=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1841/P03_125
|storemode=property
|title=Digital Learning’s Role in Enabling Inclusive Skills Development for a Connected World
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1841/P03_125.pdf
|volume=Vol-1841
|authors=Axelle Devaux,Sarah Grand-Clement,Catriona Manville,Julie Belanger
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/emoocs/DevauxGMB17
}}
==Digital Learning’s Role in Enabling Inclusive Skills Development for a Connected World
==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1841/P03_125.pdf
Proceedings of EMOOCs 2017:
Work in Progress Papers of the Experience and Research Tracks and Position Papers of the Policy Track
Digital learning’s role in enabling inclusive skills
development for a connected world
Axelle Devaux1, Sarah Grand-Clement2, Catriona Manville3, Julie Belanger4
1
RAND Europe, Brussels, Belgium
adevaux@rand.org
2
RAND Europe, Cambridge, United Kingdom
sgrandcl@rand.org
3
RAND Europe, Cambridge, United Kingdom
manville@rand.org
4
RAND Europe, Cambridge, United Kingdom
belanger@rand.org
Abstract. This paper presents the findings of a consultation of 25 digital learn-
ing experts on how digital learning can best support everyone in society to de-
velop the skills needed to attain maximum benefit from the use of technology
throughout their life. The consultation focused on five aspects of the digital
learning provision: what should digital learning aim for (which skills should it
contribute to deliver), the shifting role of the educator and the learning in a digi-
tal learning environment, what motivates the learning to choose digital learning,
inclusive aspects of digital learning, and finally sustainability of the digital
learning business models. Findings from this consultation will be presented in a
report to be published early May 2017.
Keywords: digital learning, skills, inclusion, educator, participation, motivation
1 Introduction
The use of the digital is becoming pervasive and ubiquitous in every aspect of our
life: from our schooling and education, to how we engage with politics, and even how
we manage our finances – it is everywhere. Not only has its influence accelerated
over the last 20 years, but all things digital continue to grow exponentially. Develop-
ments in digital technology, and the speed at which they come, drive innovation and
new applications that touch our lives in different and often profound ways. While
there are numerous opportunities associated with being digital, we also need to under-
stand and mitigate the challenges it presents to society.
RAND Europe is working in partnership with the Corsham Institute to design and
deliver the 2017 Thought Leadership Programme which provides an opportunity for
strategic discussion on the opportunities and challenges that digital technologies are
creating within society today, with particular focus on shaping a future where individ-
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Work in Progress Papers of the Experience and Research Tracks and Position Papers of the Policy Track
uals can realise their potential in a highly connected world. The programme opened
with a Consultation on ‘Digital learning’s role in enabling inclusive skills develop-
ment for a connected world’, which took place on 6–7 March. This paper summarises
a number of the findings and recommendations from the Consultation and which will
be presented in a report to be published early May 2017.
2 Problem description / challenges
More and more day-to-day routine activities can be done with the support of digital
technologies, including tablets, mobile phones, laptops and computers to access the
Internet at home, and it is increasingly difficult to live in contemporary society with-
out using these technologies. It follows, therefore, that those not able to access to
these technologies are at risk of being excluded from society (Rust 2014). This access
to technologies not only implies having access to infrastructure and hardware, but also
having the right skills to exploit the benefits and avoid the pitfalls of this new way of
living.
The increasing use of technology and the growth in connectivity is also disrupting
the labour market of today and will continue to do so in the future – a phenomenon
labelled the ‘digitalisation of work’. Gartner predicts one in three jobs will be con-
verted to software, robots and smart machines by 2025. This change, combined with
the use of technology in our personal lives, requires the upskilling of the current
workforce and wider population to adapt to an increasingly digital world and to re-
duce the risk of this change creating a new stratum of social exclusion.
