4.18 Wrapping Up Module 4
Congratulations on completing Module 4. ✨
In this module, we examined AI, vocational education, and new skills requirements. This included both the skills needed by vocational education and training students for working with AI and the skills and competence needed by teachers and trainers.
Data is the lifeblood of AI and AI is increasingly being used to interrogate job advertisements to identifying changing skills requirements. Likewise, AI is being deployed in worker recruitment and interviewing.
But what are the new skill requirements? These include demand for advanced technological skills and key skills and competencies: including social, emotional, and higher cognitive skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, and complex information processing. The application and development of AI-based technologies challenge the traditional boundaries of disciplines, knowledge and competence areas. Simply amending existing occupational profiles may not be enough in the light of changing process orientation in occupational profiles.
AI may more fundamentally impact on qualification processes: this includes the use of blockchain technologies in the assessment and recognition of competences and awarding of qualifications and the growing role of microcredentials is a good illustration of such trends.
Module 4 provided examples of the integration of AI and automation in school-based and work-based vocational education and training programmes and looked at changes in teaching and learning processes, encouraging increased involvement of students in designing and developing projects and increased cooperation between schools and enterprises.
A case study of a Smart factory project showed that besides knowledge about AI and programming skills, students can learn social and personal competences: working in a team, being creative and handling frustration.
A further focus for Module 4 was the DigCompEdu Framework of competences developed by the European Commission to provide educators with the competences they need for introducing technology within the classroom. But we also draw attention to added competences that may be needed to support learning and teaching about AI in vocational education and training.
Once more, if you have any further examples that you think might be interesting, please add them as a comment in the specific lessons.
The issue of ethics has arisen frequently in this course. In the final module, Module 5, we will focus more closely on the issue of ethics, pointing to both general problem such as bias, and to more specific issues for AI in vocational education and training.