Is it time to cater to a new generation of career learners?

Open University argue that post-pandemic universities will need to dig deeper into developing their digital offerings.

Many UK universities have embraced a mix of online and on-campus teaching because the government has eased social distancing restrictions. While most still hope to urge things ‘back to normal’ as soon as it’s safe to try to to so, the broader sector is additionally asking itself a thought-provoking question: albeit we will return to normal, should we?

Having navigated the problem and seismic impacts of a worldwide pandemic, including levels of disruption which will have unknown consequences for an entire generation’s education; we’ve also been given the chance to reflect and positively reimagine what we, and future learners, actually need from a university education.

Pivoting towards accessibility and therefore the lifelong learner’s career needs

The dramatic pivot from a campus model to scaled online learning, because the delivery model for the core academic experience, has been challenging across the board and a fantastic testament to the dynamism education institutes (HEIs) have demonstrated struggling . Having come through a very challenging 18 months, the indications are that a digital-first approach to education is opening new doors for academics and students everywhere the planet , proliferating greater choice and a deeper engagement, especially with more diverse learners’ motivations. The products, pathways and qualifications universities offer are in additional demand than ever, and post-COVID, the chance to radically transform access via digital is additionally more tangible than ever.

According to recent research, educators believe music news and online learning has increased student engagement and independence. Learners signal optimism towards an increasingly digitised education within the long-term – FutureLearn’s the longer term of Learning report found that fifty of UK adults believe online learning can provide similar benefits to formal education; and therefore the Office for Student’s Digital Teaching and Learning Review published earlier this year gives confidence that a permanent shift has occurred.

The momentum behind blended modes of learning is playing out within core and supplementary topic areas eg. digital learning’s flexibility, personalisation and scale are often used for core modules and supplementary extra-curricular areas like ‘how to learn’ more effectively, career decision-making and workplace-ready job skills – the latter being more urgently required than ever given the economic backdrop of unemployment and therefore the in-demand skills gap.

Millions of students and professionals have had their career path disrupted and that we must do more to assist them connect with the tools they have to achieve a rapidly-evolving, digitally-focused jobs market. During the pandemic, for instance , FutureLearn saw an almost 200% increase in new female learners and, at an equivalent time, an almost 350% uplift in enrolments on tech and coding courses. We’ve also seen a wider range of organisations, from City & Guilds to the large Issue, getting into the web learning space so as to bring those vital tools to learners who have experienced the foremost disruption.

The rise of other digitised educational paths

The sector as an entire has certainly been forced to require notice of formerly overlooked opportunities for digital strategies which will encourage learning during a way that’s far more suited to tomorrow’s learner and therefore the changing economy. Universities have generally been quicker to embrace digital solutions within their existing teaching models, adapting core portfolios of existing degrees to supply the pliability , accessibility and career-led content learners need. FutureLearn has seen partners worldwide – from the University of Kent within the UK, to Monash and Deakin University in Australia, and therefore the University of Michigan within the US – speedily adapting to make products like micro-credentials, on-demand courses, and always-on, skills-based subscription learning models just like the FutureLearn ExpertTrack, which was built especially with the younger generation of career-changing learners in mind.

We’re also witnessing much more industry players entering the upper and course world than previously – the Dyson Institute is simply one example; and at FutureLearn, companies like Xero, Salesforce and Tableau are partnering with institutes like Coventry University to make learning opportunities that have an immediate impact on employability. To cope with the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, universities in the United States have offered distance learning courses. Remote learning programs like the Carroll University online courses have been the answer to many people’s prayers in pursuing a degree amid the pandemic.

In the near future we will expect to ascertain ever more inventive and alternative digital offerings. this will only be a benefit in assisting to widen the reach and access to HEI products. Such innovative online products can act as an enabler: by providing on-demand services that fit round the realities of people’s post-pandemic lives, it’s hoped that education are often more flexible and suited to day-to-day life.

Given the unprecedented pace of technological change we witness a day , it’s widely predicted that folks will have multiple careers in their lifetime, wanting to retrain and reskill on a routine basis. the longer term of Learning report, for instance , found that 21% of UK working age adults don’t expect to be working within the same industry by 2030, with the COVID-19 pandemic making almost one in 10 rethink their career paths entirely.
There is therefore an increasing need for opportunities and mechanisms to reinforce the skillset of graduates, both during and after study. the present student population and people already in work can, and do, expect to need booster courses and learning interventions to equip them to achieve the work market of the longer term .
A new wave of employability-led HE qualifications

In parallel, we see a reversion to more job-focused learning models; faraway from the degree as a gateway product. Industry-based qualifications are on the rise; here within the UK we see a resurgence within the popularity of apprenticeships thanks to the very fact that apprentices can both learn and earn on the work . they’re especially popular amongst employers as they allow them to recruit a wider pool of diverse people from a wider range of backgrounds, with different skillsets and approaches to the planet .

The OU’s apprenticeship programmes are playing an important role in helping employers face the challenges of the pandemic and plan for the longer term whilst helping to deal with skills gaps in key areas, including digital, management, leadership, welfare work , policing and healthcare. The OU teaching model may be a blended one, with world-renowned online teaching combined with specialist face-to-face tutor support.

The flexibility to mix quality digital learning with practical on-the-job experience is at the guts of this progressive opportunity. Many OU apprentices can study on the brink of home and gain the qualification flexibly, because of quality, supported, distance learning.

The movement continues to accelerate. Building on the upper and degree apprenticeships schemes, the united kingdom government’s Skills for Jobs white book published in January this year, heralds another alternative to the normal degree in England: Higher Technical Qualifications. These are designed to be one and two-year programmes aimed toward meeting the talents shortages of specific occupations slightly below degree level.

However, a requirement to tackle a lag in productivity growth and a tighter specialise in the employer shouldn’t mean qualifications need to fit a linear straight jacket. Learning isn’t only for the years after you allow school. It’s possible to permit learners to make their own personalised selection of educational products, picking and selecting modules that flexibly combine their skillset requirements and interests, blending the vocational and therefore the academic approach to create a portfolio of practical and theoretical learning. The OU’s open certificates, diplomas and degrees illustrates how this will be done and provides a blueprint for other HEIs to follow.

Overall in 2021, the main target of HEIs is a smaller amount on the critical years between 18 to 22 years old, and therefore the campus experience, and more on the longer term of learning. Digital education products are providing an avenue for continuous lifelong learning, adding learning ‘booster shots’ and accessible, flexible avenues for retraining and reskilling, helping learners break away of the dominance of a degree acquired at a young age. HEIs see the shift and understand the part they will play during this , understanding that at whatever age and at whichever stage in their career that learners have continuous needs and desires to stay on learning.

The demise of employment for all times and accelerated industrial progress is putting more and more pressure on the individual to stay acquiring skills in on-demand, growing job areas. It’s here that HEIs have a critical role to play, supporting modular offerings in an accessible digital environment. Their experience in the way to deliver distance learning online during the pandemic, and therefore the needs and anxieties of their own students as they face a troublesome job market post COVID-19, have shown them first-hand the necessity for this approach, with many educational leaders now re-imagining the university for 2021.

We’ve learned what’s possible through our hasty dive into the digital world for the day-to-day delivery due to the pandemic. While which will are painful, the way we’re learning and teaching now must surely spark our imagination and creativity for a way we will operate better within the future.