Decoding the Future of Work and ICT Education (of Peig and Programming)
The future
Coding is the next new blue collar job! Get kids coding! You may have heard the headlines. Writing code, it would seem, can lead to steady well paid work. Our children should be taught more of this key skill earlier in life. Or so we are told.
The reality is messier. Not least because, as Yogi Berra put it: prediction is hard, especially about the future. My colleague Professor Mark Brown has explored this topic recently in talking about the jobs myth. I agree with one of his main points: take whatever prognostications you hear about future jobs with a decent grain of salt. Any social system is almost by definition too complex to be predicted. The full extent of the future jobs market in software development, just like any other area, can’t be called. My guess however is that the creative and social practice we call coding will be a key part of our economic future (as long as skynet doesn’t snaffle up all our jobs). The problem solving, critical thinking and analytical skillset that the development of software involves will continue to be highly valuable to worklife. To be clear I am not necessarily arguing that computational thinking is a highly transferable or transversal skill. Just that it a very useful one, even if only within the realm of ICT. Because, the thing is, ICT is everywhere now.
What about the present?
That’s the future sorted but what about the present? Reports from Ireland’s Higher Education Authority continue to highlight that in Ireland ICT graduates have the highest rates of employment among graduates and command some of the highest starting salaries. These stats often make headlines. Less often noted however is the puzzling almost paradoxical high rates of unemployment among certain ICT graduates. It depends on how you slice the figures but this phenomenon is not confined to Ireland and a study of the phenomenon in the UK found that perceived reputability of institution, but also worryingly membership of under-represented groups, to be underlying factors. The basic lesson is that although employment prospects for ICT graduates are very good on average, it’s not a sure thing for everyone. Applicants need to think through their choices and the higher education sector needs to work to improve long-term outcomes for all learners.
Related to the issue of diversity is the general perception people have of ICT jobs. Do you need to be a geek to learn to code? Do you need special powers? It’s not easy and it takes time and application but it is open to anyone. Anyone. The track record for diversity in ICT is currently not good and we need to change that. That is part of the impetus for trying to integrate more coding and computer science into curricula at all levels in Ireland now, such as the Coding short course at junior cycle and the brand new Computer Science subject for Leaving Certificate. Its potential for widening opportunity is one of the counter arguments to those who fear a neo-liberal agenda at work, insofar as we may be allowing economic concerns to drive educational ones. Closely allied is the educational danger that we rush headlong into this effort with a pedagogical approach that dulls rather than ignites curiosity. As Papert (1980, p. 5) once warned us, we need to be careful not to end up with the computer “being used to program the child”.
There are many great ways for parents to get kids into computing including Ireland’s own Coder Dojo movement that Dublin City University (DCU) is pleased to support, and its ilk. More research is needed however on how valuable they are for developing skills required to study at third level. To this end we need to continue to integrate computing and ICT more into formal education to spread its effects more equitably whilst also trying to guard against making coding the new Peig*.
What is happening further up the chain?
Well here are at DCU, as one example, we are again accepting new places on a Higher Diploma in Science in Software Development. This course is a Government funded ICT Skills Conversion programme aimed at people who wish to cross-skill and transition into this area. Students study largely off campus and online from anywhere in Ireland through our DCU Connected platform. An obvious draw of this online programme from a modern university ranked worldwide in the top 50 under 50 years of age is that there are no fees. Students study to develop skills in object oriented programming with java, web technologies, database theory and practice and mobile application development. It is ideally suited to those who already have some interest or curiosity in computer programming and wish to pursue a career in the ICT sector. As this is a university-level postgraduate qualification applicants must have a primary degree.
If we were meeting face to face, in an open evening, I would at this juncture interject with a blunt disclaimer: “Don’t trust me though, I’m already passionate about the stuff”. Listen to what our graduates have to say. In a way I am really trying to also say that education is not just about learning but following your passion. It’s about connecting your heart with your head. It’s about believing in yourself and taking the fork in the path as new opportunities arise. The path is not always straight nor the terrain even. But, if you are interested in knowing more about what we offer in ICT then we are interested in hearing from you.
Contact us
If you want further information about the Higher Diploma in Science in Software Development or any of our DCU Connected online courses then please contact us:
+353 (0) 1 7005481
*A cultural touchstone for some Irish people to grumble about the mandatory status of the Irish language in the school educational system. A complex issue entangled in issues of national identity and a struggle to find a shared linguistic cultural heritage.
Further Reading:
Fincher, S. & Finlay, J. (2016) Computing Graduate Employability: Sharing Practice. CPHC/Higher Education Academy (HEA). Avaialable from https://cphcuk.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/computinggraduateemployabilitysharingpractice.pdf
Higher Education Authority (2017) What do Graduates Do? The Class of 2014 - An Analysis of the First Destination of University and College of Education Graduates. Higher Education Authority. Available from http://hea.ie/assets/uploads/2017/06/What-Do-Graduates-Do-The-Class-of-2014-1.pdf
Guzdia, M. (2014) Anyone Can Learn Programming: Teaching > Genetics. ACM Communications. Available fro https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/179347-anyone-can-learn-programming-teaching-genetics/fulltext
Papert, S. (1980) Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books, Inc.
Straw, S., Bamford, S., & Styles, B. (2017) Randomised controlled trial and process evaluation of Code Clubs. Slough: NFER. Available from https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/CODE01/
Tedre, M., & Denning, P. J. (2016) The Long Quest for Computational Thinking. In Koli Calling (pp. 120-129). Avilable from http://denninginstitute.com/pjd/PUBS/long-quest-ct.pdf
