The Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE) announced a new partnership with Google--the Applied Digital Skills Curriculum.

Applied Digital Skills is Google’s free, online digital literacy curriculum which has lessons for a wide range of students, from late elementary-school students to independent adult learners. Instead of teaching digital skills with an instructional manual, the curriculum uses a series of videos to guide students through creating a project from scratch. This means that students who complete a lesson leave with a useful project such as a resume, a monthly budget, a project plan, and more.

Digital literacy, problem-solving, and creativity are often cited as essential skills for jobs of the future, but a report from The Economist’s Intelligence Unit reveals that among 18- to 25-year-olds, less than half (44%) believe that their education system is providing them with the skills they need to enter the country’s workforce. As technology becomes more integrated into our modern lives, it’s important to understand how digital skills fit into a wide range of workforce positions and how they will help students succeed in their current jobs and future careers.

Applied Digital Skills has over 40 lessons—some that take only 45 minutes to complete. Office workers aren’t the only ones who need digital skills; employees in restaurants, hotels, and warehouses, among others, are increasingly in need of developing digital literacy. The lessons available are based on the extensive research and focused testing of the in-demand digital skills needed for today’s evolving workforce.

LNY encourages practitioners to explore the array of services offered and asks that you let us know how effective you found them. We would love to discuss them further! https://educateandelevate.org/google/

 

Reference: 2015 EIU report, “Driving the skills agenda: Preparing students for the future”