Coffee talk at UNI:Lokal: Digitalization of work - curse or blessing for vocational training by Prof. Dr. Michael Goller

What challenges and opportunities arise for vocational training against the backdrop of the ongoing digitalization trends in our society? Prof. Dr. Michael Goller gave a lecture on this topic last week as part of the University of Kassel's regular coffee talks at UNI:Lokal in Kassel's city center.

Even though research into the digitalization of work and its impact on vocational training is still ongoing, some important points can already be deduced:

• Due to the changing business and work processes brought about by digitalization, there is also a change in work organization in many professions. For employees, this can ultimately lead to the elimination of partial activities (e.g. through automation) as well as the creation of new activities (e.g. in the context of new types of human-machine interaction). There is also the "danger" of certain occupations being displaced, although historically this has always been a by-product of technological change.
• Employees need to build mental models of the new business processes that take into account both digital and analog aspects (e.g. how a milking robot works in agriculture and how a cow behaves when sick).
• Cross-domain skills such as media literacy or data literacy appear to be becoming increasingly important. In a world that is constantly changing due to digitalization, the ability to constantly update one's own knowledge and skills as well as the ability to think and work in an interdisciplinary manner are also becoming even more important.
• Digital technology is often less tangible and only allows work steps to be traced directly, i.e. without recourse to symbols, to a limited extent. Workplaces may therefore lose concrete experience and therefore relevant learning potential.
• Digitalization trends contain design options that can and should be used by those involved in vocational education and training. Technological pessimism is therefore not appropriate. At the same time, it is important to question who the winners and losers of a changing world are.

We would like to thank the coffee talk participants for their questions and the discussion!

In the coffee talks, scientists from the University of Kassel briefly and compactly explain a topic from their research in 15-20 minutes. The current topics are prepared for the general public and should also give non-experts an insight that is as easy to understand as possible. Sweet snacks and hot drinks will be served free of charge during the lecture.

More information at: www.uni-kassel.de/uni/aktuelles-aus-der-universitaet/oeffentliche-veranstaltungen/unilokal.