represent an equity-oriented and future-focused set of recommendations designed to ensure that the nation’s education system moves from its current state to a system capable of preparing all learners with the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve lifelong success.

From DSC:
I post this because I like the design thinking exhibited herein. I love the idea of greater collaboration between K-12, higher education, vocational training, and the workforce/workplace. We should consider eliminating — or at least building much better bridges between the — existing silos. These silos seem to be easier to put up than they are to take down.

States Look Beyond Bar Exam to License Lawyers [Perlinger]

On 07/20/2022, in assessment, career development, change, law schools, legislatures / government / legal, skills, United States, by Daniel Christian

States Look Beyond Bar Exam to License Lawyers — from iaals.du.edu by Jonna Perlinger

Excerpt:

The bar exam has been under growing scrutiny, due to the undue financial burden it places on law graduates as well as its long history of disparate racial outcomes. In addition, minimum competence—the very thing the exam purports to assess—has historically lacked a comprehensive, evidence-based definition, prompting some to say that it’s “ineffective in gauging the knowledge and skills new lawyers need to be successful.” IAALS’ Building a Better Bar project provided the first empirically grounded definition of minimum competence and offered recommendations for how our process for licensing lawyers must change to better serve the public; our findings indicate that many aspects of the current bar exam, including multiple-choice questions, time constraints, and being closed-book, fail to align with what we know about how to best assess minimum competence to practice law.

Fortunately, however, a growing number of states are now exploring the permanent implementation of alternative licensure approaches that would allow law school graduates to obtain their license through nontraditional avenues.

Taking construction education into a new age [Arnholz]

On 07/20/2022, in digital learning, education, lifelong learning, project-based learning, real-world assignments, skills, vocational / trades, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Taking construction education into a new age — from highereddive.com by Jonathan Arnholz

Excerpt:

In 2021, the sixth edition of our top textbook, Core: Introduction to Basic Construction Skills was released in collaboration with our publishing partner Pearson. In addition to the standard updates to the content, this new edition introduced QR codes to our textbooks, directing students to digital resources to reinforce the material found in the book. In conjunction with the release of the printed book came a new Core eText and a fully re-imagined NCCERconnect online course with integrated augmented reality lessons, dozens of videos on performance tasks, construction math and employability skills, dynamic presentations to support classroom engagement, project-based learning assignments and more.

Addendum on 7/21/22:

Skilled Trades Labor Scarcity: Workforce Aging as Fewer Recruits Enter Trades — from finance.yahoo.com

Excerpt:

TACOMA, Wash., July 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The skilled trades industry is proving to be one of the hardest hit by worker scarcity. According to a new analysis by PeopleReady Skilled Trades, a specialized division of staffing giant PeopleReady, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a skilled labor shortage that companies are still struggling with today. In the period from March 2020 to December 2021, four million jobs were open in key skilled trades industries like construction—more than double the amount of vacancies pre-pandemic.

Top Content Providers For Immersive Learning (2022) — from elearningindustry.com by Christopher Pappas

Summary:

Immersive learning experiences allow learners to interact by simulating real-life scenarios. Are you ready to offer engaging virtual environments and experiences to your workforce? Dive right into this thoroughly curated top list featuring the best content providers for VR training and bring your teams one step closer to the Metaverse.

How Alternative Credentials Can Help You Find Employees — from shrm.org by Kathryn Tyler
Focus on skills, not degrees, to increase your talent pool.

Excerpts:

“Alternative credentials,” such as the ones Brown attained, are increasingly available in the form of micro-credentials, digital badges and industry-recognized certificates. They’re less expensive than a college degree and designed to help prepare workers for better jobs.
…
IBM is ahead of the game in many respects. Six years ago, the tech giant began revising its job descriptions to focus on skills and not just educational attainment. On average, 50 percent of the company’s posted positions in the U.S. don’t require a bachelor’s degree.

“We call these ‘new-collar jobs,’ and they’re aligned to careers that require the right set of skills and a commitment to lifelong learning,” says Tommy Wenzlau, talent leader for new-collar initiatives at IBM, which employs more than 250,000 workers globally. “New-collar roles are in some of technology’s fastest-growing fields, including data science, cloud computing, application development, cybersecurity and digital design.”

The new labor market: No bachelor’s required? [Lanahan]

On 07/14/2022, in 21st century, Alternatives, business, career development, change, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, higher education, skills, society, United States, universities, workplace, by Daniel Christian

The new labor market: No bachelor’s required? — from hechingerreport.org by Lawrence Lanahan
More workers without degrees are landing jobs they’d have been shut out of before. Will it last?

Excerpt:

Thanks to a tight labor market, more good jobs are opening up to workers who lack a bachelor’s degree. A month after Maryland’s announcement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis directed government agencies in his state to embrace hiring workers for skills, not degrees. Private sector employers have been rolling back B.A. requirements too.

Adapting L&D programs for the past, present and future [Coffee]

On 07/09/2022, in career development, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, future, learning, learning ecosystem, skills, training / L&D, United States, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Adapting L&D programs for the past, present and future — from chieflearningofficer.com by Calvin Coffee

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report, employees ranked learning and growth opportunities as the number one driver of thriving work culture — an increase from ninth in 2019. As demand for learning and development specialists nearly doubled over the last year, the need for successful L&D in organizations is as significant as ever, with new work environments and a massive skills gap looming.

With a massive reshuffling of talent and the increased role of hybrid work due to the pandemic, pools of learners and their skills may be entirely different for learning leaders to understand. “People are signaling satisfaction with their workplace with their feet. Having poor retention is a business problem,” says Laura Roberts, senior director, corporate leadership at Jobs for the Future. One of the best ways to increase employee retention is by simply investing in employees to foster an organizational culture built on growth and training opportunities.

Will a “Google PhD” become as good as a university-granted PhD? [Dawson]

On 07/05/2022, in 21st century, Alternatives, career development, change, entrepreneurship, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, Google, heutagogy, learning ecosystem, lifelong learning, skills, workplace, by Daniel Christian

Will a “Google PhD” become as good as a university-granted PhD? — from rossdawson.com by Ross Dawson

Excerpt:

A fundamental issue now is the degree to which employers care about the piece of paper as against the knowledge and capability. That is rapidly shifting as companies realize they will often miss out on exceptionally talented people if they insist on formal qualifications.

Entrepreneurs of course only care whether they have the knowledge to do what they’re undertaking.

It is a shifting landscape. Traditional advanced degrees have their place and will not disappear.

But “Google PhDs” will in some cases be as good, if they result in an equivalent level of expertise.

Learning Ecosystems

10 in-demand soft skills to supercharge your career [Rosenthal]

The workforce is changing. Can community colleges change with it? [Burke]

States Look Beyond Bar Exam to License Lawyers [Perlinger]

Taking construction education into a new age [Arnholz]

Top Content Providers For Immersive Learning (2022) [Pappas]

How Alternative Credentials Can Help You Find Employees [Tyler]

The new labor market: No bachelor’s required? [Lanahan]

Adapting L&D programs for the past, present and future [Coffee]

Will a “Google PhD” become as good as a university-granted PhD? [Dawson]

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