Slowly, slowly, and then quickly.
This is how Geoff Watson, Senior Vice President of Guild Education, describes the progression of education technology. An innovation is introduced, it slowly gains traction, and then BOOM, the whole world is on it. Watson has a great perspective on these kinds of trends as he’s spent over twenty years in the field of education technology. He’s served in leadership roles across diverse companies, such as his time as President of Practice (an applied learning platform), Managing Partner of Entangled Group (Ventures), and most recently as Senior Vice President of Guild Education. I was excited to connect with Watson to learn about everything he’s seen over the last twenty years and ask him what he sees coming for the next twenty.
I mostly wanted to use the conversation to explore “what’s coming,” particularly what trends in education will become commonplace over the next decade in the world of work, but we also got into his current work at Guild Education and how the company is helping those looking for their next chapter.
We spent some time looking back at the growth of education technology, but I mainly focus on the future of:
Digital curriculum design
Stackable skills
Competency-based learning
I was excited to talk to Watson, but I'm curious to hear what YOU think about these ideas. How do you see the future of digital learning post-COVID? If you already use skill stacking to sell yourself to employers, how is that going? Does competency-based learning seem realistic to you? I want to know!
The knowledge economy is here. As the combination of improved technology and automation creeps into our daily working lives, our society continues to move towards a greater reliance on intellectual capacity as opposed to physical labor and natural resources. Geoff Watson understands this well. Both as the former Managing Partner at Entangled (ventures), and now as SVP of Guild Education, he has learned the importance of helping folks prepare for the knowledge economy and the jobs of the future. Entangled proposed that the education ecosystem is not keeping pace and leaving workers behind as society transitions from an industrial to a knowledge economy. The success of Guild Education, as Watson sees it, is a validation of this thesis.
Guild Education was founded in 2015 with the goal of unlocking opportunity for America’s workforce through education, with a focus on employee-sponsored education benefits. Guild has flipped the traditional model of "getting an education to get a job" to "getting a job to get an education."
Getting Educated in the (Digital) Knowledge Economy
What happens when a global pandemic shuts down the world? Shuts down in-person education? Forces everyone involved (teachers, students, and parents) to hold classes online? Some may say we weren’t ready for this moment. Watson sees otherwise. Years of building resources meant we could, overnight, teach millions of people virtually.
GW: It can’t be overstated. There were innovators and investment dollars in this space when COVID hit. There was actually a way to transition to remote learning right away. If the ecosystem, the tools, the products, and the support services hadn't been in place learners, from K to the grave, they would not have had access to education for going on seven or eight months now. I think that in the face of this tragic situation, this is a high of sorts.
And then the reality sets in that your in-person/on-campus class just delivered through Zoom is actually not a good experience. People are reacting and responding that the experience is just not "there" yet. But therein lies the opportunity. That’s where there's a whole new wave of innovation that's coming to figure out how we get there.
So how should we be teaching online?
Offline to Online
It's clear online teaching has to be designed differently than teaching in a physical classroom. Insert Digital Curriculum Design. "Curriculum" in this context is best understood as something planned and guided, with clearly defined goals and objectives. And although the overall content may not change when pivoting to online learning, the best practices on how to accomplish the goals and objectives of the curriculum do. To see how we can accomplish this, I explored what could be done differently and landed on a framework developed by North Carolina State University. They highlight seven design principles for remote teaching and learning:
One of the most important things to remember about online learning is the assumption students will be able to spend the same amount of time on learning as when they are in the classroom is wrong. Equally, thinking that all students have the same learning environment at home. Schedules need to be flexible, learning experiences need to be designed with the assumption of minimal supervision, and lesson plans need to be adapted to enable students with and without access to the internet. Instruction should include enough flexibility and choice to reduce instances of students feeling overwhelmed, disinterested, or frustrated. The curriculum should also call for a lot of social interaction between students. Activities like polling and brainstorming, small group debates, and same-time discussions encourage the kind of collaboration that is an effective strategy for learning. Lastly, social and emotional learning should be at the forefront of structures and learning opportunities.
In the effort to modernize the workforce, which means moving towards a knowledge-based workforce, it isn’t strictly about getting better in how we teach and learn online. A big part of our future collective success will include the way we measure, emphasize, and combine the most important workforce skills at any given time.
Skills, Skills, Skills. Which are Good, and Which are Bad?!