Looking to the future, some estimate that as many as 65 per cent of children in
primary school will have jobs which do not exist today (Caroll 2007, 2016; Fey
2012). Therefore, being familiar with information communications technology (ICT)
and possessing the skills to use this digital technology are crucial. Employers have
noted a disconnect between what young people are being taught in schools and the
ICT skills actually required in the workplace: Approximately 72 per cent of large
companies and 49 per cent of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are currently
experiencing technical skills gaps in their workforce (Ecorys UK 2016).
However, while digital skills will increasingly be needed for the jobs of the future,
the growing availability of ICT and technology in the workplace also means that em-
ployers seek a workforce with additional aptitudes. These include sense making, nov-
el and adaptive thinking, new media literacy, computational thinking, cognitive load
management, problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork and collaboration, com-
munication, creativity, and innovation (Davies et al. 2011; Herk 2015; Wojcicki &
Izumi 2015). Moreover, succeeding in the digital world also requires a wider set of
‘digital navigation skills’, which include finding information, prioritising information
requirements, and assessing the quality and reliability of information. These skills will
be increasingly important in the labour market of the future and, more generally, for
inclusion and participation in society. It is crucial to ensure equal opportunities for all
to acquire these skills, without which those who do not have either the relevant skills
or access to technology are at risk of being excluded from society (social exclusion).
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Work in Progress Papers of the Experience and Research Tracks and Position Papers of the Policy Track
Education has a crucial role to play in achieving digital, social and labour market
inclusion. However, is education preparing today’s young people for tomorrow’s jobs
using yesterday’s tools? How can we make sure that we give today’s children the
tools they need to adapt to tomorrow’s world? How can we make sure that education
and technologies work in partnership, where education supports both the acquisition
of the skills required to use technologies and technologies that support the teaching
and learning process?
The research question guiding the consultation, this paper and the consultation re-
port is: How can digital best support everyone in society to develop the skills needed
to attain maximum benefit from the use of technology throughout their life? This
overall question is supported by specific questions, including: What are skills required
to be successful in a more connected society?; How does do technologies disrupt the
respective role of actors in the delivery of education?; How can digital delivery chan-
nels help ensure equality of access and inclusivity to skills and education?; Do we
need a new, more sustainable, model for delivery of education and skills which is
better suited to a more connected world? These questions are explored in the remain-
der of this paper.
3 Considerations for policy development
3.1 What are the skills for the future?
To think about how digital learning can support the acquisition of skills that will be
needed in a future, highly connected world, identification of skills required is needed.
As traditional models of interaction are disrupted both at work and in our personal
lives, we need to explore the core skill sets that will be required of citizens in the
future if they are to maximise the opportunities created by digital technology. We
know that employers are already seeking individuals with different skill sets and apti-
tudes to manage the increasing digitalisation of work, and without digital navigation
skills citizens are at risk of social exclusion as we become more dependent on digital
models of transaction. Following this, it is important to explore whether digital learn-
ing, and in particular MOOCs, is an appropriate way for learners to acquire these
skills.
Findings from the Consultation include that two sets of skills need to be consid-
ered: those needed to access the digital world (these include IT skills) and those need-
ed to live in society (e.g. communication skills, resilience). While the earlier evolve
with technologies and become obsolete, the later are eternal. Rather than the skills
themselves, what has changed in the last decades (and is likely to change in the fu-
ture) is how to acquire and use these skills in a digitalising world. Our understanding
of future skills needs is very limited and while forecasts are useful, it may be unrealis-
tic and dangerous to try and plan for something we do not know and do not under-
stand fully. Rather, skills production systems (education and training providers, learn-
ers, governments and employers) need to remain agile. A better understanding of how
skills mismatch in both labour and society at large have worked in the past is the first
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Work in Progress Papers of the Experience and Research Tracks and Position Papers of the Policy Track
step to understanding how to better respond to tomorrow’s needs. Only then will digi-
tal learning be thought through and designed in a way that allows acquisition of the
skills we all need to navigate the digital society.
