James Drogan

I have previously commented on the matter of technology and jobs (Our Past and Their Future: Views on Education and Work).  Related to this is an interesting blog post by Irving Wladawsky-Berger, A Useful Framework for Analyzing the Impact of Technology on Jobs.

From the Wladawsky-Berger post.

Professor Autor concludes the paper concludes with a few key personal observations. 

“As physical labor has given way to cognitive labor, the labor market’s demand for formal analytical skills, written communications, and specific technical knowledge has risen spectacularly. . . Thus, human capital investment must be at the heart of any long-­term strategy for producing skills that are complemented rather than substituted by technology.”

 “While many middle skill tasks are susceptible to automation, many middle skill jobs demand a mixtures of tasks from across the skill spectrum. . . many of the middle skills jobs that persist in the future will combine routine technical tasks with the set of non-routine tasks in which workers hold comparative advantage - interpersonal interaction, flexibility, adaptability and problem-solving.”

And finally, “the challenges to computerizing numerous everyday tasks - from the sublime to the mundane - remain substantial,. . . there is a long history of leading thinkers overestimating the potential of new technologies to substitute for human labor and underestimating their potential to complement it.”

As educators and a society we should be asking ourselves whether we are properly preparing our students for their future.  Are our curricula as dynamic as they should be?  Are the processes of adaption in education as adroit as they ought to be?