Digital Skill Deficits

       

Digital Skills Deficits in Vocational Educators

The past decade has provided a significant rise in disruptive technologies (Gekara, et al., 2019, p. 21), and as the workplace is transformed by digital technologies, there is expected to be an unprecedented demand for new skills. This transformation highlights an imperative for all people to re-skill (Zahidi, 2020; Seet, et al., 2018; Fleming, 2020), but also exposes widening digital skills deficits. Deloitte Access Economics (2016) have identified there is an urgency to develop ‘digitally skilled workers across all industries to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by new technologies’ (p. 5).

The following clip – The Digital Skills Gap and the Future of Jobs 2020 – The Fundamental Growth Mindset – supports the notions that the digital skills gap is ever growing.

The role of the teacher

The role of the Vocational Education sector in building a skilled workforce is important (Wibrow, et al., 2020, p. 6), and, in an era of perpetual change, vocational education must be positioned to prepare students for the new world of work and education (OECD, 2018, p. 2; Kalantzis & Cope, 2012, p. 102; Fleming, 2020). It is widely understood that the overall effectiveness of digital technology in education is incumbent on the digital competence of the teachers (OECD, 2010; Teo, 2014, p. 128; George & Sanders, 2017, p. 2888; Wilson, 2020, p. 83). The role of a teacher in cultivating digital citizenship, competence and skill are critical, however, many teachers have underdeveloped digital skills, are unable to identify and use digital technology or have not undertaken additional formal training, (Wibrow, et al., 2020, p. 14; Ribble, 2015, p. 18;  Yildiz & Palak, 2016, p. 69).