Prepare the Future Workforce For Distance Learning

Prepare the future workforce with distance learning. It’s becoming a very important conversation while the Coronavirus (C0VID-19) has stopped humanity in its tracks.

It’s all hands on deck.  

Thank goodness heroes are already on the frontline!

Thankfully there are heroes everywhere stepping up to help make a difference in an overwhelming circumstance. The first heroes’ that come to mind are those in the medical and first responder fields.

But one set of heroes I want to point out is the caretakers while their parents have to work essential jobs and the educators reaching out to teach their students.

Their efforts are just as gallant. Teachers call, send out lesson plans, provide feedback, and do everything they can to teach, but despite their efforts, I worry.

I worry that all of their efforts will not curb another epidemic on the horizon.

I’m not talking about another virus; instead, something just as wrong unless we work together on this now!

What are some of the workforce development problems that companies will face in the next several years?

To help you understand my position a little better, let’s go back to just a few short months ago.

Schools across America, much less across the world, were already failing to provide students with the skills needed in high-demand jobs.

Now that the virus has forced students to learn at home, it presents an even more significant gap that our future employees must overcome.

I recognize that you may not understand what I am saying, so I would like to go with a different approach.

Training Industry’s Workforce Development in 2019: U.S. Policy & Practice report that one of the most significant issues in workforce development centers around education and business training as separate entities. Instead, it is recommended that both industries need to meld their training and experiences so students will participate and gain those skills quicker.

The blog also states that the average job change varies from 12-15 times and reasserts that education and business must align their perspective for employees to see learning as continuous.

“Conversations around workforce development will continue to integrate and intersect with the higher education sector. The train has left the station on this issue, and policymakers will only become more focused on it … Higher and higher education stakeholders see the value in promoting a system where higher education and workforce systems function in tandem.”

 

Emily Bouck West, deputy executive director for Higher Learning Advocates

Distance Learning utilized in high school is a prime location where developing vital skills can take shape.

If we’re going to be serious about developing skills for future employees, we can’t allow teachers to just plug and chug a worksheet into a platform. Rather, we have to hold them to accountable to make these lessons the best they’ve ever produced.

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But we have to stop the inconsistencies we see in teaching and learning, whether we’re in a school or a Fortune 500 company.

Administrators and supervisors who observe generalized approaches being implemented are responsible for stopping the malpractice.

Instead of them turning away and accepting a sub-par lesson, they need to get a backbone and stop the atrocity.

So as we all regroup and rethink how to make teaching-learning better, I want to suggest several steps to help reduce tomorrow’s workforce development problems.

How can we prepare for tomorrow’s workforce development problems with distance learning?

Suppose we as a society are serious about improving our economic future. In that case, we must prepare the future workforce with distance learning that embeds the skills often missing at the job site.

1) It begins with structure – build a schedule similar to a school day.

While children are at home, what are they doing during the day? I understand there are families without Wi-Fi, but it is the parent’s responsibility to ensure that students learn at home. Should a parent not have a computer or Wi-Fi, they must get books for children and find ways to get creative and explore. Some places to find these books and other resources include their church or neighbor.

I’m sorry for venting here, but regardless of income level, every parent knows that their children need to learn, and the ones who fail to make this priority should be the first to blame for the gap increasing.

2) Teachers must adapt their lessons to distance learning.

Teachers know that they use the curriculum, but when was the last time they looked for the skills and refined the lesson to where the skills are mastered? Using this approach may be challenging for some, but it is essential.

This is not an option – it’s a must. Make it happen!

3) Realign the lessons to make them fun, engaging, and relevant.

The top skills lacking in today’s jobs are critical thinking, creativity, and soft skills, and one of the best ways to patch this area is to stop getting away from dull work packets. Sorry – but that’s the lazy way out. Get creative and innovative, and teach how you want to be taught. Refer to my two blogs on best practices for distance education and making distance education work 

4) Focus on the Feedback

Having students comment and submit assignments should still be expected. But I ask teachers not to pass the class with a simple check. Instead, give them the laser-focused feedback they need for improvement.  

5) Cite real-life examples and use project-based assignments

Here is where I call on our workforce development experts to collaborate with schools and use this time to build “supplemental” materials and lessons that will help to extend beyond the basic subject lesson. They need to ask school officials “how can we help bring awareness to the students who are going to become our future employees?” and “What can we provide your staff and students to help the future workforce reduce the skills missing?”

Stop sitting on the bench and get in the game!

It’s always easy to watch from the sideline, but this is a crisis where everyone’s number is being called. Even if you don’t hear your name, get in the game!

A crisis not only shows its ugly faces but also presents an incredible opportunity.

So what’s it going to be? 

Because your number just got called. 

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