I often wonder if we are best off teaching the modern workforce-specific skills currently in demand or focusing on teaching people how to learn so that they are empowered to learn new skills throughout their working life? Which gives workers a better shot at competitive employment? When debating this question with others, I often refer to the proverb "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." It is obvious to me which side will serve us better, but which one is more realistic? When I put the question to Watson, he calls out the error in my question. In thinking we can only succeed if we have one area of expertise or another, we miss something important about the power of skills stacking.
GW: This idea of "stackability" is becoming more and more part of the lexicon. You develop a certain skill or a certification for immediate use, but then that has a pathway to a number of different skills, opportunities, or growth areas. Think of it as Lego blocks. If you have the ability to stack your skills on top of each other, that stacking becomes part of a solution.
Although what he suggests sounds simple, this is the first I've heard the idea of skills stacking. Influenced by the concept of a tech/software stack, skills stacking means combining assets like educational credentials, certificates, and degrees on top of one another to become a more complete candidate. The argument for skills stacking is that instead of focusing your efforts on becoming singularly great at one specific skill or task, you strive for proficiency in related skills that can be woven together into a wider skill set. The US Department of Labor has even begun to promote this approach, calling stackable credentials a valuable part of moving up the career ladder to different and potentially higher-paying jobs. The idea of stackable skills doesn’t fully address my question of whether we should feed our workforce fish or show them how to use a reel, but the question of career success is not simply a yes or no proposition. When asking yourself the question, "Should I learn a new skill (ex. digital marketing, negotiations, accounting, etc.)?" your decision should be considered in concert with the things you already know plus the things you plan to learn in the future.
Darius Foroux writes extensively on productivity, habits, decision making, and wealth-building and identifies the most valuable skills that stack well with each other. He puts productivity, writing, psychology, persuasion, and personal finance in his Top 5. On their own, and without mastery, none of the skills enable success in a specific role. But together, they provide a great foundation for career success in the modern workforce.
This assumes you are in a position to learn something new, something advanced. What if you're struggling to put food on your table, juggling time commitments, or just lost your job? Can you spend the time and energy to stack your skills? How can we make education accessible to workers facing these kinds of challenges?
The Next Chapter
As everything in our lives becomes more personalized, from our newsfeed to our movie recommendations to our reading lists, why aren’t we personalizing our continuous education? Watson calls out Competency-Based Learning (CBL), a method that has been on the bleeding edges of education for a while now but has yet to see mass adoption. CBL moves away from the requirement of seat time in favor of a structure that creates flexibility and allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content regardless of time, place, or pace of learning. Often referred to as Personalized Learning, this methodology creates content tailored to each student's relevant needs, leading to higher student engagement. This is the type of approach required in the adult education landscape. One providing customization created from the learner's current knowledge, availability, and personal growth desires. Everyone's learning situation is different. Guild takes this fact seriously, and its founder and CEO Rachel Carlson says Competency-Based Learning is one of the most important parts of any learner's future.
Since joining Guild Education in the middle of this year, through its acquisition of Entangled, Watson has been focusing on programs offering personalized learning. One such program is Next Chapter, designed specifically to help employees off-boarding from mass layoffs and furloughs due to COVID-19. Designed as a new approach to outplacement, Next Chapter is helping candidates identify career paths based on their previous jobs, how they like to work, and what industries are growing in their region. Additionally, it assists in finding free and low-cost educational programs to assist in their individual career goals. Another program is College Start, which is great for those struggling with basic skills, a group I often wonder about how to help.
GW: We have a number of programs that are part of the education benefit landscape that really acknowledge there are some employees who aren't ready to go into something like a full degree program. We have a program that we call College Start, which is a mix of some core curricular things like English, Math, and some of the basics. But it also has life skills, like executive function skills, mixed in. Skills that will really enable you to succeed and are required for you to succeed, particularly if you're trying to study while having a full-time job. I think these bridge programs act as pathways for non-traditional learners.
Interesting fact: Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully… [People] aren’t born with these skills—they are born with the potential to develop them. (Source: Harvard.edu)
Education tech feels more relevant than ever, and the more I learn about this space, the more I see how it's ultimately grounded in helping others. Watson recently wrote an impassioned post on LinkedIn, highlighting just that:
If you’re interested in this space, know that there are infinite amounts of problems to work on, as education is a huge area. This space will never really be solved for. Just make sure you’re here for the right reasons! Geoff certainly is.