Episode 120: Equip Your Child with Skills for a Digital World

Unlock the secrets to preparing your children for a future where both social and artificial intelligence are key to career success. In this episode, I promise to equip you with the knowledge to bridge the gap between today’s digital skills and the soft skills crucial for employability. We'll delve into the importance of social intelligence, exploring teamwork, empathy, and conflict resolution as indispensable tools in the workplace. While our children might be tech-savvy, there's a pressing need to nurture communication, critical thinking, and professionalism amid the digital age's limited face-to-face interactions.

Join me as we explore how artificial intelligence can transform education, offering personalized career guidance and insights into personal strengths and weaknesses. We’ll discuss actionable steps for parents, like fostering discussions and project involvement at home, to nurture these vital skills. Highlighting the ethical use of AI, I underscore a balanced educational approach that marries technology with interpersonal skills, giving students a competitive edge in the labor market. Prepare to empower your children with the tools they need to thrive and actively participate in a rapidly changing, digitally-driven society.

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Chapters

• 0:55 Skills for Future Workplace Success
• 22:02 Preparing Students for Future Workplace Success

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:56

Welcome to another episode of K-12 Education Untangled. My name is Dr Kim J Fields, former corporate manager turned education researcher and advocate, and I'm the host of this podcast. I got into this space after dealing with some frustrating interactions with school educators and administrators, as well as experiencing the microaggressions that I faced as an African American mom raising my two kids, who were in the public school system. I really wanted to understand how teachers were trained and what the research provided about the challenges of the public education system. Once I gained the information and the insights that I needed, I was then equipped to be able to successfully support my children in their education and progress. This battle-tested experience is what I provide as action steps for you to take. It's like enjoying a bowl of educational research with a sprinkling of mother wisdom on top. If you're looking to find out more about current information and issues in public education that could affect you and your children, and the action steps that you can take to give your children the advantages they need, then you're in the right place. Thanks for tuning in today. I know that staying informed about K-12 public education trends and topics is important to you, so keep listening. In this episode, I'll be discussing how to help students prepare for working in environments that utilize social and artificial intelligence. If you think the current generation of students possess the necessary skills to be successful in tomorrow's workplace, you might want to think again.

Speaker 1: 2:55

The skills that are most in demand by employers have been known for decades in the educational realm, yet these skills are rarely taught. How can schools and educational institutions teach these fundamental skills that are required for the jobs of the future? I address this question and other pertinent issues in this episode. Let's untangle this. The key skills that seem to be missing are the skills related to social intelligence. That seem to be missing are the skills related to social intelligence. Social intelligence involves the ability to understand and manage people, to act wisely in relationships. Social intelligence has also been defined as the ability to get along with others. Some would say that social intelligence is the new science of success, especially workplace success. Social intelligence involves the skills of teamwork, conflict resolution, ethics, integrity and empathy.

Speaker 1: 4:00

Social intelligence may be better known as interpersonal intelligence. A person's level of interpersonal intelligence can often determine the degree of their employability. Therefore, for students to master this skill is requisite for working in the future workplace environment. Students will not only need technological skills, but they will need academic and soft skills as well. These soft skills include oral and written communication skills, professionalism and work ethic, creativity and critical thinking, as well as problem-solving skills. Interpersonal intelligence is regarded as a key determinant for job applicants in all types of industries. Intra-personal intelligence, which includes self-efficacy and self-management, is also important to be successful in the workplace. The benefit of having students master interpersonal intelligence and the technical skills utilizing artificial intelligence is to have more successful professionals with better opportunities to have upward mobility and more meaningful careers that will benefit their families, their organizations and the future workforce.

Speaker 1: 5:22

There remains a significant gap in the current generation with soft skills competencies, although they possess noteworthy technological skills. A recent survey of 1,500 companies worldwide indicated that 95% of executives said that there is a skills gap in the American workforce and approximately 45% believe that the gap exists in soft skills. What are the traits that make a student a desirable employee for an organization? These traits or skills include effective communication skills, problem-solving skills, teamwork skills, conflict resolution skills and critical thinking skills All skills that are necessary to be successful in the workplace. While a college degree may provide the necessary hard skills, employers are looking for people who bring soft skills as well as the hard skills. A person's success in the work environment depends 85% on soft skills and only 15% on hard skills. One of the contributing factors as to why students have underdeveloped soft skills is because they lack the necessary face-to-face interaction with others that is typically strengthened in person. Instead, these skills are lacking because this generation of students have grown up in the era of the internet and social media.

