Students at ease with complexity, rely on data analysis
ARMONK, N.Y., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Today’s university students are extremely concerned with issues of globalization and sustainability, but only four out of 10 believe their education has prepared them to address these issues, according to a new IBM (NYSE: IBM) study designed to gauge the attitudes and opinions of the next-generation global workforce and business leaders.
This first-of-its-kind survey — which asked university students the same questions posed to global business leaders in IBM’s 2010 Global CEO Study — finds that both students and CEOs believe creativity is the most important emerging competency of future leaders; and reveals clear confidence about the ability of information technologies to address looming issues in business or society.
Conducted through IBM’s Institute for Business Value, the Study, “Inheriting a Complex World: Future Leaders Envision Sharing the Planet,” reflects the consolidated view of more than 3,600 students in more than 40 countries.
The study reveals a discerning and decidedly optimistic new ethos — based on an integrated view of globalization, sustainability and belief in technology as a path to solutions to emerging and existing problems. Almost 50 percent of students said that organizations should optimize their operations by globalizing, rather than localizing, to meet their strategic objectives.
At the same time, these students describe a gap in this generation’s training to cope with issues that will arise in an increasingly interconnected and complex world, but a strong belief that information technologies can bridge the gap.
Within four years, this “Millennial generation” will make up half of the global workforce. Despite the economic environment and the challenges students may face entering the current job market, the findings from this study were characterized by an unmistakably optimistic outlook about what’s ahead – and their capacity to affect change in the world they will inherit.
Students surveyed indicated that they will lean more heavily on data analysis — over gut instinct or existing “best practices” — to reach their strategic and operational goals as business leaders in their own right. And as fact-based decisions begin to prevail, they may need to pioneer an entirely new management style — one that continually enriches personal experience and education with new sources of insight based on a new ability deal with the explosion of real-time information.
The study revealed broad-based confidence that increased access to information, analysis, and the resulting insight can reduce uncertainty about the future.
Clearly, the students’ experience regarding globalization is different. Growing up more connected globally, students see the shocks and threats, but are more prone to view globalization as an opportunity to solve increasingly global problems. They are strongly committed to a global view of shared responsibility for both environmental issues and societal prosperity.
The new IBM survey was conducted as an extension of the 2010 IBM CEO Study, “Capitalizing on Complexity,” which discovered that today’s chief executives are charting new courses of action in response to the increasing complexity of the world’s business and competitive environment.
Students and CEOs
Students, for the most part, shared their views, and even agreed on very specific courses of action: embodying creative leadership, reinventing customer relationships and building more dexterous operating models.
Nevertheless, for all the areas of agreement between students and CEOs, twice as many students selected globalization and environmental issues as one of the top three factors to impact organizations and expected major consequences to business and society from a scarcity of resources. Bold positions like these came about because students clearly saw that globalization provides an opportunity for organizations to create new value.
Compared to all other regions, the views of students and CEOs on sustainability diverged most sharply in North America. Students there were almost three times as likely as CEOs to expect scarcity of natural resources to have a significant impact. They were more than twice as likely to select environmental issues as a top external force. And 60 percent more students than CEOs in this region anticipated that customer expectations for social responsibility will increase significantly.
“What these students are saying is that they understand the complexities inherent in a world that is getting smaller and more interconnected all the time, and the implications of those changes for their careers,” said Ragna Bell, Associate Partner, and Strategy and Change Leader in IBM’s Institute of Business Value. “As a result, they expressed some very different — and powerful — expectations about the responsibilities of business and governments, and by extension, for the paths their careers will take.”
The Digital Deluge
Given that today’s students grew up in a digital age, intuitively understanding that economies, societies, governments and organizations are made up of interconnecting networks, it may not be surprising that seven in 10 students experienced the new economic environment as significantly more complex today, compared to six in 10 CEOs.
But they saw far less volatility and uncertainty, in part because they were confident that access to more information could be put to better use, analyzed for patterns and predictive insights to solve the hardest problems in business or society.
Students who saw significantly more complexity, or interconnectedness in the environment, were 50 percent more likely to expect significant impact from the information explosion and 22 percent more likely to believe that a focus on analyzing information for insight would be key to organizations’ success in the future.
