Instructional Technologies can Help to Close the Growing Gap in Credentials Attainment and Required Workforce Skills

In June I gave a breakout session at the UB Tech 2013 Conference focused on the crisis we are facing in the American educational system, and to some extent in schools across the globe. The crisis I refer to is the diminishing rate of attainment of higher education credentials and the increasing gap between skills needed in the work force and citizens equipped with those skills. Some of the underlying reasons for this widening gap include the high cost of education, inadequate retention and graduation rates, insufficient preparation for higher education (significant need to build on remedial skills), and the need to offer more personalized and differentiated instruction.

In this discussion, I offered examples of ways in which technology has been employed to successfully address many of the underlying issues. The growing body of evidence proving that instructional technologies can help address these issues is a powerful attestation to a potential that remains largely overlooked, ignored, or worse yet, scoffed at.

I recently posted this video excerpt of the first part of this presentation, briefly examining the challenges we face, and laying out some of the underlying factors influencing this evolving workforce shortfall. In part 2 of the presentation I offered a few of many cases that have been published providing evidence that well employed technology based solutions can play a pivotal role in addressing fundamental challenges such as engagement, retention, differentiation, costs, and so on. I will publish that video excerpt and corresponding article here and on my web site, EmergingEdTech.com, in the next few weeks.

In the meanwhile, I have covered many "Education Technology Success Stories" and will continue to write and publish more of these types of articles, which can all be access in this article category on the site: http://www.emergingedtech.com/category/education-technology-success-stories/.

I hope you will come and read some of these stories, share any others that you are aware of in comments, and partake in the dialogue on EmergingEdTech and anywhere your voice can be heard!