Top Takeaways From the 2021 ASU GSV Summit
This week education leaders, policymakers and businesses gathered in San Diego for the annual ASU GSV Summit
As you would expect, the summit focused on the effect the global pandemic has had on education. Our leadership identified several important takeaways from the conference that will help us drive innovation and unlock potential for our education clients as we move into 2022.
A Brief Background
The ASU GSV Summit is one of the leading educational technology conferences and started in 2010. The summit is a collaboration between ASU (Arizona State University) and GSV (Global Silicon Valley). With 12 years of conferences, the summit always connects some of the brightest minds in the EdTech space.
The summits are full of actionable insights, human-centered connections, transformational experiences, and unexpected discoveries. The attendee list grows every year and boasts an average of 15,000 attendees.
Education & Technology: What you should know
We gathered the most important takeaways from ASU GSV that we think will be important in the EdTech space leading into 2022.
- With the current speed of change, organizations are planning in 6-month blocks because looking too far into the future is too overwhelming. Employees are also observing this rapid change and know that they must constantly assess not only what they can be better at now, but which of today’s trending skills may help them in the future. Leaders can help their employees to plan for their growth and development by being transparent about the organization’s current and future skill needs and what new skills each employee could benefit from most.
- Learners are focused on economic opportunities and mobility more than ever. In response, schools and leaders in the field are seeing and delivering on the need to make sure students actually know how to demonstrate their newly acquired skills in interviews and apply them in the workplace.
- Educators are fostering more online and virtual education options than ever before, including at reduced costs and through partnerships with employers. These online learning opportunities continue to make education more accessible and equitable for learners of all ages and backgrounds. Some of the many organizations to watch in the space include Dev Degree, Career Karma, Chegg, Multiverse, Forage, and Degreed.
- Demand for tech skills remains extremely strong and qualified talent is hard to find. To fill the skills gap, employers must get more creative with upskilling and reskilling efforts for existing employees as well as become more comfortable hiring individuals with less traditional educational backgrounds. Employers willing to pay for employee training and who are open to new training and learning models (such as professional apprenticeships) will be among the ones who win in the war for talent.
Diversity Highlights in the Education Workplace
There was a lot of discussion about diversity in the workplace as well, with a few highlights being:
- 25% of women in the education sector have either reduced their hours or dropped out of the space in the last year. Those in the EdTech space have an opportunity to support these women and help them build the skills they need to reenter the workforce or reshape their careers.
- Unable to go to schools and recruit employees in person this year, many companies have opened their doors to older and more diverse employees and interns. To improve recruitment and retention of these employees, organizations need to create welcoming spaces, community, and mentoring opportunities for all members of their diverse workforce.
- EdTech companies are working toward being co-leaders, participants, and beneficiaries of work, including addressing the challenges many people face in pursuing education and through finding ways to build an equitable foundation for people to succeed and grow in the workplace
- Diversity isn’t just about race and gender. There are serious pools of talent being overlooked — over 40 is now “older”! They may have degrees but may need upskill and reskill
A Shift in Employee Learning
Employee learning was a prevailing theme in many of the sessions. Since we are passionate about fostering talent here at Robots & Pencils, we were excited to hear the emphasis on employee learning and development bubbling to the top of the trends this year.
A few things that all employers should consider:
- Employers who train, foster talent and help employees move up have higher retention rates
- Creativity is a crucial asset to foster and involves learning the skills to use the tools to translate your ideas
- Employees do their best work when they feel that they’ve been trained well by their employers and when they feel they’re being adequately utilized
- Allocate a budget for employee training and be transparent about it so that employees realize how much you value and invest in them
Inspiring Tweets from the Summit
Conclusion
We love conferences like the ASU GSV Summit! By gathering the top minds and leading companies from across the industry, untapped potential is discovered, trends are identified, and innovators find inspiration for changing the future of their business.
After attending the summit, our Client Partner at Robots & Pencils, Kevin Roberts, noted many opportunities for further, digital transformation in education.
He shared, “Last year we witnessed a tremendous shift that propelled the industry forward. Institutions that had been historically slow to adopt technology have now become comfortable working with digital tools and platforms to provide education. Now we’re seeing an appetite to improve processes, build better integrations, and deliver superior digital learning experiences. We are looking forward to continuing to harness this trajectory for our clients by evolving products in a way that improves the experience of the learner and the staff members that support their academic journey.”
Want to learn more about the transformative work Robots & Pencils has provided our education clients? Learn more here!
