Learning content

SECTION 1

1.1 What is learnability and why it is important

The desire or ability to grow and adapt your skills to remain employable is learnability. It is more complex than it sounds as it entails going from periodically doing and learning something new to adopting learning as a way of life. It’s about seeking new skills to learn on a continual basis. Eventually, the skill of learnability trains the mind to become agile* and makes one better decked with a rich spectrum of skillsets.

As technological innovations accelerate, and individuals (learners and professionals likewise) face a future with scarce knowledge of new professions, embracing learnability as a foundational skill becomes crucial.

“Learnability” has become a priority for individuals as well as corporates. Manpower, a human-resources consultancy shows that the attribute of continuous learning is directly related to well-paid jobs.

*If you have an agile mind, you think quickly and intelligently.

The bosses at big tech giants like Google and Microsoft may not agree on many things, but there is one aspect they speak in a single voice on: the major pillar of hiring for the future is to seek out aspirants who are continuous learners.

Individuals who seek out continuous development of their skills come across as active employees who would take ownership of their jobs and make their best efforts to prove their worth. For the same reason, they are deemed more fitting to companies when dealing with unknown or ever-changing industries.

Learnability is therefore a crucial skill in an era that has become highly digitalised. Acquiring the skill of being a continuous learner and seeking out opportunities for gaining new skills, especially when it comes to digital skills will open new doors for employment.

1.2 Learnability in the digital era

“The only skill that will be important in the 21^st century is the skill of learning new skills. Everything else will become obsolete over time.” - Peter Drucker”

The importance of digital skills to succeed in any job within the 4.0 industry.

The latest technological development called Industry 4.0, like the previous industrial revolutions, has also brought a new challenge for people as a labor force because new technologies require new skills and competencies. By 2030 the existing generation in the labor market will have a skill gap threatening human replacement by machines (Alhloul & Kiss, 2000).

4 digital skills everyone will need to cultivate to thrive in the new world of work:

1. Digital Literacy

Digital literacy refers to the skills needed to learn, work, and navigate our everyday lives in our increasingly digital world. When we have digital literacy skills, we can interact easily and confidently with technology. This means skills like:

• Keeping on top of emerging new technologies
• Understanding what tech is available and how it can be used
• Using digital devices, software, and applications – at work, in educational settings, and in our everyday lives
• Communicating, collaborating, and sharing information with other people using digital tools
• Staying safe and secure in a digital environment

2. Data Literacy

We're currently right in the middle of the 4^th industrial revolution, a movement that is defined by many waves of new technology that combine digital and physical worlds. For instance, you've probably noticed the flood of "smart" everyday devices on the market today, from watches to thermostats that are connected to the internet.

All that new technology is underpinned by data – and that’s why data literacy is one of the critical skills we’re going to need in the future.

Data literacy means a basic ability to understand the importance of data and how to turn it into insights and value. In a business context, you’ll need to be able to access appropriate data, work with data, find meaning in the numbers, communicate insights to others, and question the data when necessary.

3. Technical Skills

“Technical skills” is a broad category these days – it’s not just IT and engineering skills that will be needed in the workplace of the future. As the nature of work changes and workflows become more automated, a wide variety of technical skills are still enormously valuable.

In essence, technical skills are the practical or physical skills needed to do a job successfully. Demand for these skills goes far beyond coding, AI, data science, and IT – although admittedly, those skills are indeed in very high demand. If you’re a plumber, you have technical skills. Same for project managers, carpenters, nurses, and truck drivers.

We will need more specific technical skills in all industry as new technologies come on the scene, so you should be prepared to continually learn and focus on professional development through a combination of training, education, and on-the-job training.

4. Digital Threat Awareness

Cybercriminals are getting smarter and more nefarious as the world becomes more digital. This means new threats that could have enormous impacts on our personal and professional lives.

Digital threat awareness means being aware of the dangers of being online or using digital devices and having the tools you need to keep yourself and your organization safe.

With so many of our activities happening online (from making doctor’s appointments to ordering Friday night takeaway) happening online, our digital footprints are larger than ever.

Digital threat awareness means understanding the biggest threats in our everyday lives, including:

• Digital addiction
• Online privacy and protecting your data
• Password protection
• Cyberbullying
• Digital impersonation
• Phishing
• Data breaches
• Malware, ransomware, and IoT attacks

In general, lowering the risks of these digital threats means we all need to develop a healthier relationship with technology and teach others how to get the most out of technology in order to have it enrich our lives without being dominated by it.