Speaker 1: 7:00

Now let's move on to the other skill set that's necessary for jobs of the future and how to help students prepare for environments that will be utilizing artificial intelligence. Workplaces, now and in the future, will continue to rely on artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence involves the ability to utilize computer applications, to understand its output and to use these systems ethically and conscientiously. Today's students and current workers need to balance the use of artificial intelligence and the ethics of this technology as well. It's important that students acquire a fundamental and practical understanding of AI so that they can learn to solve problems irrespective of their planned field of study in college, as well as to acquire a fundamental and practical understanding of AI, its multifaceted applications and its transformative potential. This is a new type of literacy that is essential for preparing students to navigate a world increasingly influenced by AI technologies, ensuring that they are well-versed in leveraging AI to solve complex problems in various fields. While chat GPT, for example, can help organize a student's thoughts and ask pertinent questions to achieve deeper reflections, it should not be relied on to write an assignment on its own. It goes without saying that ethics and social implications of AI tools need to be a part of the school curriculum.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Another critical component for helping students prepare for future work environments that involve social intelligence and artificial intelligence is knowledge acquisition that comes from the use of digital citizenship curricula. These curricula examine not only reputation management and online etiquette, but specifically address technology in education as a way to prepare students to be civic actors. Digital citizenship curricula purposes to understand the link between technology and civic participation. Digital citizenship involves raising the consciousness of systemic barriers that promote oppressions in order to achieve liberation. Student participation in active, participatory citizenship through digital media should enable them to express their personal politics and promote civic engagement through different forms of digital interactions. Digital citizenship curricula are a means for students to use technology to affect systemic change. Understanding how digital citizenship empowers students to transcend socially placed constraints on race and class is important for students to develop critical digital citizenship. Digital technologies not only include AI, but seemingly neutral technologies such as databases and facial recognition technology, which can be weaponized to control and punish non-dominant communities. Reliance on artificial intelligence tools may be an important component of future work environments. However, current students who will become future workers need to also understand how the use of these technologies play into their political consciousness and the impact on this society as well as the world. Technology should be governed by ethics, and it is intertwined with digital citizenship so that it addresses complex social problems.

Speaker 1: 11:49

One of the most important roles of education in the 21st century is to train future workers on the types of work that can be done anywhere by anybody with the necessary skills who can access technology and the internet. Therefore, education has become the key to economic survival in the 21st century. It is the educator's responsibility to teach every student how to learn, promoting creativity, collaboration, critical thinking as well as successful communication. All of these skills are necessary in order to flourish in today's and tomorrow's ever-changing workplaces. Currently, a lack of 21st century skills is costing businesses a lot of money across the globe. According to some estimates, over $200 billion is spent annually on locating and employing scarce highly qualified people, as well as costly training programs to bring new employees up to the requisite skill levels. Training programs to bring new employees up to the requisite skill levels. The goal of the 2023 study was to find ways to prepare students to be confident future workers by developing a curriculum that incorporates 21st century skills such as multiple intelligences and multiple literacies, which could create higher order thinking skills in students, helping them to prepare themselves as skilled and critical thinkers to solve any real life situations.

Speaker 1: 13:19

There are numerous expectations to be flawless at work, flawless at home and in social context in the 21st century, and a low self-esteem is a common issue in today's culture. Students in the 21st century need to learn to be successful in an information-driven economy in order to encourage themselves to improve their social-emotional well-being. Motivation is a driving factor that's linked to a student's emotional and social well-being and allows a student to act and pursue a goal to succeed in today's competitive work environment. Students of today need four abilities to excel in school and in the workplace. These abilities encompass critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration. Critical thinking is necessary so that young minds can solve complex problems through logical reasoning. Artistry, curiosity, imagination and personal expression are all products of creativity and invention. Communication skills encompass not only public speaking and presenting, but also successfully sharing messages that are communicated to all levels of audiences, as well as the ability to listen. In order to critically study and solve problems, collaboration with team members is required to collaborate in day-to-day operations of the workplace. Developing leadership skills in today's competitive work environment is necessary to facilitate and lead teams using virtual workspaces.

