Don’t Wait, Innovate! Preparing Students and Lecturers in Higher Education for the Future Labor Market

Abstract

Technological innovations are changing our society at a rapid pace. The expansion of new technologies (e.g., tools and programs) will inevitably change future jobs in the area of, for example, engineering, healthcare, and science. People working in these areas need digital human capital, which is often acquired through education prior to starting a job. As a result, higher education systems around the globe face increasing demands to prepare their students for the changing labor market. To meet these demands, it is essential to focus on both lecturers’ and students’ digital competencies. Teaching professionals will have to learn to do new things using new resources. This goes beyond merely replacing work forms and resources; it is a complex process that demands a deeper way of learning in which routines and underlying knowledge and beliefs are explicitly reconsidered. Attention needs to be paid to how lecturers can gradually and continuously develop their professional competencies in the field of educational innovation with IT, to ensure these practices become embedded in future higher education. In this reflection paper, we will discuss key digital competencies for both students and lecturers. We will also focus on how lecturers develop these competencies through effective professional development (PD) activities. Based on a literature review, we present a model for effective lecturer PD with 29 ‘building blocks’. This model will be used to clarify practical examples of effective lecturer PD aimed at using innovative technology in higher education.

Early Warning Model and Its Application Research on the Alienation of Online Consumption of Higher Vocational Students

“…The findings and discussion section presents the key outcomes of the study, integrating the quantitative and qualitative data to offer a comprehensive analysis of the alienation of online consumption among higher vocational students. [16]…”

Validation and Evaluation of a Tool for Developing an Integrated View of ICT-Based Educational Innovation

“…For digitalization to be successful, it is important to overcome silo structures in HEIs and explain and share the knowledge and ideas of various HEI employees. This includes knowledge about the history of experiences with both inner and outer university educational technology (EdTech) implementations, as well as ideas for coping with the digital and cultural transformations ahead [4][5][6][7].…”

The innovative competence of university teachers to improve learning: A comparative study of Bolivia, Spain and Mexico

“…This includes important key social dimensions such as education, and specifically university education (ANECA, 2015). The importance of this quality may be explained by the demands arising from the labour market (Chekmarev et al, 2021; Portuguez and Gomez, 2020; Ter-Beek et al, 2022; Villalón, 2017), the growing emergence and use of digital devices and social networks, (Berei and Pusztai, 2022; Calderón-Gómez, 2021; Mariño-Fernández and Rial-Sánchez, 2017) changes in social interactions among the young in our society (Castillo de Mesa et al, 2020; Castro et al, 2006; Gioia and Boursier, 2021; Teichler, 2009), and, in the case of Europe, the new directives from the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) to structure lines of work aimed at improving teaching innovation (Elken and Stensaker, 2022; Lepori, 2022; Tena, 2010). UNESCO is quite clear on this in its categorical statement, when, on insisting the need to promote educational innovation, it underlined the need to take into account current social changes, to adapt education to technologies, new languages, communication and advances in scientific knowledge, which means that innovation must be at the heart of the new educational scenario.…”