This presentation will identify industry (employer) needs of today’s graduates and how we as educators can better prepare our students for the workforce and lifelong learning.

1. Lisa Marie Blaschke, Program Director,
Master of Distance Education and E-Learning (MDE)
Open Classroom Conference, November 9-10, 2017
02.11.2017
Meeting Employer Needs Through Continuous
Professional Development: From Theory to Practice

2. Needs of Today‘s Employers
• Employees who are:
• Able to adapt quickly to complexity and
change
• Creative, collaborative, communicative
• Lifelong learners
• Swift onboarding of new employees
• More flexible and accessible education
for professional development
Crockett, 2016; Prensky, 2010; Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21), no date; Thomas & Brown, 2011; Trilling & Fadel, 2009

3. Holistic,
Learner-Centered,
Networked
System Solutions
Workforce/
Society
Instructors
Students
Institutions
Self-determined learning
(Heutagogy)
(Blaschke, 2012; Hase & Kenyon, 2013)

4. Solutions:
https://www.uni-oldenburg.de/en/c3l-home/open-university-oldenburg/
https://www.unioldenburg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/c3l/Studiengaenge/Bildungsmanagement/Download/bildungsmanagement_anrechnung.pdf (German only)
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
Prior Education
(Diplomas, Examinations, Certifications, Master)
Work Experience
and Professional Development
Individual Calculation of
ModulesFixed Calculation
Individual Calculation
of Modules
University
Studies
(30 CP)
College
Studies
(12 CP)
oder

5. Solutions:
Project-
based,
Experiential
Learning
Personal
Contextual
Action
research

6. Solutions:
E-portfolios >>> PLEs
Information
sharing
Professional
networks
Information
creation/
collaboration

7. Questions for Consideration
• How can we better prepare our
students for the complexity of
the workforce?
• What theories/practices best
provide the skills students need
to become productive
employees – and lifelong
learners?

8. References
Blaschke, L. (2012). Heutagogy and lifelong learning: A review of heutagogical practice and self-determined
learning. The International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 13(1), 56-71. Retrieved
from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/1076/2087
Crockett, L.W. (2016). The critical 21st century skills every learner needs and why. Retrieved from:
https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/21st-century-skills-every-student-needs
Hase, S., & Kenyon, C. (2013). Self-determined learning: Heutagogy in action. Sydney, Australia: Bloomsbury
Academic.
P21. (no date). 21t Century Student Outcomes and Support Systems Framework. Retrieved from:
http://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework
Prensky, M. (2010). Teaching digital natives: Partnering for real learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
http://oetmanhattan.wikispaces.com/file/view/Prensky--Teaching+Digital+Natives-in+press6.pdf
Thomas, D., & Brown, J.S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of
constant change. Retrieved from: http://www.newcultureoflearning.com/newcultureoflearning.pdf
Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. San Franciso, CA: Jossey-Bass.