Digital Fluency The Skills for today
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the world has changed a lot within the
past year
with the pandemic there has been many
changes within the technological arena
the way we interact the way we walk
the way we learn and even the way we
play
they have all changed and they are still
changing people have had to develop
their skills and competencies
that have enabled them to function and
succeed as they adapt to the changing
environment
nigerian organizations they’ve been
compelled to accept remote work
as a possible new norm and while many
people have had opportunities
to learn and adapt to these changes
there’s still a large group of people
that have been technologically
excluded many schools had to completely
close down during the pandemic because
they didn’t have the capacity
the tools or the resources to engage
their students
online this is a big issue
and if it’s left unattended it will
widen the digital gap
between those that have assets and the
technologically excluded group
it will create further inequalities
between these groups
and even make it a bit more difficult
for those that don’t have access
or are not digitally literate to catch
up at a later time
even for those that have access there’s
still the issue of technology adoption
that is outside social media interaction
the pandemic has shown just how
digital our world has become it is no
longer sufficient
to just be able to read and write
we need to become digitally literate
and in many cases to become digitally
fluent
people have started understanding the
importance of acquiring these
technological skills
that is why during the lockdown many
people acquired one or more skills
which is really good but what are we
doing with these skills
after we’ve learned the skills what next
have we used the skills that we’ve
acquired to create solutions for
our environment have we used the skills
we’ve acquired
to develop practical deployable
solutions to ease the
tensions and the restraints and
constraints that have been created
by this pandemic have we leveraged
technology
to be able to improve access and
technology adoption for the people that
are not digitally literate
or do not have access
it is important to use these skills
we need to apply them make them useful
and while we are talking about skills
research surges suggest that there is
still a skills gap
across many sectors
and many of them are particularly around
science technology engineering and
mathematics
there’s a misalignment between the
skills that
have been acquired and the skills that
are needed
many graduates in nigeria are not
employable
because the skills they’ve acquired many
of them theoretical
and not the skills that are needed by
the employers
as of today the unemployment rate in
nigeria
stands at about 27 percent
let me put this in perspective if we
look at our labor force
we have about 80 million people
and 22 million people are unemployed
if we take this a bit further and look
at the age group between 15 and 34
that percentage goes up to 34 percent
that is a high number there is a need
for repositioning to support
innovation we need to upskill our youth
we need to provide them with practical
application places where they could
apply what they have learned
stem provides such a foundation it
provides
an opportunity for people to apply what
they’ve learned
it provides an opportunity for them to
adapt and solve problems
stem is an approach to learning that
incorporates aspects of science
technology engineering and mathematics
it provides opportunities to develop
skills
transferable skills
and just as it is important to start
learning to read and write from a young
age
it is also very important
to acquire some of these technological
skills
because these skills they form the
foundation
for which we used to acquire and develop
other skills
which don’t have to be related to
careers in stem
but they form the foundation
we’ve had young people below the age of
16 that have participated
in some of our programs at tech western
academy
and they’ve created wonderful
solutions yusuf maluma
15 years he created
an application that tracked the corona
viral situation within his community
phoebe on watching 15 years
she created a vision sensor application
for people that are visually impaired so
that they are able to navigate their
environment
this was particularly very thoughtful
particular
because of the coronavirus pandemic
restrictions where there were
no contacts allowed sean seo meme
11 years created a mood booster
application that tried to identify how
people felt
and provided activities that improved
their moods
these are just a few of the solutions
that could be
created but there’s room for more
we believe that by providing
opportunities where people could apply
what they’ve learned
it’s good and i am leveraging technology
it could improve
the digital literacy and also enhance
our digital
economy and while we are talking about
skills
it’s important to know that the world of
works is constantly changing
so the skills we have now are not the
skills that
we would use in the future and just the
same way as the skills that we’re using
now not the ones we used in the past
the world economic forum has predicted
that by the year 2030
one billion people will need to be
re-skilled for the
works of the future that is a huge
number
so what do we do we cannot afford to
hold on to what we just know
we need to do a constant recheck of the
skills that we have
the pandemic has shown just how quickly
things change
technology has become indispensable
to stem different activities that
involve
stem leverage on technology
and digital literacy is a product of
stem education
it has become a requisite skill for the
future
and the future is now
in fact as far back as 2011
unesco had identified digital skills
as an essential life skill
so if you are not digitally literate
become digital illiterate
if you feel you’ve attained digital
literacy become digitally
and if you feel that you are fluent
you could always learn a new skill
the point is learning should be a
lifelong
process irrespective of the age
i’ll leave you with a quote by alvin
tuffler
the digital illiterate of the 21st
century
is not someone that cannot read or write
it to be someone
that cannot learn on learn or re-learn
so do not be afraid to learn a new skill
reskill
up skill stay relevant
and be the change we want to see in our
future
thank you