Speaker 1: 15:02

Along with knowledge of information and communication technology, literacy, media and internet literacy, and data interpretation and analysis, problem-solving abilities assist students in swiftly and successfully resolving challenges. It's one of the most important talents that companies look for in job candidates, since employees with these abilities are more self-sufficient. Problem-solving abilities necessitate quickly recognizing the underlying problem and developing a solution for that problem. Employers routinely rate decision-making as one of the most important abilities. Although decision-making skills are rarely taught in schools, decision-making skills are an important aspect of the high school curriculum to prepare students for the 21st century labor market. The best way for students to apply these 21st century skills of critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration is through internships or apprenticeships in real world situations, as well as other genuine learning experiences.

Speaker 1: 16:11

Work environments in the 21st century encompass a mix of information processing skills such as literacy, numeracy and problem solving, as well as generic skills such as interpersonal communication, self-management and the ability to learn, all of which help workers navigate the turbulence of a rapidly changing labor market. Digital natives the generation of students that were born since 2010, have spent their entire lives in the technological environment, surrounded by computers, the Internet, social networks and so on, and they are more interested in learning using new innovative ideas such as AI and social intelligence as part of their 21st century collaboration skills to help them be prepared for the professional working environment. Overall, 21st century skills will help these young students reflect on the information and skills that they will need to succeed in college and their future jobs, as well as to be competitive in the global economy. In the global economy, have you heard of a SWOT analysis? It basically examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a problem under investigation. Swot analysis the SWOT being S-W-O-T has been applied within the realm of education, particularly examining the use of chat GPT in education. Although the use of chat GPT has raised some concerns, it is, without question, a product that will likely play an important role in the future of education, since it can be used to support students in writing, skill acquisition and for completing homework and project tasks. The uncertainty surrounding the use of this innovative product in education tends to center around ethical considerations, changes to the teacher-student relationship and how it could reshape learning processes over the long term, helping students prepare for work environments that involve social intelligence as well as artificial intelligence.

Speaker 1: 18:24

The use of ChatGPT is one of those artificial intelligence technological tools that students will have to be familiar with to better perform in their future jobs. The strengths of chat GPT are its human-like answers, personalized learning, agile learning, time-saving properties, 24 by 7 feedback opportunity, language ability and content richness. There are notable weaknesses of chat GPT, and those weaknesses, especially applied to usage in the classroom, include providing incorrect information, ethical issues, violation of the accountability principle, because it is not held accountable for its actions, being a commercial product. Lack of intuition and common sense, the inability to process visual information and a lack of higher order thinking. Opportunities for using chat GPT in schools includes building smart classrooms that increase students' engagement, understanding and solving complex questions. Analytical thinking opportunities and, for educators, the ability to create a personalized learning environment and to conduct research in support of lesson planning. The potential threats of using chat GPT in the classroom are a lack of context and artificiality. Biased content, since it provides no citations for verification of its sources or references. Legitimizing plagiarism, privacy and security, discrimination and prejudice, and virtual addiction. Discrimination and prejudice, and virtual addiction. Chat GPT can make significant contributions to the educational process, especially when it's used strategically by teachers and school principals at the K-12 level. Various teaching strategies, such as discussion and brainstorming, could help to increase students' interest and engagement in lessons with the support of AI tools, thereby contributing to deeper classroom interactions. The risk of using AI tools like ChatGPT is something that needs to be carefully addressed so that, as students become more familiar with these types of tools, they understand the ethical considerations involved.

Speaker 1: 21:00

Using artificial intelligence to provide lifelong career guidance helps students with the opportunities to develop their competencies. This enables them to make meaningful plans and decisions relating to education and career paths. The expectation is that an investment in AI-related guidance services can reduce dropouts and speed up transitions to the labor market. Career guidance includes services and activities that are intended to assist students of any age and at any point in their lives to make educational, training and occupational choices, as well as to manage their careers. Career guidance also includes services to support reskilling and upskilling. The potential benefits of using AI technology and career guidance include improved accessibility, increased access to information and faster assessment, as well as lower costs and improved cost effectiveness.