Views about the impact of the information explosion were fairly uniform across regions, except in China where students were 67 percent more likely to see a large impact than CEOs in China. Students in China were also far more likely to approach decision-making analytically, relying on facts more than instinct, or even experience.
Global Thinking, Local Views
Students’ attitudes toward globalization were reflected in their expectations of leadership as well. Like CEOs, students selected creativity as the top emerging leadership quality for the successful enterprise of the future. But among the nine leadership traits CEOs and students were asked to select, students placed a higher emphasis on only two qualities -– global thinking and a focus on sustainability.
Given students’ concerns about globalization and sustainability, the Study found a gap in educational experiences, as well as business expectations. Asked how well their education has prepared them in a number of areas, only four out of 10 students believe their education has prepared them well to address these issues.
In China, 76 percent of students value global thinking as a top leadership quality, more than students anywhere else. Yet, only 38 percent of students in China believe their education has prepared them for global citizenship, which is lower than students in any other region.
Only 17 percent of students in Japan, less than any other region, believe their education has prepared them well to benefit from the growth of emerging markets.
Understanding these and other sharp differences emerging by geography is increasingly important as economies and societies become more closely linked. Students will confront these differences as they increasingly become the future leaders of business and organizations.
About the IBM Institute for Business Value
The IBM Institute for Business Value, part of IBM Global Business Services, develops fact-based strategic insights for senior business executives around critical industry-specific and cross-industry issues. This Global Student Study is part of our ongoing C-Suite Study Series. For access to the full study findings and case studies, please visit: www.ibm.com/futureleaders.
To join the conversation about smarter leadership, please visit: http://smarterleaders.tumblr.com/.
Contact:
Steve Tomasco
IBM Media Relations
917-687-4588
stomasc@us.ibm.com
Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ibm-study–education-lags-in-preparing-students-for-globalization-and-sustainability-96588659.html
SOURCE IBM
http://www.ibm.com
Increasingly, school districts throughout the United States have begun expanding their strategic plans to include 1:1 laptop programs. Some districts are in the exploratory stages, while some have implemented fully pervasive student computing initiatives. There are many examples of initiatives that have not only positively affected student achievement, but also other key educational metrics: attendance, retention, and enrollment. Planning is vital to the success of these initiatives. In order to achieve such positive results and ensure the long-term competitiveness of students, there are eight major aspects to consider during the planning phase.
Goals and Objectives
When starting to think about launching a 1:1 initiative, it is important to confirm that the goals of the school are aligned with the goals of the program. Identifying critical success factors and assessment tools are most vital at this stage of the process.
Financing
With the goals established, the next step is to calculate the cost and secure the funding to implement a successful program. The two base choices institutions must make are: “school vs. parent purchase” and “purchase vs. lease.” There are positive aspects to all scenarios. With the school purchase, the school has the ability to control the technology environment and ensure that each laptop is strictly configured for the school’s standards. With the parent-purchase program, the school reaps the benefit of students with technology without the financial expense of the hardware. The school also retains the ability to recommend a technology partner with guidelines of how the machine is to be used on the school’s network.
The “lease vs. purchase” scenario is dependent upon who will retain ownership of the technology. If the institution is the owner, it would be appropriate to lease so that the school can establish a refresh cycle and upgrade the technology as appropriate to defeat technology obsolescence. In a parent- purchase scenario, it is best to purchase the machine. It will be more cost-effective and the students are likely to handle the equipment with care. When considering financing, it is important to note that every phase of the project, from hardware purchase to faculty development, can be combined within one lease agreement.
Infrastructure
Through programs like E-Rate, most school districts have already invested heavily in a “wired” infrastructure. The new challenge to institutions is wireless infrastructure development. This connectivity provides nomadic students and faculty with access wherever and whenever teaching, learning, homework, collaboration and research is conducted. Thus, when the wireless infrastructure is being planned, it is important to complete a site-survey when creating a wireless campus. Along with networking requirements, power, printing and data storage capacity requirements are also crucial. Consideration of data security for school-specific files should also be a high priority. Finally, for long-term support of the program, it is beneficial to plan for future growth before the program is fully implemented.