SECTION 2

2.1 Opportunities to improve the digital skills needed to succeed in the 4.0 industry.

Technological progress is enabling machines to complete many of the tasks that once required human beings. That new automation revolution will have a major effect on employment in the coming years. Nearly every job will change, many quite profoundly, and most of today’s employees will need to develop new skills.

Beyond the scale of the coming changes in workplace roles and activities, what matters most is the nature of those changes. Increasing automation will significantly shift the skill profiles of tomorrow’s jobs. That has implications for employers and employees alike. Companies will need people with the right skills to develop, manage, and maintain their automated equipment and digital processes and to do the jobs that machines cannot. Workers will need the skills that enable them to access employment.

In Europe and the United States, for example, demand for physical and manual skills in repeatable and predictable tasks is expected to decline by nearly 30 percent over the next decade, while demand for basic literacy and numeracy skills would fall by almost 20 percent. In contrast, the demand for technological skills (both coding and especially interacting with technology) is expected to rise by more than 50 percent, and the need for complex cognitive skills is set to increase by one-third.

The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) shows that 4 out of 10 adults and every third person who works in Europe lack basic digital skills. There is also low representation of women in tech-related professions and studies, with only 1 in 6 ICT specialists and 1 in 3 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates being women.

In Europe, more than 90% of professional roles require a basic level of digital knowledge, just as they require basic literacy and numeracy skills. The use of digital is spreading across all sectors from business to transport and even to farming. Yet, around 42% of Europeans lack basic digital skills, including 37% of those in the workforce.  

That is why the EU is investing in programmes to train Europeans and expand the talent pool in Europe so we can be confident about our future in the digital world. These programmes include:  

• European Skills Agenda 
• Digital Education Action Plan 
• Digital skills and jobs coalition 

Improving our digital skills beyond a basic level is important too. Advanced digital skills can help us in jobs such as digital marketing, social media, and more. And the need for digital skills at work will only increase.  

2.2 Initiatives

To meet its goal of ensuring 70% of adults have basic digital skills and to support stakeholders in improving the level of digital skills in Europe, the Commission offers a wide range of initiatives including:

• Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition
• national coalitions for digital skills and jobs
• The European Digital Skills and Jobs Platform
• EU Code Week
• the European Skills Agenda
• the digital education action plan

The European Union invests a great deal of money with the scope of developing the digital skills of the European population in total, many of them targeting women.

There are a total of 243 projects applied in one of the following categories:

• Digital skills for all – developing digital skills to enable all citizens to be active in our digital society
• Digital skills for the labour force – developing digital skills for the digital economy by developing courses to support upskilling and reskilling workers, helping jobseekers and other actions on career advice and guidance
• Digital skills for ICT professionals – developing high-level digital skills for ICT professionals in all industry sectors
• Digital skills in education – transforming teaching and learning of digital skills in a lifelong learning perspective, including the training of teachers
• Digital Skills for women and girls – attracting women and girls to learn digital competences for life and work.

You can access these resources online and make use of them to improve your digital skills and learn more about the skills required to thrive and succeed in the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.

2.3 Assessing your digital skills

An important steppingstone to learning and improving any skill is knowing where you are currently at. The European Union has invested in the production of a platform that helps you assess your digital skills. After taking the test, you will be given the opportunity to add your scores and outcomes on your CV or an online profile, as a proof of your level of digital literacy. In addition, the platform provides matching suggestions of courses and learning opportunities based on your test results that will allow you to take your digital skills on the next level. Finally, it allows you to explore different learning paths that help you understand which digital skills you should focus on and guides you on how to improve them to reach your goal.

Follow the link below to try it out!

https://europa.eu/europass/digitalskills/screen/home

Case study

Context: Maria has been working as a nurse for 20 years now, she has been collecting all patient’s data on paper in special folders. Recently, her managers announced that everything will be stored digitally from now on.

Description: Due to her many years of experience as a nurse, Maria has been assigned the role of Head Nurse in her department. The upcoming digitalization of all information made Maria quite stressful. Being in her mid-50s, Maria is not so familiar with technology and digital information. In addition, as the head of the team she would have to make sure that all other nurses are using the new technology correctly and are passing in the necessary information.

