fnsa the future of work

Phillip Djwa, First Nations SchoolNet April 26, 2008

Thinking about work •  What is happening in the world? •  Why is work changing? •  How is work changing? •  What is Knowledge Work? •  How can you and your

learners take advantage of what the trends are?

Phillip Djwa •  Have been part of the First Nations Education Steering

Committee since 1999 •  Have been in technology for 15 years, working with

organizations large and small •  Work closely with Aboriginal Organizations •  FNS has delivered over $9M to FN Schools in BC for

computer hardware, software, connectivity and training –  responsibility for Program Design, Policy development –  E-learning lead

•  Have Capacity Building Portfolio on First Nations Technology Council

Did you Know?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ljbI-363A2Q

We are preparing students for jobs that don’t exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, to solve problems we haven’t begun to think about.

-Thomas Friedman The World is Flat Therefore the definition of what it means to be educated in the light of the modern world has changed

Question In a global economy, does the idea of instant access to information and services change in any way, shape or form the kinds of skills, knowledge and habits of mind that students might need?

“A whole New Mind” •  Daniel Pink writes that almost anything that involves left-

brained thinking can be automated, turned into software or outsourced and that in the new economy, many skills can be outsourced or automated, but creativity and imagination cannot.

•  If our children are going to survive let alone thrive in this new 21st century economy requires skills, and knowledge and habits of mind that, historically, have been largely discounted or ignored in schools; and that if they are going to survive, they’re going to need to use both hemispheres at the same time - they’re going to have to use the Whole New Mind.

What’s our P.O.V.? •  We come from what Bill Spady

(Paradigm Lost, 1997) describes as the “educentric” point of view. We’ve had very little need (or opportunity) to step back from education and start to understand what’s happening outside of education.

Is School Relevant? •  Children’s view of the relevancy of their school experience

to their future lives has declined steadily since the late 1980s.

•  Today, only 28% of US 12th-grade high school students believe that school work is meaningful; 21% believe that their courses are interesting; and a mere 39% believe that school work will have any bearing on their success in later life. (American Center for Education Statistics and reported in The Condition of Education, 2004.)

•  These are the opinions of those students who have remained in high school for four years.

"the illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

- Alvin Toffler

Why is Work Changing?* 1.  The speed of technology has increased the pace of work

transformation. •  Collaborative technology and collaborative platforms appear

every day. 2.  Demographics are changing the face of North America

–  The shortage of skilled knowledge workers is real 3.  Economics are hugely affected by global changes

–  Globalization isn't working as well as many people thought it would (people can’t get the right talent and product safety is an issue)

4.  Cultural impact – the “Cultural Tapestry” has been torn and is now being rebuilt

*Keynote speech, Jennifer James, BCED Online Conference 2007

Question! What steps can we take to ensure that all of our students develop the essential skills including creativity training to succeed in this radically emerging exponential environment?

The Issue •  In the Infowhelm age, learners need to work with

information in all forms to fashion content products that have value, that entertain and teach.

•  But if learners do is learn the traditional literacies –read, write, arithmetic- they may be literate by 20th Century standards but not by 21st Century standards.

How is Work changing?* •  Older employees favour telecommuting (Gradual

Retirement) •  Management by Objectives vs old Mgmt by Time •  Desire for additional control over worklife (anyplace,

anywhere) •  Economic development agencies will be important

in telecommuting (matching talent to supply) •  Work is no longer a synonym for a physical place

*Future of Work Agenda, Work Design Collaborative

What is Knowledge Work?*

•  The broadest view of knowledge work is that it is an activity that either requires specialized knowledge or skills, or creates new knowledge.

•  In contrast to physical labor, knowledge work focuses primarily on creating or applying information or knowledge to create value.

•  Knowledge worker jobs are often information-based, predictable, portable

•  In an infinite sea of information, knowledge workers are the new fishermen

*Future of Work Agenda, March 2007. Jim Ware and Charlie Grantham, Work Design Collaborative

What are Knowledge Worker Jobs? •  Programmer, graphic designer, engineer, architect,

bookkeeper, accountant, broker, insurance agent, draughtsman, web designer, interior designer, writer, thinker, artist, etc etc etc!!

•  Any white collar job is knowledge work! •  BUT any white collar job is in jeopardy

–  Alan November, theorist and teacher

•  Fifteen years ago, graduates from my hometown of Vancouver only had to compete for jobs with graduates from Victoria, Nanaimo, and Prince George.

•  Then about 10 years ago, these graduates had to compete with graduates from Seattle, New York, San Diego and Cleveland.

•  But now the competition comes from people and machines Shanghai, China, Mumbai, India and Tel Aviv, Israel and soon anyone anywhere on the planet.

- Ian Jukes

Question! In a global economy, where these students will be competing with people from other countries, what skills and knowledge and habits of mind will they need to know that we didn’t need growing up?

Connected economy •  The knowledge worker doesn’t exist in a vacuum •  They are Connected to each other and therefore are

an ecology and ultimately, an economy

Question? What should we in education be doing to help prepare them for this world?

Or are we just pretending this isn’t happening - that it isn’t really relevant to the responsibilities of schools? Or worse, are we hoping that if we ignore these trends, they will just go away?

How can your learners take advantage? •  Learn Information Fluency!!

–  the unconscious ability to ask good questions, –  access data from a range of high tech and low tech

sources, –  analyze and authenticate the data to distinguish the

good from the bad, –  the ability to apply the data that has been turned into

knowledge to solve real world problems, –  the ability to be able to asses both process and product

Remember!

"the illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

- Alvin Toffler

How can your learners take advantage? •  Learn how to use the computer •  Share stories, explore challenges together, and

learn from each others’ experiences •  Start to use the new tools to become the new

craftspeople •  “Online teaches online” •  Your community can be “new economy”

Example Opportunity •  Industrial Age

1. means of production 2. channels of distribution 3. means of marketing

•  TODAY music examples – you can record the music on your home studio, distribute it through your website and market it through Youtube, Myspace, & Facebook

•  Your challenge, should you choose to accept it…

Take advantage of the new trends, embrace them and find the ways to use them to your advantage!

Your choice! •  Demo some collaborative software tools of this new

age •  Watch another video showing how students live and

work?

Student Perspective

Student Perspective

Some Collaborative Tools •  Virtual Office - Groove •  Sharing documents - Google Docs •  Project management – Basecamp •  Communications - Skype •  Meeting online - GotoMeeting / Elluminate / Adobe

Connect

Thank you!

Questions, please contact Phillip Djwa

phillip@agentic.ca Phone 604-255-2131