Preparing Students for Future Jobs

Preparing Students for Future Jobs

Students who are in school now, will hit the job market smetime between 2035 to 2040. They will probably work for 40 years, and he/she will retire in 2080. Can you imagine the job market between 2040 to 2080? Please do so because we will have to prepare our children for that time. Entry level criterion for college, value of degree, kind of jobs, definition of success all will change. Jobs which require the ability to memorize and do repetitive work will not exist. They will be automated. It will be done by machines. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) these machines have started to understand things. Consequently, jobs which require understanding will also become extinct. Only jobs that will remain are jobs related to “Higher-Order-Thinking” (HOT) or Critical thinking. This is the reason we focus on critical thinking, ensuring that students are equipped with the essential abilities to succeed in tomorrow’s careers that is between 2040 to 2080.

Critical Thinking

Most schools rely on the “one right answer” model of learning. In most classrooms, discussions are centered around simple recall. Mistakes are considered as sin. Discussions to reason out and think are rare. But the problem is mastery of reading, writing and arithmetic may be sufficient for entry level jobs, but because of the constantly changing nature of work, minimum skills are not sufficient for career advancement.  Therefore, there is a lot of emphasis on development of Higher Order Thinking (HOTs). These thinking include learning how to apply, analyze, evaluate and create. In Vikalp Online School, teachers transform classrooms into communities of inquiry. Consequently, students develop the ability to question, reconstruct the thinking of others and engage in the give-and-take of intellectual exchange.

This is easier said than done. Critical thinking cannot be developed just by including it in the curriculum. The entire teaching process needs to be changed. This cannot be done in a public school which still works on a “factory model”. Here concepts are introduced as given facts and students are supposed to reproduce them in examination. There is no role of critical thinking in this setup. In Vikalp concepts are not introduced, learning tools are introduced. Students are guided to do activities and discover the concept on their own. There is no lecture. No one tells them. They discover it by doing. After discovering, the facilitator asks a series of questions and assigns projects works. These questions and project works help students in finding answers. Gradually students are able to recall and understand, but also apply, analyze, evaluate and create. Students are supposed to do this with each concept in their curriculum. By the end of their school years, students became proficient in these skills which will help them in the job market.

Personalised Learning

Adaptive learning technologies are revolutionising education by offering personalized learning experiences tailored to individual student needs. These platforms leverage data-driven insights to customize the difficulty level, pace, and learning paths, enabling students to advance at their speed while focusing on areas requiring additional support. This personalized approach ensures that each student receives the necessary guidance to achieve success.

Chatbots

In Vikalp Online school students learn how to interact with Chabot, ask questions and solve their doubts.

DBTS

In Vikalp students are encouraged to learn from Dialogue-based tutoring systems (DBTS). These systems adopt a Socratic approach to tutoring, probing with AI-generated questions rather than providing instruction. These systems do not give readymade answers. They develop a conversation in which the students  are guided towards discovering for themselves an appropriate solution for a problem. The aim is to encourage students to co-create explanations to reach an in-depth understanding of the topic rather than the shallow understanding that can result from some instructional Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS).

Learning Companions

We are in the process of developing learning companions for lifelong learning. It will be like personalized lifelong tutors which would provide continuous support. This AI-driven companion will know the students interests and goals and would build on it, to help them decide what to learn, as well as where and how. It would guide the students along their individualized learning pathways.

Access To Global Resources

Our platforms offer students access to an extensive array of global resources, including courses, tutorials, and expert insights. This connectivity expands their learning horizons by exposing them to diverse perspectives and advanced knowledge from across the globe. Students can delve into specialized topics and learn from leading experts, thereby enriching their overall educational experience. Our facilitators encourage students to take part in various forums so that collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. Peer learning, or peer instruction, is a type of collaborative learning that involves students working in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts or find solutions to problems. Similar to the idea that two or three heads are better than one, educational researchers have found that through peer instruction, students teach each other by addressing misunderstandings and clarifying misconceptions.

Career-Focused Courses 

In addition to the main course, we offer several elective courses for our students. These courses range from Yoga, Dance, Music, Phonics, and Coding. You can check the details of Online Classes on the website. Teachers gauge interest and abilities of each child and encourage them to enroll in courses which can help them in their career. Curriculum and tutors of these are not traditional outdated teachers. They are working professionals who can alien educational content with current market demands. For example, in Coding we don’t teach dying programming languages like Basic and Pascal, but we teach Machine learning and AI. In public speaking we teach how to simplify things, communicate with people, prepare presentations etc. Curriculum is curated such that it will be relevant in the everyday life of the students. Yoga course is not only about learning the asanas and pranayama, it is about how to synchronize your body and mind so that students are able to concentrate and work with their utmost potential. These programs often feature practical training components and job placement guarantees, equipping students with the skills necessary to secure employment in rapidly evolving industries. By aligning educational content with current market demands, these programs enhance students’ career prospects and their preparedness for the job market.