Speaker 1: 22:02

Ai can positively influence students and organizations and structures. Processes and people that make up the education system should be emphasized in education, since they will be required for future work environments where AI, as well as social intelligence, is utilized. In a recent study, students were open to the idea of using AI career guidance. They thought that having accessible and timely guidance, whether it was delivered by AI or humans, was important. They also felt that any AI-enabled process should be part of everyday learning activities. Additionally, students felt that artificial intelligence could support them in recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, especially as a way to compare their skills to the requirements of a specific job or in a specific field or position.

Speaker 1: 23:07

So what's my take on the research that's been discussed? I think that the necessity of social intelligence is a critical component for success in the future workplace. Future workers will need to collaborate with team members to solve complex problems. They'll also need to be proficient in using artificial intelligence tools to promote efficiencies in the workplace environment. The key to all of this is for students to be able to practice and master the social intelligence skills of communication, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. These can be taught beginning in middle school, so that the proficient level of mastery is achieved by the end of high school. Helping students prepare for work environments that utilize social intelligence and an AI intelligence begins with what they are being taught in school. Volunteering in organizations working as interns or apprentices are also excellent opportunities for them to develop these skills out of school. The biggest takeaway from using artificial intelligence in the workplace is the ethical considerations of using that technology. Now let's move from discussing this topic to applying it. What can you actually do about this? Here are the action steps you can take regarding this topic.

Speaker 1: 24:38

Helping your child prepare to be a future worker in a company that utilizes social intelligence and artificial intelligence begins with understanding the importance of both of these types of intelligence. Monitoring their use of AI tools is fairly straightforward. However, reinforcing their social intelligence skills can begin with at-home projects. These projects can be in the form of book reports, opinion pieces from articles that they read online, persuasive dialogue that they use to sell products for school, etc. And all of these provide practice for them to have dialogue in face-to-face situations. Another simple activity that could be undertaken is to have dialogue at the dinner table. This provides an opportunity for each child to share his or her opinions, experiences and to delve into topics for which he or she may be curious. It builds their social intelligence muscles, so to speak. Equipping your children with the necessary skill sets to be successful in the future workplace by providing an enriching environment at home is one of the best things that you can do to help your child prepare for work and life in the future. Here are this episode's takeaways. Takeaways Social intelligence involves the skills of teamwork, conflict resolution, ethics, integrity and empathy.

Speaker 1: 26:29

Social intelligence may be better known as interpersonal intelligence. A person's level of interpersonal intelligence can often determine the degree of their employability. Often determine the degree of their employability. Therefore, for students to master the skill is requisite for working in a future workplace environment. Students will not only need technological skills, but they will need academic and soft skills as well. These soft skills include oral and written communication skills, professionalism and work ethic, creativity and critical thinking, as well as problem-solving skills.

Speaker 1: 27:05

There remains a significant gap in the current generation with soft skills competencies, although they possess noteworthy technological skills. Noteworthy technological skills A recent survey of 1,500 companies worldwide indicated that 95% of executives said that there is a skills gap in the American workforce and approximately 45% believe that the gap exists in soft skills. One of the contributing factors as to why students have underdeveloped soft skills is because they lack the necessary face-to-face interaction with others that is typically strengthened in person. Instead, skills are lacking because this generation of students has grown up in the era of the Internet and social media. Technology should act as an enabler of change and innovation. It should help students develop the competencies and skills to solve problems in the environments in which they live, as well as in their future work environments. Social intelligence and artificial intelligence are technologies that help students adapt to new trends and become better qualified professionals of the future. Today's senior high school students must update their skills and competencies to face the challenges of the future labor market.

Speaker 1: 28:48

Do you agree with what's been discussed in this episode in relation to helping students prepare for working environments that will require social intelligence and artificial intelligence? Let me know your thoughts by leaving a text comment on my podcast website, k12educationuntangledbuzzsproutcom. Again, that's k12educationuntangledbuzzsproutcom. Remember to share my podcast with anyone you think will find it valuable. That includes your friends, family and your community. Thanks for taking the time to listen to this episode. I hope you'll come back for more K-12 educational discussions with even more exciting topics to untangle. Until next time, aim to learn something new every day.