3.2 How is the role of the educator shifting?
The use of digital technologies in education does not necessarily translate into better
learning. Recent evidence suggest that, in fact, there is no positive association be-
tween the extent to which learners use computers at school and their performance in
mathematics, print literacy, or even digital literacy (OECD 2015). Although digital
technologies have the potential to improve teaching and learning in a number of ways,
they cannot achieve this improvement alone. For example, RAND Europe is currently
evaluating an intervention for primary school teachers that uses a digital app to pro-
vide immediate and delayed feedback to pupils on mathematics tasks (RAND n.d).
The app is the digital technology tool – or conduit – by which teachers can provide
feedback. But this tool will only be effective if the feedback provided by teachers is
of high quality. The use of the app alone will not be sufficient to improve learning.
With this in mind, a vital question is how digital technology is redefining the tradi-
tional role of the educator, and how the educator of the future can be best supported to
embrace digital technology as part of their teaching practice. We must be careful not
to assume that a teacher who is trained to use new technologies has also reflected on
how this changes and enhances their ability to teach. Digital technology offers huge
possibilities but we need to consider how the basic principles of teaching remain in-
tact as the role of the educator evolves and embraces this opportunity. In addition, due
to the availability of information through technology, it is feasible to see the role of
the educator as changing, from that of knowledge provider to that of coach (Wojcicki
et al. 2015).
Findings from the Consultation include that digital provision of learning content is
not enough on its own. It needs to be supported by an ecosystem including mentoring,
support functions, a community, direct contact and appreciation. It is with this in
mind that the role of the educator needs to be re-thought. Far from becoming robots,
the educator of the future should concentrate on coaching and mentoring learners
rather than providing the information, which will be available for all online. This
model has already entered the MOOC world, with mere information accessible for
free, while the coaching and mentoring services are pay-for. This implies that educa-
tors need to be prepared for this new role and responsibilities towards the learner. The
shifting role of the educator also has implications on the role of the learner, who has
to take ownership of their learning and be an active self-guide rather than been guided
by their instructors. This is likely to be increasingly the case of the future, especially
as digital learning offers opportunities for more tailored and learner-centred learning.
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Work in Progress Papers of the Experience and Research Tracks and Position Papers of the Policy Track
3.3 What motivates participation in digital learning?
Looking at the drivers to participation in digital learning, a key question is what moti-
vates learners to embrace digital learning. Beyond the point of view of the learners,
and depending on their aspirations, it is also important to explore what value is placed
on learning outcomes from digital education both within the education sector, by em-
ployers and by those who design and implement policies and programmes supporting
skills acquisition.
Recognition of learning outcomes for the purpose of further studies or employment
is an obvious motivation for learners to participate in digital learning. In the context
of less formal digital education (e.g. MOOCs), recognition issues include the value of
learning outcomes acquired through these forms of learning on an individual’s studies
or career prospects. Recent research shows that this is of concern to those who take
MOOCs, as well as to employers and education institutions who are digital learning
providers (Cedefop 2016; Witthaus et al. 2015). In some instances, these providers
have proposed solutions, such as the introduction of learning ‘badges’, which are
gaining value beyond the digital learning world and could inspire recognition in non-
digital, non-formal and informal learning contexts.
The Consultation also shed the light on additional motivations for learners at dif-
ferent stages of life to embrace digital learning, which include flexibility, curiosity,
(desperate) need for change, fun, etc. Accessibility solutions offered by digital learn-
ing were also mentioned among the drivers to participation in digital learning – these
are explored in further details in the section below about inclusion.
Policy-makers need to be aware of these motivations and about the opportunities
digital learning represents for learners, employers and education and training provider
so as to develop appropriate supporting policies.
