SHIFT HAPPENS 2: Finding Strong Footing: The Future of Assessment in the Learning-to-Employment Landscape
Shift Happens 2 is co-authored by Dr. Merrilea Mayo, Director of Mayo Enterprises and Jamai Blivin, CEO of Innovate+Educate. The report provides the reader a comprehensive overview of the changes in the learning-to-employment landscape, why it has happened, highlighting the dramatic increase in working learners and learning workers. These two populations – one pursuing traditional degrees while holding down jobs, and the other pursuing small increments of education to advance within their jobs – are responsible for the tremendous gains seen in online learning (520% in 10 years), MOOCs (910% in 5 years), micro-credentials, and more. The ecosystem changes drill all the way down to assessment within courses, which is starting to focus much less on “how much of the material do you remember?” and much more on demonstrations of skill mastery –i.e., “prove to us how well you know this, by what you can do with it.” The report then calls out the need for improvements in assessment to that will enable automated systems to consistently recognize and calibrate the “know” and “do” skills across the future worlds of learning and work. In response to the report Dr Edan Jorgensen, Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, reflected, ”The world is not stagnant. Hiring practices have been. Its time to shift from traditional methods that do not predict success, and look towards the future. The future is an emerging workforce that is more dynamic than degree and [job] references. They are about change and making a difference through their employment.”
By Merrilea J. Mayo, Ph.D. & Jamai Blivin