The world as we know has changed a lot since the last generation and is still in a state of constant change. The barriers which obstructed its growth have long since vanished and given way to rapid development.
The obstacles which hindered global mobilization of resources and people have vanished and the world seems to have been liberated from the artificial boundaries.
However, this was not the case before the dawn of the millennium. The era before the technology outburst saw a sluggish bondage in many things, especially education and careers.
Education was restricted to a few conventional courses and job prospects, and was also limited in the nature of work. This used to funnel students into conventional courses after which they used to climb the usual ladder of certain careers and then retire to watch their children repeating the same old cycle.
The world before the advent of technology did not have much resources either. Higher education was literally too high a dream to aspire for students from economically lower and middle class families.
Even if one managed to secure enough financial resources to pursue higher education, the number of colleges was too few and they were scattered too far geographically for students to easily access them.
Then came the juggernaut of technology which broke all barriers, demolished all boundaries and erased all obstacles and the world became a faster, better and more open place. The advent of technology brought massive changes in the education set up.
A single glance at the following statistics is enough to explain the huge change brought by technology and modern education in encouraging more people to pursue studies.
- According to UNESCO, the last decade saw nearly 30 million students enrolling in schools.
- A report published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development says that 84% of young people are now completing secondary education.
- According to UNESCO, a 31% reduction was recorded in secondary education dropouts.
The arrival of internet has worked wonders for the education world. Learning has become more easy and accessible for everyone around the globe.
This has resulted in several positive changes.
1. The emergence of new jobs
As the IT wave intensified, the world saw a surge in new jobs and professions which did not even exist before. This encouraged the youth to come out of the conventional careers and explore newer career options, for which they were better suited.
Take a look at this role advertised on StartUp Jobs Asia. A few years ago, UI-UX Designer is practically unheard of.
Now it is not just hot in demand but there are schools opening up in Singapore that actually teaches this as a specialization.
General Assembly course on UX
2. The universalization of education
As the economies around the world became more liberal, a massive exchange and mobilization of students and educators followed. This meant that now students had more institutions and colleges to choose from if they wanted to pursue a particular career.
It led to the emergence of many providers in Massive Open Online Courses or MOOC as they are commonly known, such as:
- Coursera
- Lynda
- Khan Academy
- Udacity
- Udemy
- and many others
Anyone with a computer (or mobile device) and a decent internet access can sign up in minutes and start learning on stuffs that used to be exclusive to expensive educational institutes.
Overview of courses available on Udemy
Previously, they had to give up careers which they aspired for due to lack of accessibility to good colleges.
Financial aid and scholarships
Although scholarships did exist even before, they became more organized and specified and their number also increased. Apart from scholarships for students, a number of financial aid options like student education loans, emerged to help students in pursuing higher education.
BrightSparks is both convenient and informative for students looking for scholarships or higher education.
Most important of all, career exploration and planning became main stream because students as well educators understood its significance. These aspects enhanced the education and eased its accessibility which was instrumental in breaking the ancient educational paradigms.
Conclusion
All these changes are leading us into another world of work, a world where dynamism and ever learning spirits are the only way to keep up and remain relevant.
And that will help you to be prepared for non-traditional career choices.