Google Classroom and the Workforce of Tomorrow
How do we prepare students for the 4th Industrial Revolution?
Obstacles and Opportunities Facing Future Workers
Jobs Are Changing
Growing trends affecting labor markets approaching 2030:
- Development of technology
- Globalization
- Changes in demographics and work habits
- Growing wealth gap
Predicted Highest-Demand U.S. Jobs in 2030:
- Preschool, Primary, Secondary, and Special Education Teachers
- Animal care and service workers
- Lawyers, judges, and related jobs
- Postsecondary teachers
- Engineers
Students Aren’t Prepared
While nobody should be expected to know exactly how to do their job on day one, students are not getting the skills they need to succeed.
Students can’t compete in the workplace
- 52% of execs cite a skills gap as detrimental to company efficiency
- Only 44% of students entering workforce believe their education provided them with desirable skills
Traditional education needs to change to prepare students
Obstacles to teachers preparing students for the future:
- 49%: Stringent curriculum allows little time to creatively instruct
- 31%: Lack of training
- 30%: Educational policymakers focusing too much on numeracy and literacy (i.e. standard skills instead of relevant skills)
Students want changes in their schools:
- 40%: Opportunities to use technology for lessons
- 26%: Chances during lessons to express original ideas
- 24%: More engaging homework assignments
- 23%: Clearer and more frequent feedback from teachers to improve work
Teachers, students, business leaders, and experts agree that something has to change in order to keep up with the world — Collaborative technologies might be the key
LMS: Learning Management Systems
Suites that offers interactive course facilitation between teachers and students
- Assign work without wasting paper
- Grade and give feedback in real-time as assignments are completed
- Keep multiple classes and subjects organized
- Automated curriculum lets students work ahead
- Allows individually paced learning and leaves no students behind
Global LMS market projected to grow 15.52% annually from 2017 to 2025
2016: $5.05 Billion
2025: $18.44 Billion
LMS programs used in higher ed:
Blackboard
Launched in 1997
2018: 100 Million users worldwide
Cost: Priced based on school system
Canvas
Launched in 2011
2018: Used by over 3,000 universities, school districts, and institutions worldwide
Cost: Price based on school system
Moodle
Launched in 2002
2017: 100 Million users worldwide
Cost: Free/Open Source
LMS programs geared toward K-12:
Google Classroom
Launched in 2014
70 Million users worldwide
Schoology
Launched in 2009
20 Million users worldwide
Edmodo
Launched in 2008
87 Million users worldwide
Quizlet
Launched in 2007
½ of all U.S. high school students use it
While LMS has been helping students and teachers for years, cloud-based LMS is opening doors to what the next generation of workers might look like
Cloud-Based LMS: Benefits and the Future
Cloud-based LMS (Connected to the internet/Collaborative)
- Efficient course management
- Geared towards teachers and student learning needs
- Inexpensive and all-in-one-place applications and plug-ins
Google Classroom
2015: Google Chromebooks use vs. other U.S. classroom devices
- Google Chromebook: 53%
- Apple iPad: 24%
- Microsoft Surface Pro: 24%
Google Classroom by Education Level
Elementary and Secondary Education
According to a 2016 survey of students in one Ohio School District that adopted Google Classroom and Chromebooks:
- 92%: G-suite tools have improved work quality
- 89%: Positive impact on collaborative work
- 85%: Improvement based on pacing of lessons
- 79%: Stronger feedback from teachers
Special Education
- Allows students with special needs to have personalized assignments and move at their own pace
- Helps students discuss and ask questions in different ways
Allows students to use tools they’re likely to find in the workplace
- Features similar to Slack and other professional collaborative tools
- Google Docs, Google Slides and other Google apps used in workplaces
- E-Portfolio to allow students to keep track of their work and others’ work
Disadvantages compared to other LMS
- Does not operate like standard management-focused LMS
- Lacks integration with communication tools including Hangouts which could be used for one-on-one instruction
- Push for Google-only applications causes lack in Learning Tools Interoperability and connection to other LMS
What Cloud-based LMS Means For the Future
Cloud-based LMS will continue to harbor skills that employers are looking for
Employers want employees with:
- 50%: Problem-solving skills
- 35%: Teamwork skills
- 32%: Communication skills
Tech will continue extending the human nervous system and requiring digital literacy
- Online platforms will bring into question the need for transportation or physical attendance in class
- Over 1800 online apps and platforms perform work tasks instantly that used to require mobility
No matter what tomorrow holds, its important to be prepared for and adapt to the ever-changing ways we work, learn, and live-Cloud-based LMS like Google Classroom is a great place to start
Sources:
https://www.eiuperspectives.economist.com/sites/default/files/Drivingtheskillsagenda.pdf
http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/drivers-of-change/
https://www.delltechnologies.com/content/dam/delltechnologies/assets/perspectives/2030/pdf/SR1940_IFTFforDellTechnologies_Human-Machine_070517_readerhigh-res.pdf
https://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/03/googles-chromebooks-make-up-half-of-us-classroom-devices.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/technology/google-education-chromebooks-schools.html
https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/24/google-says-its-g-suite-for-education-now-has-70m-users/
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https://www.edutopia.org/article/empowering-special-education-students-technology-kathryn-nieves
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https://www.ispringsolutions.com/blog/moodle-vs-blackboard/
https://edu.google.com/k-12-solutions/classroom/?modal_active=none
https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2488347,00.asp
https://www.instructure.com/higher-education/products/canvas/canvas-lms
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https://www.pcmag.com/review/354506/google-classroom