3.4 Digital learning as a tool for inclusions?
Digital learning is often described as an attractive way to reach more people in a fast-
er and more inclusive manner. Digital learning can help bring education to those who
cannot physically access it (e.g. learners in hospitals, prisons, remote areas) or who
need flexibility in their attendance (e.g. those who study outside work hours). The
current refugee and Ebola crises provide examples of the ways in which digital meth-
ods are a major delivery channel and can facilitate inclusion for large groups (Gill
2016). In these cases, education technologies are seen as a means (sometimes the only
one) to allow vulnerable learners’ participation in education. However, recent re-
search on the massive open online courses (MOOCs) phenomenon in the USA and in
Europe (e.g. Castaño-Muñoz et al. 2016) shows that the primary beneficiaries of
MOOCs are those who already have a higher education qualification, a finding which
raises questions about the likely inclusivity of digital education.
This belies an important issue of how to make sure that disadvantaged learners do
not miss out on the benefits and opportunities created by digital education. For in-
stance infrastructure and affordability remain barriers to access. Additional barriers
linked to accessibility of learning content to disadvantage learners also need to be
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taken into consideration. Notwithstanding the wide range of contexts, we need to
ensure that individuals who are at risk of being excluded from our connected society,
are able to access the opportunities and benefits created by digital education.
As part of the Consultation we tried to identify building blocks of a successful in-
clusive digital education strategy. These include offering opportunities for learning
provision tailored to the needs of the disadvantaged group in question (no one-size-
fits-all approach) – this implies listen to the needs of the disadvantaged groups, un-
derstand them and involve them in the design of digital learning solutions. Given the
diversity of learners and learning needs within a specific disadvantaged group, digital
learning needs to provide or tailored learning in line with the needs of each individual
learner. In this area, digital learning offers opportunities that traditional learning
would not have the capacity to offer.
3.5 Sustainable models for education in a digital world?
Digital learning is a cost-effective way to reach a wider market of learners (in quanti-
ty and diversity) but is known to have high set up and maintenance costs. Traditional
education business models are not appropriate to digital learning, and we need to
consider how the education sector can respond to ensure sustainability as digital tech-
nology continues to disrupt traditional funding models, and how this can be supported
by employers, government and learners themselves.
Findings from the Consultation include that while the main actors of digital learn-
ing (identified as learners, education and training providers and educators, govern-
ment and businesses) have common needs and goals, they do not understand each
other’s point of view and often work in isolation. Structured dialogue would facilitate
this understanding and working together to achieve common goals such as bridging
the skills gap and a more inclusive digital society. The Consultation also showed that
while there are many examples of successful inclusive digital learning practices, evi-
dence of effectiveness is scare and good practices are not scaled up to reach more
people or more groups of disadvantaged learners, and enable them to appreciate the
benefits in participating. Measuring effect and effectively disseminate good practices
is vital in this area but still the exception rather than the rule.
4 Recommendations
Those who develop and support digital learning policies and programmes should:
• Ensure effective and structured dialogue among stakeholders – involving
learners, education and training providers, instructors, government and em-
ployers. This implies better understanding each other’s’ needs and defining
joint priorities for the short term and long term policy development in relation
to digital learning.
• Keep the learning at the centre of the digital learning developments, taking in-
to account the needs of vulnerable learners and remaining flexible to address
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the learning needs of each individual learner – this way only digital learning
will be inclusive.
• Rethink the role of each actor in the provision of digital learning, each actor
taking responsibility in their new role. This may include taking ownership of
their learning (learners), becoming a coach rather than an instructor (educator),
involving learners in the design of learning offer (education and training pro-
viders), reflect on and identifying their skills needs and the best way to attract,
maintain and keep these skills (employers) and incentivising investment and
development of digital learning offer (government).
• Those who design and support digital learning (governments and education
and training providers) should define clear objectives and use evidence and
good practice to improve and further develop digital learning strategies. Pro-
ducing a narrative explaining the opportunities and evidencing the benefits of
digital learning will encourage citizens of all ages and stages of life to become
learners.
• Further research is required in areas such as how to effectively measure acqui-
sition of skills for the future through digital learning, how to use (big) data to
better understand the dynamics of digital learning, the role of the regulator to
monitor digital learning policies, better understand the (learning needs of the
educators, help employers better identify the skills they need.
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