Higher Education and Digital Skills

Universities matter but there exists education without institutions. Education is not bound to well-established institutions only. It is free to capture as per your potential. Superseding various levels of development, from vocational and technical skills we have shifted to E-skills. E-skills are demand-driven skills on the national and international facet. Think of how your grandfathers and their grandfathers surpassed their livelihood. Jobs were at their basic level at that time. The job entrance level gained pace in the 18^th century with urbanization and industrial disruption. Today Industry Revolution 5.0 is much more than automation, efficiency, and effectiveness. It is based upon your collaborative human, social, and digital needs.

Higher Education Institutions are the most prestigious institutions. The revolving trends of the job market have created a visible gap between the employer and the graduate. Today higher education is based on theoretical aspects incompatible and irrelevant to industrial desires. They are training students for jobs that are disappearing. Where are the new skills and new knowledge? Students are unfamiliar with the operation and application of the knowledge gained. They do not know the use of a common technology device. They cannot access if they do possess a certain skill set or not. Their problem-solving and critical thinking skills are immobile. They lack visualization and innovation. There is always a set of unemployed people who are unable and not capable to acquire a certain job because of their poor knowledge and competence.

Can you consider such a graduate a digital citizen?

An inexperienced graduate without any knowledge about innovation and creativity skills, interpersonal skills, technological skills, problem-solving skills, personalized learning, self-paced learning, collaborative learning, inclusive learning, and student-driven learning, cannot be considered a Global Digital Citizen. The Computer Science Reality is nothing without Collective Social Responsibility. One needs to escape the mindset that machines will take over humans. No machine can overrule humans only if the biological ecosystem surrenders before the digital ecosystem. Live with the augmented and virtual realities. Adapt the technology do not abandon it.