Her department is visited by more than 500 patients weekly with serious health issues, therefore handling the information carefully and making sure nothing is lost is very crucial.

The announcement was made on a Monday and the goal was to have everything working digitally by the end of the next week. Taking into consideration the very short notice, Maria arranges a meeting with the rest of her team to start organizing the whole procedure.

She passes on the news to her team and asks them to organise all the folders in alphabetical order to make it easier to pass the information on the new platform without missing anything.

In her effort she realizes that many other people from her team, most of whom are women, have raised concerns on their illiteracy when it comes to technology and handling digital data.

Maria, despite her age, is a woman that loves learning and would take every opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills. She has been trying hard to pass that mentality on to her team. Facing their concerns, she ensures them that she will search for resources and ask for training possibilities from her managers to make sure her team is well equipped to handle the change and adapt well to the technological advancements, so that nothing will compromise their ability to work effectively.

The management team accepts her requests and promises that all personnel will be provided with the adequate training to make sure they have the right skills to effectively carry out their responsibilities without difficulties.

Lessons Learned:

• Despite the age of any person, learning and training should be a continues process.
• Every organization needs to make sure its personnel is provided with the adequate training that will ensure they can function effectively at their roles without facing any barriers, particularly when it comes to digitalization and technological advancements.
• Learnability is a crucial competence to thrive in this era of continues change and technological advancements.

Questions and answers

Q1: What is learnability and how can you know that you have acquired this competence?

A1: Learnability is the desire or ability to grow and adapt your skills to remain employable. It is more complex than it sounds as it entails going from periodically doing and learning something new to adopting learning as a way of life. It’s about seeking new skills to learn on a continual basis. Eventually, the skill of learnability trains the mind to become agile and makes one better decked with a rich spectrum of skillsets.

Q2: Your job announces that there will be some changes regarding the procedures and the way your work is carried out. They are planning to introduce new technological advancements and new software which you are unfamiliar with, and you fear of not being able to follow or even losing your job. What is the best course of action to take?

A2: Its ok not to have all the skills needed beforehand. In this era of continuous change and technological advancement, its important to cultivate the skill of being a continuous learner. You can, for example, search for resources provided by the European Union through relevant projects and actions. You can ask your managers, or the people responsible for training opportunities or you can even ask your co- workers and colleagues for support or assistance. Knowing how to learn and being a continues learner it’s a fundamental competence that everyone needs to achieve to thrive in this new Industrial Revolution.

Q3: There are 4 basic digital skills that everyone needs to acquire to thrive in this new world of work. Which are those skills and why are they important? Can you identify their importance in your own work environment and everyday life?

A3: The four basic skills are the following?

1. Digital Literacy
2. Data Literacy
3. Technical Skills
4. Digital Threat Awareness

(Please refer to the learning context of the module for a detailed explanation of the above skills)

References

Alhloul, A., & Kiss E. (2022). Industry 4.0 as a Challenge for the Skills and Competencies of

the Labor Force: A Bibliometric Review and a Survey. Journal of Science 34 (4), 1-17.

file:///C:/Users/katia.takkou_csicy/Downloads/sci-04-00034.pdf

Edvantic (2022). Learnability: The Most Important Skill of the Future (edvantic.com).

Ellingrud, K., Gupta R., & Salguero, S. (2020). Building the vital skills for the future of work in operations.

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/building-the-vital-skills-for-the-future-of-work-in-operations

European Commission website. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/digital-skills-initiatives

Europa. Eu website. https://europa.eu/europass/digitalskills/screen/home

Marr, B. (2022). The 4 Digital Skills Everyone Will Need For The Future of Work.

https://bernardmarr.com/the-4-digital-skills-everyone-will-need-for-the-future-of-work/

Additional resources

http://digcomp.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/DIGCOMP-1.0-2013.pdf - A Framework for Developing and Understanding Digital Competence in Europe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHRdCTpoxKo - Learnability explained in a video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9QwtLhg434 - Learnability: the only way to stay relevant in the future workplace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJK85JGLjtU - Extra information on Learnability.

https://bernardmarr.com/the-4-digital-skills-everyone-will-need-for-the-future-of-work/ -Digital skills needed for the future of work.

Learnability: the only way to stay relevant in the future workplace - YouTube - The following video provides further insides into the importance of learnability.