In the articles “Are They Really Ready to Work” and “Return to Sender”, the authors describe current high school and college (2-, and 4-year) graduates as lacking the necessary technological skills that are needed in today’s work place.
In “Are They Really Ready to Work”, the author states that it is not only a matter of having a proper technological education but the students are missing or lacking in the most basic skills in the English language. Students are not being able to hired due to their deficiencies in English and then when they compound that with their lack of “applied” skills such as professionalism and work ethic, these potential employees are being crushed in the workplace.
In “Return to Sender”, the author writes about how the United States has shown a constant failure to integrate technology into the classrooms to provide students with authentic learning opportunities that are necessary for today’s work force. Don Knezek states in the article “Today’s students could be technologically literate as well as great communicators in traditions settings but get the socks beaten off them by someone who has learned to communicate in a digital setting.”
Both articles share many of the same concerns about the students of today’s classrooms. Issues of collaboration, teamwork, vetting information from many different sources, and properly communicating are some of the key points that are being made.
In order to fix these however, teachers must realize that this is a true reality. The way we are currently set up in our educational settings in hurting our student’s chances of securing real work in the global economy. We are not providing students with the appropriate level of technological education! As teachers, we must begin to teach through technology rather than with technology.
If I were the Secretary of Education, I would be talking about doing just that! Overhauling the educational system so that students are learning through technology rather than with it. I would want to “Maximize the Impact” of our technology education in order to make sure that school systems are utilizing technology with a goal and long-term vision in mind.
Excellent points! I think that every type of teacher, business through physics and beyond should be working with their students on the fundamentals of communication skills, collaboration as well as the technology integration on some level. It will make their classes that much more meaningful to the students and give real life connections. I do not think it is a waste of the teachers time to do a little of this with the curriculum they already use. It is a slow process but meaningful.
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