Augmented Education Viewpoint careers advice blog

Augmented Education Education in Western economies is playing catch-up, with few graduates offering the skills that workplaces need.  This is a stark finding from the  Hays Global Skills Index 2014, and digital skills are some of the most in-demand. A survey by mobile phone company O2 suggests that by 2017 more than 750,000 workers with digital skills will be needed to satisfy the UK’s digital business needs. Luckily, a flurry of advances in augmented education are finally gaining traction and helping to change attitudes towards digital’s place at work and in the classroom. Only a few years ago, young people would be asked to switch off their tablets and smartphones in class, but now they may well be asked to turn to such technology. Tech giants like Apple and Google are keen to offer software and hardware to cater to an e-learning revolution, with Google Play for Education  a prominent example, functioning as a special version of the Android mobile platform for educational apps and content. Even that hippest of US festivals, South by Southwest (SXSW), known mainly for its music and interactive zones, is branching out into augmented education with SXSWedu, an exploration of all things innovative in education. Down with the kids To some extent, this change of tack is a way to engage those in education through mediums they are familiar with. A quarter of high schoolers in the US don’t graduate, but according to the think tank Policy Exchange, over 71 per cent of people between 16 and 24 have smartphones â€" with many owners younger than that â€" and they expertly navigate through the technical world. Teaching them how to use technology clearly is not the issue. Companies like Amplify  are stepping into the breach to turbocharge education and engage students, offering enriched courses integrated with data and analytics so a teacher can tailor the system to an individual pupil’s needs. Amplify’s integrated digital curriculum comes with project-based quests, immersive game worlds that link to an e-library, and embedded skill-building games, for instance. Augmenting education is also a way to use technology to the teacher’s advantage. In Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) multimedia content is combined with realtime monitoring and teacher feedback, adaptive learning paths, and data analytics to measure student progress. Clever  has built a common programming interface for online educational platforms to plug into, helping to manage and monitor student progress, while Dreambox  promises intelligent adaptive learning for maths and Eduvee  offers intuitive science lessons for 11-16 year olds. Startups like Blackboard, meanwhile, are issuing a full suite of learning platforms, which work on desktop and mobile, for campuses and classrooms. For those outside formal education, MOOCs (massively online open courses), such as Coursera, Udacity  and edX, provide generally free IT courses to anyone with a broadband connection. MOOCs are offered by an array of Universities across the world, including Ivy-Leaguers such as Harvard, Yale, and MIT, with FutureLearn  in the UK and the Arabic Edraak  global equivalents. Taking tech seriously While these courses are making strides though, Lee Chant, IT and Telecomms MD, Hays UK, strikes a cautious note: “In the current world of IT, whilst online courses may be beneficial for some, vendor-specific software or manufacturer specific training still hold the most recognized real world accreditation.” However, while employers are still resistant to online degrees and certification, this will surely change as big academic hitters give the field increasing credibility. In the workplace, Technology Transfer Services (TTS), applies learning technologies for industry specific training, and is looking to use Oculus Rift for immersive environments to simulate engineering challenges and scenarios. CAVEs (computer assisted virtual environments), where participants are surrounded by projections and monitors, are already used in high-end research studios by technology companies like Microsoft and Nokia. Products like the Oculus Rift  and 3D motion capture sensors will bring these opportunities to more companies in the next decade. Although they remain in their infancy, many of these advances should soon feed through to power the world of work, and the possibilities are exciting. With businesses familiar with using technology to get ahead, now’s the time to embrace the same sort of innovation to help education keep up. Join our LinkedIn Group Join our LinkedIn Group to share your thoughts and stay up-to-date with the latest on business, employment and recruitment news in the IT industry. Join our Group