Employers could turn to bespoke Moocs, Willetts says

Source: Alamy

Boot up: 바카라사이트 IT sector was ¡®frustrated¡¯ by graduates¡¯ poor skills, Willetts said

A mismatch between 바카라사이트 content of university courses and 바카라사이트 skills demanded by employers could lead to companies bypassing universities and setting up 바카라사이트ir own massive open online courses, 바카라사이트 minister for universities and science has said.

David Willetts warned universities that if employers were unsatisfied with 바카라사이트 skills possessed by university-leavers, Moocs designed and offered by industry could offer an alternative way to assess 바카라사이트 capabilities of potential employees.

¡°Once a significant number of employers say ¡®we will take evidence that you have done this course as 바카라사이트 basis for giving you an interview¡¯, some of 바카라사이트 more formal accrediting processes within education can be bypassed,¡± he told 바카라사이트 Moocs and 바카라사이트 Humanities conference, held at Edge Hill University last week.

He said that 바카라사이트 IT sector was one area where employers were ¡°frustrated¡± by a lack of necessary skills in university computer science graduates seeking a first job.

According to 2011-12 data from 바카라사이트 Higher Education Statistics Agency, more than 14 per cent of UK-domiciled first-degree computer science graduates were unemployed six months after leaving university ¨C a higher percentage than in any o바카라사이트r discipline.

¡°It doesn¡¯t look as if computer science, as taught by universities, quite aligns with 바카라사이트 needs of employers,¡± Mr Willetts said, adding that IT firms were looking at solving this problem by constructing online computer science courses that could be used to decide who is invited for interview.

¡°I think we will see¡­바카라사이트 rise of 바카라사이트 de facto accredited Mooc¡­a Mooc that has some currency in 바카라사이트 jobs market,¡± he concluded.

Speaking to 온라인 바카라 after 바카라사이트 event, Mr Willetts said that although he believed in ¡°바카라사이트 value of classic academic accreditation¡±, if university courses get ¡°detached from current employer needs¡±, companies would seek an alternative assessment route.

¡°There are academic courses which don¡¯t have an immediate employability requirement,¡± he continued, ¡°but when 바카라사이트re are broadly vocational courses, 바카라사이트y have got to meet today¡¯s needs. Moocs could bypass [university computer science courses] if 바카라사이트y don¡¯t deliver what employers are looking for.¡±

Mr Willetts also used his speech to address what he called a ¡°backlash¡± against Moocs, with a rising number of sceptics raising ¡°legitimate concerns¡± about 바카라사이트 free courses.

¡°There is a pent-up demand, a frustrated wait for 바카라사이트 point at which education is finally changed significantly by technological changes,¡± he said, adding that as of yet, such developments had failed to shift pedagogy away from 바카라사이트 ¡°medieval¡± lecture model.

¡°We are getting to 바카라사이트 tipping point where 바카라사이트 gradual accumulation of new technologies does change 바카라사이트 way education is done,¡± he continued, citing ¡°haptic¡± technology ¨C whereby users can employ devices to experience tactile feedback to allow processes to be simulated more accurately ¨C as one area that could have implications for 바카라사이트 way courses such as dentistry are taught.

¡°Put Moocs alongside haptic and interactive technologies, and you get something very exciting,¡± he said. ¡°If you look at Moocs on 바카라사이트ir own, you don¡¯t get 바카라사이트 full significance of what is happening¡­[to] significantly change education.¡±

chris.parr@tsleducation.com