EdTech As the Great Equalizer in Preparing for the World of Work

Lessons from the Teach For All Network that can pave the way for leveraging EdTech to upskill young people to access the future of work.

By Tarek Chehidi, Global Head, Future of Work and Public Sector at Teach For All

Across 150 countries, a third of the youth surveyed by UNICEF in 2020 said their education is not preparing them with the skills they need to get jobs. Additionally, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to have access to career development activities — a disparity that further magnifies gaps and inequities.

EdTech has the potential to be the force that drives a more equitable workplace in the future. One that prioritizes providing a career pathway for those who have been historically underrepresented and left behind. It has the power to provide young people in underserved areas with high-quality training.

School closures due to COVID-19 spurred a global experiment where millions of students, in a variety of contexts, had to turn to technology to continue learning. Across Teach For All, a global network of 60 independent organizations working to advance educational equity in their countries, we saw a range of innovations from teachers who created high and low-tech solutions. Through the lens of the last two years, we’ve identified three lessons that can pave the way for leveraging EdTech to upskill young people to access the future of work:

For EdTech to succeed in training the future labour force, we need to develop student leadership early on.

Students who have learned the skills to learn and work independently are best equipped for distance learning, as well as the world of work. Through adopting a learner-centered approach to teaching, and delivering flexible learning experiences, teachers can show students how to learn, giving them agency and confidence to figure out which schedules and resources they need.

Online education must be delivered through context-adapted technologies.

Developing and delivering educational content through context-adapted technologies, and which take into account the needs of the learner, can teach out-of-school learners to develop the skills needed to access the labour market.

In 2020, Ogun State government recruited Teach For Nigeria teachers to teach both on the radio and live on TV while schools were closed, providing education access to millions of children during school closures. This inspired Teach For Nigeria to also launch the Radio School Program, and has also informed Enseña Chile’s Radio School. With schools reopening, the government plans to continue these programs, to both supplement what students are taught in school, and to reach children who are out of school so they can continue to learn and develop the skills that will allow them to access opportunities.

Technology-enabled teaching makes it possible to personalise learning, and to connect learners with opportunities they wouldn’t have accessed otherwise.

When teachers develop lessons for online use, they allow students to adapt their learning to their needs and personalise how and when they learn. This also helps students to learn at their own pace and connect their education to their aspirations. A Teach For Romania teacher who had been using field trips as an essential part of her students’ exposure to the world, leverages technology to explore places her students could not have visited in person. She secured enough devices for all of her students to be able to virtually visit a black hole with the European Space Agency, Google in California, and many more places. These visits exposed her students to new ideas and careers, and brought scientists and innovators from all over the world into their classroom.

Now, more than ever, we need to ensure that education is equipping students with the skills and experiences needed to secure and succeed in careers that enable them to thrive in a changing world. Learn more about how Teach For All is working to bridge education and the world of work.