Building technical skills across universities starts with understanding what is possible

Advance HE’s recent report emphasises the essential role of technical skills in Higher Education’s professional development, driven by technology’s transformative potential

The rationale for this is clear, of course. Embedding the ability to work with technology into individual and organisational development will help universities to;

• Operate more efficiently with stretched resources
• To move in step with our constantly, rapidly evolving technological landscape
• To produce more rounded researchers and professionals
• To provide a better environment for students.

The time to do this is now, we need to look no further than the recent impact of developments in generative AI to understand that the rate at which technology advances will continue to accelerate.

Back to basics by using technical skills

Experts in specific technologies will, remain important. After all, expecting every member of an organisation to gain an advanced and broad understanding of such a diverse and gigantic space as ‘technology’ would need to be more efficient and realistic.

Only some people need to be able to whip together a script in Python at a moment’s notice, to know their basics from their BASIC, or to possess a deep understanding of cybersecurity beyond ‘good practice’ reasonable principles.

However, it is a realistic aspiration, even in a large university setting, to cultivate a fundamental technical skillset in students and staff via training initiatives and organisational incentives.

What elements constitute that skill set and how it is developed and incentivised will likely be institution, specific questions. So it will be up to universities to build technical competency frameworks and the training provision that will support them, with the assistance of outside partners where appropriate.

A diversity of approaches will ensure that universities build skill bases relevant to their context and requirements.

Becoming fluent in the language of what is possible

So far, the aspiration to develop familiarity and comfortableness with technology across a workforce or student population is nothing new, and the putative benefits are clear.

However, if universities genuinely wish to nurture technical competency across their constituencies, instilling a broader, more critical understanding of technology will be just as crucial as developing skillsets.

Learning more about programming is undoubtedly valuable; likewise, how specific software packages work or about clever physical engineering and its applications in a university setting.

But just as helpful will be the ability of students and staff to comprehend what is reasonably achievable with technology now and in the future and to engage with critical debates which are provoked by technology. Such as those surrounding the nature and measurement of engagement with learning through technology, for instance, and the role of technology as a means to an answer rather than the answer in itself.

Coding language is important

While a short course in a coding language might be helpful to some, a system which promotes fluency in the language of coding will benefit many and will have a far more significant impact across their university from an organisational standpoint.

Beyond developing technical skills, universities will need to create people who are skilled enough to be part of the discussion of technology, who can exercise rational judgment about its implementation, and who are looking to the future while being conscious of the limitations of technology in the present.

This way, when the next technological revolution sweeps across the Higher Education landscape, we will be poised to make the most of it.

 

This piece was written and provided by John Miles, Founder and CEO, Inkpath.