A report from the Georgetown University Center on Education has found that college graduates holding a bachelor’s degree now make up 36 percent of the workforce, making them the majority for the first time in history.

Until the 1980’s, 70 percent of the workforce consisted of people with no college education. In the past, people without a college degree could work their way up to mid-level positions with higher pay and benefits. Those positions are becoming harder to find as employers make higher education a requirement for entry-level positions.

Since the recession ended, 11.6 million new jobs have been added to the economy. Of those jobs created, 11.5 million went to people with some level of higher education, with 8.5 million jobs going to people with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Only 80,000 new positions were filled by people with no higher education.

This trend is going to force some substantial changes to education in the future. While college graduates across the board have lower unemployment rates, there is going to be a push to cut liberal arts programs. Colleges need to create more focused programs and get more students to graduate in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Education is also going to need to become more accessible so less affluent families can get access to higher education and therefore employment.

Additionally, with more people having a bachelor’s degree, simply having a college education is soon not going to be enough to be a standout candidate. Next Step Academy seeks to give students and employees an edge with life skills and professional development courses. These courses are quick, informative and help learners become better employees — and better in life in general.

Ready to get started? Try one of our life skills courses today!

In the new report, “Transformations Affecting Postsecondary Education,” researchers discuss the current problems faced by higher education and recommend changes to the education system. Namely, they suggest to make learning more personalized as postsecondary education extends beyond college and into a platform for lifelong learning.

The report suggests using a variety of approaches to create a “network of learning.” This network would utilize approaches such as competency-based education, online education, personalized learning, boot camps and micro credentials. The result? Higher education would depend less on credits earned and more on experience to measure learning. Colleges and universities would also have a collaborative relationship, meaning students could easily move between institutions. Higher education would have “more on- and off-ramps,” allowing students to take breaks to gain work experience and continue learning throughout the course of their careers.

The goal of creating this network is to reduce the amount of time it takes students to receive a degree, reduce the cost of higher education and create personalized methods of learning and demonstrating knowledge.  

Institutions such as the University of Wisconsin and Northern Arizona University have already introduced self-paced degree programs. These programs use the competency-based education method discussed in the report. In that way, students earn their degrees by working at their own pace and showing what they know, rather than sitting in class for a specified amount of time. Self-paced degree programs are offered at a flat tuition rate per semester and students can take as many classes as they want within that time. 

Online courses are also going to play a large role in this network as higher education is reformed. Online learning is flexible, where students are guided by online coaches and earn badges and micro credentials to put in an online portfolio, similar to the format Next Step Academy uses. The portfolio would be a useful tool to gauge where there are gaps in knowledge which students can fill with more education later on. Students can also take this portfolio with them to different institutions and use it to showcase their skills and knowledge to potential employers.

With the digital world presenting new opportunities and constant change, education can no longer end with a formal college degree but rather continue throughout a person’s life. MOOCs offered through institutions such as Coursera are likely the future of lifelong learning.

MOOCs — massive open online courses — are programs offered by a university, available to people worldwide via the internet. MOOCs are free, with some offering the option to pay a small fee in exchange for graded coursework and a certificate or credit upon completion. Courses are short and engaging, consisting of videos, readings, problems to solve and forums to facilitate discussion between students.

The skill sets required for jobs in the digital age change faster than Apple releases a new iPhone. That’s where MOOCs come in. Institutions like Coursera partner with colleges and universities to offer courses that teach both hard and soft skills. You can learn a new programming language or how to improve your interpersonal communication skills. There is also the opportunity to deviate from skill development and simply learn more about topics of interest like history or music.

In addition to career development, MOOCs make higher level education available to people who previously may not have had access. Higher level learning is no longer a privilege of the financially stable, but available to people from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

MOOCs also promote general education to people on a global scale. A MOOC course provider called edX has developed a program called Open edX which allows countries to use the edX platform to launch their own MOOCs. Countries like Saudi Arabia have used Open edX to launch education campaigns with the goal of helping women gain access to education.

Next Step Academy offers similar online courses, offering learners of any age and background knowledge about careers-in, life skills and professional development. Courses are quick, mobile and informative. To find out more about Next Step Academy, register and start taking courses, visit NextStepAcademy.com

A new educational robot developed by engineers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute is changing the way students learn to code.

Root, a small hexagonal bot, magnetically glides across the vertical surface of a whiteboard. Students use the programming app Square to write code and tell Root what to do.  Square allows students and coders of different ages and abilities to create code. Elementary students can use a simple block-based graphical environment, while older students can learn traditional text-based coding. Students can toggle between the different levels, allowing them to transition easily to more advanced coding and eventually working with JavaScript.

Root can draw, erase and respond to lines drawn on the whiteboard. Root is also equipped with 15 multicolored LEDs which students can program and plays musical notes to show it’s mood and personality. Root is designed to fit in every classroom, using the whiteboard already equipped at the front of the room. The goal is to empower the next generation of coders and promote STEM fields in schools, making STEM practical, fun and interactive. Students can program Root to play games or to simply erase the board at the end of class, providing a real life example of coding in the classroom.

The Wyss team is working on a curriculum to go with Root in the classroom. The robot will be available for schools to purchase next year for about $200 each. Root doesn’t require any special setup and teachers can become coding instructors without any training.

Interested in learning more about coding? Take our quick course “Careers in Coding“

The percentage of children being homeschooled has increased from 2.2 percent in 2003 to 3.4 percent in 2012, as reported by the US Department of Education. This may seem like a relatively small change, but that is almost a 62 percent increase within the last decade.

To help you visualize those numbers a little better, 2.2 percent of all students in the United States is 1,096,000. When that number increases to 3.4 percent, that represents 1,773,000 students. In that way, the number of homeschooled students has increased by 677,000 in less than ten years.

The rise of virtual learning opportunities is the main reason for the increase in students being homeschooled. There have always been parents dissatisfied with the education system, or wish to remove their children because of bullying, school violence or religious beliefs. Access to virtual learning makes it easier for these parents homeschool their children, especially for single-parent families or families where both parents work. Traditional homeschool methods typically require one parent to stay home to teach the child, but now the child has the ability to learn more independently and track his or her progress online.

Virtual learning takes the form of online classes, full time virtual charter schools or blended online learning where students combine online and classroom-based learning. These programs are flexible and allow students to work at their own pace. Advanced students can move ahead and students who struggle have the opportunity to slow down without falling behind. Coursework can be customized and tailored to the child’s needs and interests.

The number of families choosing to homeschool their children is expected to continue growing as virtual learning develops and homeschooled students continue to excel. Next Step Academy aims to be a part of that cutting edge, offering more than 70 online courses in life skills and careers-in. To find out more how you can integrate online learning into your curriculum, visit NextStepAcademy.com