Preparing Students for their Careers An Exploration of Unconventional Roles and the Need for

Different Approaches at the Academy

Francisca YonekuraUniversity of Central Florida

New Media Consortium - June 16, 2016

UCF.EDU

Agenda

Higher education state of affairs, perceptions, realities, and the media

Microscope on higher education (Not all is gloom and doom)

Examples in our own backyards (What can we leverage?)

Standards and initiatives in our radar

Some parting thoughts

So depressing!

Source: The American Prospect Eyal Press 5/31/2016 …

Do not despair!

Questions and more questions????????• Who is doing what?

• What are we doing right?

• What’s needed?

• What do we need to change? What do we need to improve?

• What opportunities are there?

• What sort of processes do we need?

• Are there any national or international organizations taking the lead?

• What sort of collaborative efforts are needed?

What’s Brewing• Employers: No longer content with the advisory role in education initiatives

• Employers: Forming employer collaboratives to drive talent pipeline management

• Skills gap: Providers not modifying curriculum to meet employer needs quickly

• Employers: Need to improve communication of competency/credentialing requirements – Shared language & shared measures

• Policy & legislation changes needed: Employment data, FERPA legislation

• Students with great debt upon graduation

Top 10 Skills in 2020

1. Complex problem solving

2. Critical thinking

3. Creativity

4. People management

5. Coordinating with others

6. Emotional intelligence

7. Judgment and decision making

8. Service orientation

9. Negotiation

10.Cognitive flexibility

Source: Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum

Some examples in our own backyard Are they manifestations of what should be?

DIGITAL CORPS @

Students in the Digital Corps are hired as Apprentices, with the possibility of earning promotions in a guild-based system to Specialist and Master. To join the Digital Corps as an Apprentice, students need to exhibit a high degree of basic knowledge and enthusiasm for technology.

TECHRANGERS® @ University of Central Florida

The Techrangers is a team of students of varied backgrounds and majors who provide course development for faculty and web/application development for the University of Central Florida (UCF). The Techrangers act as student advocates and leaders by holding community workshops, participating in panels and presenting at conventions. Additionally, the team provides support, troubleshooting, and consulting for various groups within the University on a variety of areas including but not limited to universal design, accessibility compliance, website design, dynamic website development requiring databases and handling of business transactions among other areas of expertise.

TECHRANGERS® @ University of Central Florida

Our GoalsLearn, collaborate and educate each other in a supportive team environment.Create and maintain quality online course content documents for the university.Uphold accessibility and web standard compliance in all projects produced.Act as student advocates/leaders for the UCF student body.Network with businesses and community members to foster job opportunities.Research new and innovative software, technology, and programming languages in order to develop as professionals.

Knight Hacks at UCF

The mission of Knight Hacks is to promote creativity within the Computer Science and Engineering community by planning and executing “Hackathons”, which is defined as an event in which teams of developers, designers and project managers collaborate to produce a software or hardware product in a set amount of time. We also hold workshops throughout the year to give hands on experience with different technologies to attendees.

● Founded by a Techranger

● Mentored each other● Recruited professionals● Built a community● Referenced by

prospective Techranger applicants

In learning, all of us wear each hat at one point or another

1. Expert

2. Mentor

3. Learner

4. Peer

Value proposition and validation of wearing each hat

Standards & Initiatives to Monitor

Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act

Next Generation Learning Ecosystem

What else?

If we are to be transformative, let’s not forget about what’s important• Humanistic approach to learning, i.e., Learner centered - Carl Rogers

• Freedom to experiment

• Meaningful relationships of mentorship and guidance

• Network of peers, mentors, and services

• Value propositions for all parties

• Academy’s crucial role: civic professional (includes career prep, research, and…)

Some of My Favorite Inspirational Quotes

“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” --- Maria Montessori

“The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences.” --- Maria Montessori

Life [LEARNING], at its best, is a flowing, changing process in which nothing is fixed. --- Carl Rogers

ResourcesTechrangers https://techrangers.cdl.ucf.edu/

Digital Corps http://cms.bsu.edu/about/administrativeoffices/digital-corps

Student Employment & EL CMU https://www.cmu.edu/career/student-employment/

Career Outlook - Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2015/article/career-planning-for-high-schoolers.htm

IES NCES National Center for Education Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/InsidePages/FindYourCollege?pageid=28

What skills do employers value most? https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/02/what-skills-do-graduates-need-to-get-a-job/?utm_content=bufferfa194&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

IMS Global Learning Consortium: https://www.imsglobal.org/

Experience API: https://www.adlnet.gov/adl-research/performance-tracking-analysis/experience-api/

THANK YOULooking forward to working together in

this transformative process Francisca@UCF.EDU