Why Now’s the Time to Teach Children About the Future of Work

It’s estimated that by the time a lot of the children who are starting school now reach the job market, a lot of it is going to be done through automation. There are, of course, jobs that are still going to need to be done by people, and these are the jobs that we need to be preparing them for.

It might seem harsh and as though you’re crushing the dreams of children, but this is not the case. We’ve got to be practical here, and that means understanding that there are a lot of jobs out there that won’t require humans for much longer if technology keeps advancing the way that it is. In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at what the future of work is going to be like, and how we can push children towards the jobs we know will still be there.

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ELearning

One of the things that we need to mention is elearning. This is categorized as learning with the involvement of technology and the internet. For example, pupils can research on the internet rather than in books, and they can use different pieces of software to complete their studies such as Microsoft Word to write their papers. This is something that has been around for quite a while now, but it’s also always advancing. A lot of teachers are beginning to use the samr model in their classrooms now, with the use of technology becoming more common, and indeed, needed.

The thing about elearning is that it doesn’t matter if the student and teacher are inside the classroom or out of it. Elearning can take place either way, where of course this did not exist before. If you had a question you would have to go to your teacher, not to Google with your query. The reason that we’re mentioning this is because a couple of decades ago there were people saying that we didn’t need to be educated on the changing landscape of tech and how it was going to impact the world, and now here we are, with it being used to educate the minds of tomorrow.

What’s The Future Of Work Set To Look Like

We’re not saying that any changes are being made particularly fast at the moment, but things are progressing. It’s already true that there are machines doing some of the jobs that people used to do, so anyone who says this isn’t happening is wrong. Technology is scaling and speeding up human capabilities, it’s true. This is aiding us in doing our jobs better and more effectively, but it’s also replacing labor with machines. When a business owner has the choice to have a machine that doesn’t make mistakes and can do things up to 3x faster than a human, or a person who is prone to human error and slower than a machine, what makes best business sense?

Business owners can’t help the fact that technology and machines are now becoming the only way that they can stay competitive in certain industries. But, this does mean bad news for the younger generation as they are going to have to be careful about what kind of jobs they are training for. With technology ever evolving, who knows what’s coming next?

What Jobs Are Going To Go?

One of the first to go is going to be customer service related jobs. It’s probable that you are already greeted by an AI when you first phone customer service or when you use their live chat option. If they cannot help you, then you will be transferred to a person, but we’re not sure for how much longer this is going to be the case. Now, we’re sure that there are some people who are jumping for joy right now because customer service can be awful to work in, however it does account for a large percentage of jobs that people have.

Data entry is going to be another to no longer need the assistance of humans to get it right. Humans are prone to human error and mistakes are more common, but with the evolution of machine learning, this isn’t going to be a problem anymore. This artificial intelligence will be able to learn as it is entering the data, gaining knowledge and identifying certain things without the need of a person.

Any kind of courier service is also in danger. GPS has been around for a while now and it’s one of the best things that has been invented for people. However, self-driving cars are coming, and in some ways they are already here. When you combine the two together, there is really no need to have someone behind the wheel as the car will be able to sort itself and get to where it needs to go. This is going to include everyone from taxi drivers to truck drivers, so it’s not a career path that we can recommend pursuing in the next couple of years.

What Jobs Will Not Go?

The first that will not be going is that of teachers and educators. While elearning might be a thing now, it’s used as a tool to aid teachers, rather than to replace them. You cannot replace the human interaction that is needed, the different approaches that teachers have to take with different students and so on. Machines are not capable of providing education in the way that humans are, and in the way that humans need.

Doctors and nurses are two other professions that we can’t see changing any time soon. While machines can technically do some of the things that these professionals can do, they lack an innate understanding of some of the things that you need to do as a doctor. For example, if someone is asking for help, a machine is less likely to understand and empathize with the patient, it needs a human touch.

We also can’t see lawyers being at risk of any kind of all-digital, automated solution any time soon. Cases require an in-depth understanding of the law that machines can have, but it’s also about the way that you can interpret these laws in different ways and apply them to different scenarios. A lawyer also has to be able to understand the unique circumstances of the client, making it impossible for a machine to do. While there is tech and machines that can assist lawyers, it’s unlikely that there will be any big changes here.

So, What’s The Takeaway?

The point of this article is that the world is now a lot different from when a lot of us were younger. The world is completely different from what we were prepared for, and now we need to start preparing our new generation of young people for the next generation of the working world. If we don’t do this now, then they are going to be at a disadvantage when they enter the market.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to know about the importance of educating children for the future of work. It’s more important than ever that we are preparing them for the future that we know is coming, rather than the future that we were all educated for. It’s important for you to understand that we do not know for sure what jobs are going to be automated, but some of these are our best guesses based on the information that is available right now.