Utilizing Technologies in Teaching Soft skills: Issues and Challenges

Abstract

Technology is inevitable. It evolves every single day. Technology has become a vital aspect of everyone's life especially the youth. To keep up with the modernized world, youth attach themselves to smart phones, online games, social media and many others. Therefore, the modern technology is demanding the lecturers to use these technologies in their teaching. Likewise, employers are demanding for new employees to have sufficient soft skills in order to succeed on the job. Hence there is a crucial need for lecturers to use the technology to enhance their teaching of soft skills. The use of technology is seen to improve and further enhance students' communication, collaboration, problem solving and time management skills. Technology also has the highest potential to increase access to education and improve its quality, especially now that we are geared up towards the 21st century learning. Lecturers should embrace positively the emergence of the use of technology so that they can reap the benefits of these latest and emerging technologies to make teaching and learning activities more interesting and meaningful to improve soft skills among students.

High School Students’ Perception and Development of Soft skills

“…Researchers have suggested some techniques and methods to teach soft skills namely cooperative learning (Zhang 2012 (Stanley, 2003;Willis, 1996), debate and public speaking (Aclan et al, 2016), and the use of edtech like social media (Ismail, 2019 ;Hamat et al, 2012). To begin with, cooperative learning is considered to be an efficient method for teaching and nurturing soft skills like communication, teamwork, leadership, and analytical skills.…”

“…Students who are timid, hesitant, or introverted can participate in class discussions successfully thanks to social media. So, via the usage of social media, students acquire the most essential skills, namely communication ones (Ismail, 2019).…”

“…It provides a good virtual environment in which all types of students can participate in the learning process. Furthermore, students can improve their time management skills by keeping track of the deadlines for their tasks (Ismail, 2019).…”

Soft Skills & Metacognition as Inclusion Amplifiers in the 21st Century

“…• Projects in which students communicate with peers outside their classroom • Role-play scenarios that help students to express ideas and concepts • Student-made documentaries or videos about environmental issues • Rotating classroom responsibilities • Energy conservation programs exploring how school could be more energy sufficient • Analyzing issues from multiple perspectives • Debating about ethical issues • Designing their own business or company website • Doing research (i.e., on new technologies) • Collaborating on projects • Reflecting on their own work and progress verbally, through representations or graphs • Building their own games Technological tools can be used to teach, learn or enhance soft skills at home, at school or at work. Some useful tools are [26][27][28]:…”

“…Apps and cloud-based platforms improve students' time management skills whereby they learn to keep track of all their notes, documents and images in one central data storage, making it easier to find everything they need for an assignment. This requires proper data management to ease the process of retrieving information [26]. VR/AR technology raises the level of engagement, promotes selflearning and multi-sensory learning.…”