Hardware and Software
Although specifying the end-user hardware is the easiest step of the process, selecting the technology partner to provide the hardware should be given great consideration. The term partner can mean manufacturer or reseller — or both. When the school is providing a standard image for all machines, it is valuable to get a 12 to18-month roadmap of the products being considered to minimize the number of images the school must support. Also, the laptop’s battery life, wireless performance, weight and durability should be considered before selecting any model.
In addition to standard task-oriented software, specialty programs that teachers will be incorporating in their lesson plans should be included in the standard image. The move towards digital textbooks is another consideration. Finally, in order to manage the desktops remotely, an automated process for patch updates, virus scans and software installations is a requirement. The hardware should come with tools that make manageability painless for the IT staff.
Support
In most cases, a three-year on-site warranty should be a requirement for every student or teacher-owned machine. Additional protection for the screen, keyboards, and cases should also be considered. To reduce student downtime, schools have the option of repairing their own machines with training and support from the manufacturers. There are programs available that allow schools to be reimbursed for the time spent on repairing machines that are under warranty. When working with a partner, service level agreements should be set from the start. Additionally, depending on the school’s needs, network and server consulting should be considered.
Marketing and Communications
“Selling” the program internally to teachers and administrators and earning their buy-in is critically important. Without their support, the program will not be allowed to flourish. Through newsletters and surveys, the entire school community should be kept abreast of the upcoming projects, student achievement and personal stories. Parent Nights and Technology Days can be used to inform the parents and get them comfortable with the technology investment. Also, communications with other laptop institutions should be on-going while sharing ideas and critical success factors. The overall goal of communications is that all constituencies – parents, students, teachers and administrators – feel enfranchised and empowered through the 1:1 program.
Faculty Development
The teachers’ comfort-level with the technology will have a major impact on the amount of time teachers and students use the technology in the classroom. In order to effectively increase their comfort level, a pre-assessment of current teacher’s skills should be conducted. Through the pre-assessment, the program administrators will be able to develop individualized learning plans and suggest appropriate training options. Since many teachers are already proficient with basic office applications, specific focus on technology integration into the lesson plan, with specific emphasis on project-based learning, may be beneficial. A mentoring program within the school or with other educators is also an option. Another option for professional development includes off-site training events with a focus on 1:1 computing environments and visits to other laptop schools. A best practice amongst successful initiatives has been to designate a technology facilitator to assist the teachers with curriculum integration on a day-to-day basis. Finally, faculty development with a focus on technology integration should be a scheduled event and a requirement for all teachers.
Campus Integration
Once the infrastructure is in place, the teachers are trained and the technology is deployed, providing teachers and students with web-based resources to effectively use this new tool should be considered. A very useful application is a portal through which teachers can enter grades, students can submit homework, and parents can monitor student performance. Through the portal, student-teacher-parent communications can be effectively enhanced.
It is important to keep in mind that every laptop program is unique; some may choose to start with mobile laptop carts which can be wheeled into each classroom whereas others are ready to pilot a 1:1 program for a complete grade-level. No matter what the approach, one of the best practices of successful initiatives has been to provide the teachers and administrators ample time to become familiar with their new tool. To increase long-term effectiveness of the laptop initiative, it is important to effectively plan the logistics of the program. Once the technology is in the hands of the teachers and students, it will open new doors to learning for everyone involved.
Video: Technology in the Classroom: Planning & Implementation for Charter Leaders
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Are you in currently considering technology requirements for your school? Would you like to purchase desperately needed technology to enhance instructional practices and increase student achievement in your school? Join us for a facilitated discussion based on technology planning and implementation topics which include school infrastructure, hardware and software selection, teacher professional development, communications, and most importantly, financial requirements. The session will allow Charter School Leaders to share best practices amongst those present.
Presented by:
Dr. Graysen Walles, Lead Administrator, Elite Scholars Academy
Asif Jessani, Marketing and Technology Consultant, Complete Computer Solutions
PowerPoint: Technology in the Classroom: Planning & Implementation for Charter Leaders
