How Can Technology Prepare Students for the Workplace?

By Developing Basic Technology Skills
One way of looking at the new workplace is to understand that six out of every ten workers today can be considered, as the 1997 STaR Report notes, “knowledge workers — those whose primary job responsibilities are focused on creating, organizing, and communicating information”. It is easy to demonstrate that technology–based learning can help students to develop these same skills. One of the new skills which the SCANS Report says workers need is “Information Competency,” which includes acquiring, evaluating, organizing, maintaining, interpreting, and communicating information. These are the very same abilities being developed by the team of students engaged in project–based, learner–centered inquiry when they capture information electronically, analyze and evaluate their findings, and synthesize them into a collaboratively prepared presentation. Those students working with problem–solving software simulations are using skills needed in today’s workplace as they work in teams, communicate ideas to justify position, persuade and convince others, negotiate, and understand how systems work.

By Simulating Today’s Work
Numerous real-life examples clearly demonstrate that using technology in a reality–based, work–oriented environment is a compelling and meaningful experience even for students too young to join the workforce.

In the western Massachusetts town of Erving, a group of fifth– and sixth–graders created the Erving Business Directory Web site, providing a real service and exciting learning at the same time. Using custom-designed questionnaires, they interviewed the owners of 30 local businesses, gathered and processed information, and created an individual Web page for each business. In Florida, a group of fourth-graders work at being travel agents, producing illustrated travel packets on demand. They use various Web sites to research driving directions, weather information, and tourist attractions and create customized brochures for their real–life clients. And in Hanna, Wyoming, a group of high–schoolers use an impressive combination of multimedia computers to produce a weekly community–oriented news program for the local cable television system and to create graphics for in–house clients like the drama society. “Works to satisfy customers’ expectations” is just one of the SCANS competencies mastered by these students.

Goal-oriented activities such as these provide valuable learning experiences which can help learners to someday meet the demands of the adult world, be it in college, workplace, or both.

By Motivating Learning
Technology–based learning also brings a sense of purpose, proving to students that education can have meaning for them. When Georgia’s Carrollton County School District faced a rising tide of consistent academic failure and high dropout rates, district leaders found a corporate partner that helped introduce technology into its schools. It took four years, but the district was able to report significant reductions in both dropout and failure rates and an equally significant increase in attendance rates. In fact, the district began to attract almost 2,000 out–of–district students willing to pay a fee to learn in a real–world technology–based environment (SCANS, 1991).

Through Long–Term Financial Benefits
Technology–based learning can make a real economic difference both to students and to employers. School–to–career programs encourage students to experiment with technology needed in the workplace, enabling students to realize hidden potential and providing future employers with a supply of skilled employees. For example, California’s film and television industries — facing a growing shortage of special–effects visual artists able to work with multimedia and other digital technologies — are holding career fairs and engaging in other school–oriented programs, and are locating a previously untapped source of creative young people eager to demonstrate their skills. Many of these are disadvantaged inner–city youth who have suddenly been given a new way to climb the economic ladder. Multimedia is but one example, and similar results are possible in areas such as biotechnology, health technology, and financial services.

Forward–thinking companies also realize that they must take a leadership role by creating technology–oriented internships for both students and educators. Such internships are mutually beneficial. They guarantee employers a future supply of technology–capable workers, and they inspire students and their teachers to consider the technology needs of the business world. As the 1997 STaR Report says, “America’s strength as a nation has always depended on a strong education system that prepares its students to be contributing citizens and productive members of the workforce. In today’s world, successfully educating students requires new levels of commitment.”

Thus, students who have technology-rich educational environments are prepared for both the workforce and higher learning. They can:

• Adapt to changes in the economy and marketplace with the capacity and skills for lifelong learning.
• Start with basic technology skills that employers can use as building blocks for more specific applications.
• Learn methods of collaboration and teamwork while in the safety of an academic environment.
• Pursue courses through distance learning that may not otherwise be available.
• Acquire work-related skills, such as problem–solving, critical thinking, and data analysis.
• Benefit financially and educationally from collaboration between schools and businesses.