Volume 33, No. 2: Changing Perceptions Changes Lives
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Welcome to Vol. 33, No. 2, of Connections, the newsletter of the National Career Pathways Network.
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Hosted on Nov 8–10 at the beautiful Harris Conference Center in Charlotte, NC, this outstanding professional development opportunity will include:
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Inspiring Ideas
from Career Pathways across the country
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Networking
with leaders and peers
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Takeaways
you can put into action when you return home
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Attendees will choose from over 70 informative and innovative sessions presented by leaders and experts in five strands: Career Counseling, Development, and Advising • Teaching and Learning • Designing/Delivering Programs • Establishing/Growing Partnerships • Workforce Development
Sample session titles:
- Early College Pathways for Students in the Academic Middle
- Building Non-Credit Remote Programs for the Adult Learner
- Your Roadmap to Creating Inclusive Career Pathways
- Empowering Career Pathways Through Collaboration with Workforce Partners
- Pipelines, Projects, and Pathways: Aligning Adult Education Programming to Registered Apprenticeship Opportunities
- Navigating the Unknown: Building an Upskilled Workforce Through Meaningful Experiences and Partnerships
- Designing Accelerated Pathway Options that Connect Both Dual Credit and Workplace Experience
- Hiring a Diverse Workforce: How to Make it Matter
- Less Talk, More Walk: Creating a Culture of Trust and Accountability
- Yes, You Can Prepare Students for the Monday After Graduation
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Youth Apprenticeship Collaboration Helps to Shape Future Northeast Wisconsin Workforce
Mike Snowberry, Director of Learning Services, Luxemburg-Casco School District, Luxemburg, Wisconsin
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In September 2022, Forward Analytics, the research arm of the Wisconsin Counties Association, indicated that without more people moving to Wisconsin the state’s working-age population is projected to shrink by approximately 130,000 people within the next eight years. Wisconsin tends to lose more college graduates than it retains. The Washington Post found that Wisconsin loses slightly more than 20 percent of its college graduates on average when it analyzed “brain drain” by state in September 2022. At least 106,000 people, age 26 or younger, have left the state over the past decade, according to the Forward Analytics report. One way to attempt to reverse these troubling statistics is to develop a robust Youth Apprenticeship program.
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Building a Better Future Through Career Development |
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Hi, everyone! My name is Rachel Hoag, and I am the Career Strategist at Polaris Career Center. I firmly believe in the career center philosophy and the training we provide for our students. Through our office, the Office of Innovation, Career & Workforce Services, we have identified three career development pillars:
- Career Awareness and Exploration
- Career Planning
- Workforce Development
Through these pillars, we provide a variety of services to our students. At Polaris Career Center, we are a training facility and believe in the power of exploration, exposure, and career development.
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Closing the Skills Gap Requires a Wider Talent Pool
Steve Lehr, Director of Business Development – North America, Festo Didactic
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With the rise of automation comes the need for highly skilled industrial professionals. Survey information indicates that for most manufacturers attracting and retaining the right talent remains their top challenge. It’s clear that better education and hands-on training is the way forward. In fact, most manufacturers say that upskilling their workers helped improve productivity, promotion opportunities, and morale. Today’s skills gap, which is the mismatch between the skills possessed by job seekers and the skills needed by employers to fill current and future roles, means that the available talent pool is smaller than general population numbers indicate, which is a major problem. The National Association of Manufacturers forecasts that 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will be unfilled by 2030. Today, most of the workforce development training in the U.S. takes place at two-year colleges. If all those institutions exceeded expectations and graduated 100 manufacturing students per year, the United States would still be short about 1 million skilled workers. |
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Over the next several issues, we will call attention to AI tools with classroom applications. Disclaimer: This feature is informational only and is not intended as an endorsement. No attempt has been made to weigh the relative benefits and costs of free vs paid plans.
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Perplexity is a generative AI chatbot that interacts with users conversationally. It has the added advantage of showing the sources from which it draws information and providing suggestions for related topics.
