Collaboration with employers: The way forward for educational institutions to decipher future workplaces

In all veracity, India is on the road to significant demographic empowerment in the next decade. The working population is set to increase from 50.5% in 2011 to about 58.8% in 2031. While these figures look promising on paper, the true merit of our nation’s demographic bonus can only be unlocked when the eligible workforce becomes proficient in modern skillsets. The need to become capable and ready for the proverbial “jobs of the future” is imperative in today’s white-collar environment. These spaces are constantly evolving due to tech advancements and changing market trends. Moreover, Indian professionals require a guided learning ecosystem to identify the skills most relevant to their current roles and future job aspirations.

While EdTech has played a role in bridging the skill gap between the workforce and the ever-evolving demands of the modern workplace, learners are still seeking optimum utility for upskilling. The sector today faces a fundamental challenge. There is an urgent need for the industry to mediate a stark behavioral transformation from “run-of-the-mill” intermittent learning interventions to a more intuitive and self-aware methodology that enables working professionals to stay relevant in their professional space.

With organizational structures, job roles and employability skills witnessing a considerable uplift, traditional learning models cannot match pace with the shifting dynamics. Therefore, university curricula need to revamp their framework under industry standards. Here, EdTech 2.0 plays a significant role in building an adept professional workforce that can effectively meet the diverse needs of evolving workplaces.

The concept behind EdTech 2.0 is to optimize the latest digital delivery tools, and innovation is the name of the game. Similar to how brands today leverage technologies like data analytics tools to bolster their product marketing capabilities, this approach also uses new-age tech to put the learner at the heart of digital learning by contextualizing the learning experience around the learner. The idea of EdTech 2.0 has immense potential to transform the country’s learning landscape. Here’s how the direction of EdTech 2.0 and the use of technology and data can prove instrumental from a learner’s perspective in narrowing the gulf between education and employability:

• Customization – Every learner is exceptional in their own way and exhibits a unique learning approach and learning needs that traditional education and EdTech systems cannot match. Although a cookie-cutter approach seems optimal for improving access to education, the question remains whether it positively affects the actual learning process and learning outcomes. This is where data analytics comes in. It can be duly leveraged for comprehending and designing effective delivery models that are personalized and tailor-made for every individual learner based on their requirements and aptitude.

• Continuity – Today, algorithms are ubiquitous in most digital technologies. They can be visualized as either repetitious loops of code or as advanced tools that can enable profound behavioral change that is simultaneously constructive and practical. The present-day learning patterns are sporadic. The ad-hoc model rarely stirs any substantial positive emotional and mental growth as it falls short of offering a workable strategy for professional development. When technology and the job climate are evolving at a torrential pace, the pattern of hasty learning will naturally result in professional ineptitude and skill deficiencies in learners who constantly play catch-up. However, EdTech 2.0 can make a sizable impact and address this issue by utilizing new-age technologies to transform a traditionally rigorous-learning module into a fluid and organic state of continuous learning. Continuous learning empowers professionals enormously by allowing them to stay confident and up-to-date with the various transformational forces prevailing in their professional environment.

• Control – Take a good look at your surroundings, and the impact that technology has assayed in making our lives seamless and comfortable is unmistakable. It has allowed people more time, energy and resources by automating previously manual processes. Verticals like health, fitness and personal finance are notable examples of industry types that have been revolutionized through tech infusion. Amidst the backdrop of the ‘Make in India’ movement and the Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign, the emergence of home-grown digital apps has enabled people to engage in discovery and subsequently take control over processes. Similarly, EdTech 2.0 is also inspiring a vast sea-change by driving the power of learning back into the hands of the learners, allowing them to make judgements about their own learning needs and architect the pace and timing of their learning. It gives the learner a sense of control while expanding their domain knowledge and simultaneously helping them take charge of their learning pathway and further their career trajectory. Through intuitive tech-solutions, data-analytics and UI/UX strategies, EdTech 2.0 aims to engineer greater levels of transparency and control for learners who presently rely on ads, marketing tech recommendation engines, peer insight and or organizational interventions to extend half-baked learning modules that are deficient in self-awareness and provide an insightful career outlook.

Conclusion

While EdTech 2.0 is still rapidly developing to make future-ready skills accessible in digital-first India, the importance of the three Cs of new-age digital learning can power the country’s next growth phase. Thus, to remain a key growth driver for India, EdTech 2.0 must be advanced as a leading narrative to refine the learning landscape further, thereby making it personalized and practical.

(The author is Mr. Amol Dani, Co-Founder & CEO, Keybridge Global Education and the views expressed in this article are his own)