The future of work and learning

Photo by LandOreports

The final day of Online Educa Berlin continued with challenging, but even more diverse offerings. One of the best sessions was on “Future Work and Future Workers.” Several futurists posed their visions of how the world of work is changing. There seems to be little doubt that, without a major natural or other disruption to progress, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will reduce the human contributions to many tasks. Some jobs will be changed and some will fade away. One presenter thought technology-enhanced jobs will be the most common change, where AI and other tools will just modify and improve what we already do. Another felt that many jobs will disappear, and that it is too soon to see how people will adapt to the change. Can all the replaced people become knowledge workers? Unlikely, based on current definitions of that term, but in a world of connected knowledge, perhaps we all have a place.

All seemed to feel that work has already changed. Work is now more interconnected, multidisciplinary, multi-generational, freelance, and project-oriented. The days of having a single job are fading—we increasingly fill many roles and may eventually all become entrepreneurs. The workplace of the future (already here for many) will be spread over multiple locations, if not ubiquitous. We can all contribute from anywhere and at anytime using tools already available.

The world of learning is also changing rapidly. Virtual reality workshops could become a radical disrupter and challenge those most die hard in insisting on the need for classroom training. People are learning new skills each day via YouTube videos. Do you want your doctor trained this way? Maybe a better question is, if this is where they can learn new techniques quickly, do you want them to NOT use them?

What skills are most required in this new world of work? In addition to technical skills, some posed were

• Analytical skills
• Intuition (creative) skills
• Information brokering
• Multi-cultural perspectives
• Multi-disciplinary flexibility

Concerns were raised that the rapid pace of change is counter productive, and some warned that if we do not make it a habit to slow down, we might lose too much of our humanity.

At a session dedicated to participants from UN agencies, 23 participants discussed challenges to training design, development, and delivery. Concerns were raised about the need for faster, agile instructional design processes. In a discussion about uses of blended learning, it was clear that the term has many meanings. Many saw that at least 3 phases are needed—an online course phase, followed by a classroom phase, completed by a mentoring phase. (This was heartening to see!) Others talked about using a variety of tools and modes in the blend, not just single conceptions of “online.” We shared the tools we use, and agreed to keep a community together as much as possible to share experiences and strategies. ECBCheck, a quality management system for online learning, will be taught in a MOOC starting 15 February,2016.

In a session on learning analytics, the challenges of sorting through piles of data to turn them into useful information for diagnosis and prediction to improve learning was highlighted. In university settings, they are first tackling the task of gathering analytical data for predicting positive learning experiences, engagement and completion. Decision makers want single indices to use as predictors to help learners at risk, but with so many contributing factors, this is difficult. Learning quality, which will be much more complex to analyze, will have to come later, in the eyes of the presenters.

by Bryan Mathers

In a visually inspiring session, Bryan Mathers provided a graphical tour through ideas and concepts about learning. His blog might be of interest to you.

A final session on “2500 years of Learning Theory in 25 minutes” by Donald Clark, left few theorists unscathed. It was a challenging and thought-provoking session, but one full of hyperbole. However, the emphasis on practical theory (an oxymoron?) was refreshing.

The vendors also offered some interesting food for thought. Open Assessment Technologies offers an open source testing system (TAO) that provides 17 interaction types, including a customizable assessment type that could include an embedded and graded simulation. Online assessment can be much more than multiple choice, even though we haven't exhausted that mode yet. TAO tests can be served online from any server.

The Open Badge Factory offers an inexpensive service to allow the creation of badges that are easily transferable to many platforms, and stored in a cloud for future application. With the growing world of competency frameworks, and a WMO Global Campus, a robust badging system might serve an important role. Other vendors focused on content creation or course management systems, for example. Online assessment tools were well represented.

Patrick Parrish (WMO) and Maja Kuna (EUMETSAT)