The Death of the Entry Level Job

This recent email we got from an employer sums up the issue that we face as IT educators -

He looks like he is on the right track in terms of growing in his young career. However, our internships and full-time positions are very competitive, and he doesn’t have a lot of experience or education at this point. We are looking for people with the drive and dedication (which I’m sure he has), but also experience, work history and education means a lot. I don’t think he would qualify unfortunately. Have a great day!

For the last 10+ years, I have researched the IT employment picture and increasingly employers are not satisfied with new graduates. Some even think it takes 2 years to get someone billable. The consulting firms have figured out that they must provide training to prospective employees that lasts anywhere from 6-8 weeks. I am puzzled why we as IT educators do not provide the education and training necessary to be successful today. We, at Stratford, have decided to transform our IT programs to change how we prepare students for the IT workforce. It will not be easy but we have to. We have an obligation to our students to help them be prepared to work at graduation. I have been working a new model and have prepared a white paper on this issue.

Updated: Learning through Experience

I'm back. Sorry for the long delay in blog posts. I am now going to provide a concept map of learning through experience. Learning is more than just sitting in a classroom, taking tests, and getting degree. It is about becoming a professional. Becoming a professional is about being immersed into the activities of a community of professionals. Immersive activities is about the learning experience. Learning takes place through experience. The learning experience consists of practice fields and real fields. Think about how different sports get ready for games, the real field. They practice. They are put into simulated experiences and also do deliberate practice. Simulated experiences are like scrimmages. Deliberate practice is like practicing techniques over and over again until they are mastered. Simulated experiences and real fields consists of a coach, activity, and a learner. The biggest difference between a simulated experience and a real field is about identity. Practice allows learners to practice a professional identity but it is the real field where becoming a professional takes places under real world conditions. Nothing can replace the actual experience but simulated experiences are good to help learners practice skills under a controlled environment. The coach is the teacher in this model and their provide just in time teaching and assess performance during practice and real fields. There are many ways to assess the experience of a learner through performance assessments. We will review different kinds of activities in a later blog post. We will also explore the role of a coach in a later blog post.

How to teach creativity and innovation to learners?

In my previous posts, I put together a definition of creativity and innovation. You will notice that these skill sets are not hard skills but soft skills. How do you teach this skills to learners? Teachers can not stand in front of the classroom and transfer creativity and innovation to learners. They must model and demonstrate these skills and they need to demonstrate them.

This is much different from learning as we know it in a traditional classroom. It is all about learning by experience. I am convinced that the only way to prepare learners for the next generation of jobs is through practice and real world experiences. The traditional way we would look at this would be to design a class in creativity and innovation and put slides together on what it is and test learners on the concept of creativity and innovation. I know this is a simplistic view of how this is done but it will help get my point across. Learners would never acquire the creativity and innovation skill doing this. We need to look at this in a completely different way. We need to ask ourselves what kinds of experiences do we need to design to allow learners to be able to practice creativity and innovation skills?

Of course, I believe that we need to do this in a context. Since I am a technologist and a runner, I will stick with what I know when I describe this.

Systems Inquiry Overview

Before I go any further in the innovation skills realm, I want to describe a systems worldview that will be the focus on my blogging from now on. Systems inquiry is three interrelated domains - systems theory, systems philosophy, and systems methodology. Systems theory is about the science of wholeness. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The new Science that Margaret Wheatley talks about in her writings falls into systems theory. Systems philosophy is a systems worldview; systems thinking is an approach to new ideas and possibilities. The systems philosophy I will use is the cultural-history school of psychology. Systems methodology are the methods used in systems investigations and the tools for application of systems theory to problems. I will use activity theory and appreciative inquiry as the systems methodology. Systems consists of both hard systems and human systems. You can not look at the world with only a hard systems or a human systems lens. I will look at the systems using a holistic approach. Systems require looking at the people, processes, and technology of the system. You also need to consider the culture and community. When I talk about systems, I will be using the community as a system in my posts. I feel that the community is central to understanding innovations and the adoption of innovations. Sometimes innovations will create a new community around the innovation which to me is a disruptive innovation or a new process and/or technology is introduced to a community which transforms the community. Activity theory is used to show activity of a community and the transformation of a community. Each individual has an unique identity in a community. The innovation skills that I have talked about up to this point focus on the individual skills needed for innovation. A person can not exist in isolation but belong to some community. Now, an innovator could create their own communities if they do not exist but they usually come from some community where their identity is formed. So, you can not isolate the innovation from a community. They coexist. To be successful, an innovation needs a community to be a successful innovation. Remember the innovation must be of value to be useful to a community. This is line of thought I will use when discussing innovation in my blog.