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Curipod is an interactive slide presentation tool. Use it to create conventional slides (bullet points, text, images) or interactive slides providing polls, open-ended questions, and Q&A. After creating slides, share the link with students, who interact on their digital devices.
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Yippity is an AI-driven tool that enables the user to automatically convert text and/or websites into questions and answers that can be used to create quizzes and flashcards.
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Have a favorite AI tool you would like to feature? Contact editor Mark Whitney (mwhitney@cord.org) to share your idea.
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An Educator's Guide to AI in the Classroom: The Transformative Power of AI in Education, How to Use AI in School, K-12 Classroom Lesson Plans, and Answers to Common AI Questions. 2023. Author Abigail McKeag provides guidelines for educators seeking to leverage the power of AI in their teaching practices. From the broader impacts of AI to practical applications and K-12 classroom lesson plans, McKeag offers strategies and tools for enhancing the learning experience. Readers will discover how AI can personalize instruction, engage students, and enhance students' love of learning. Chapters are devoted to the incorporation of AI in writing and language arts, science, history, math, and art. The book includes practical, grade-appropriate lesson plans blending AI with conventional teaching and learning, answers to common questions and concerns about AI, and information on ethical considerations and responsible use of AI in education.
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Want to contribute a mini book review to Connections (100–200 words)? Contact editor Mark Whitney (mwhitney@cord.org) to share your idea.
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Getting Started with Microcredentials: A Primer for Higher Education Leaders
Northeastern University Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy, May 2023
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"As more institutions and systems develop and issue microcredentials, consumer and employer awareness of these programs is continuing to grow. With funding from government agencies and private philanthropies, a large number of standards bodies, industry associations, technology firms, and others are working aggressively to build the technology infrastructure to support microcredentialing. Quality assurance bodies (such as institutional accreditors) are taking note, and beginning to revise their standards and policies to support and even encourage these educational innovations. Ultimately, the future of microcredentialing will be shaped by higher education practitioners responding to emerging student needs and the demands of industry through thoughtful strategic approaches." |
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Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning: Insights and Recommendations
U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology, May 2023
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This new report by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology defines artificial intelligence (AI) as a rapidly advancing class of foundational capabilities for recognizing patterns and automating actions that are being increasingly embedded in all types of educational technology systems. AI brings powerful opportunities that call for addressing both anticipated risks and the possibility of unintended consequences. The report addresses the need for sharing knowledge, engaging educators, and refining technology plans and policies for AI use in education. The report guides educators in understanding what these emerging technologies can do to advance educational goals while evaluating and limiting key risks. |
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News and Views: Women in STEM |
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Joanna Webb, Enago Academy, Feb 14, 2023. "Our world is evolving quickly, and significant technology breakthroughs are reported virtually every day. A move to digital technology and extraordinary technology are the characteristics of the so-called fourth industrial revolution. The physical, digital, and biological worlds are rapidly fusing. We must ensure that we are going forward in an integrated and inclusive way, although this is a period of great opportunity and enthusiasm for the future. The success of this revolution depends on placing women at the forefront and putting a strong focus on equality."
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Sharon Wilfong, Best Colleges, April 20, 2023. "Did you know that women have significantly contributed to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? And yet, the tech industry has a reputation for bias, policies, and gender-biased language that often exclude people who identify as female."
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Drew Robb, SHRM, July 6, 2023. "In the U.S., women make up roughly 28 percent of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) workforce. Men vastly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields in college. The gender gap is especially high in computer science and engineering. And according to the National Science Foundation's Science and Engineering Indicators, women are half as likely to complete college STEM degrees compared to men. Various studies over the years have also discovered that girls' interest in STEM generally declines as high school progresses."
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©2023 CORD. Connections is published by the National Career Pathways Network (ncpn.info), an organization of CORD (cord.org). NCPN assists educators, employers, and other stakeholders in planning, implementing, evaluating, and improving workforce education programs. Questions? Mark Whitney, mwhitney@cord.org
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