Week 4 Response #2 to Melissa

Reply to:  Melissa's blog

Hi Melissa,

Thanks for quoting our group presentation, it was cool to open your blog and see that :)

I love your insights - you're so right, technology maintenance time is extremely time-consuming!  The digital tools are always "updated" with new features, formats, and sometimes even entirely new tools/trends.  It's very, very time-consuming.

I literally just read an article about our college graduates missing important soft skills (time management and organization skills) immediately before I read your blog...talk about timing!  The article To Solve the Skills Gap in Hiring, Create Expectations in the Classroom discusses critical EESOs (essential employability skills and outcomes).

To learn more about EESOs, here's a checklist we have to complete for all course outlines and course proposals (this checklist comes from the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities):

Back to the article...we are trying to prepare college students for the workplace (hence the application of EESOs), so the article argues we need to establish some guidelines that are similar to the workplace, such as NO DO-OVERS!  If you're late you're marked ABSENT, and so on, the article is a good read.  Actually, it's a GREAT read, and so totally relevant to college professors.

The skills gaps identified in the article are personal accountability for work, self-motivation, strong work ethic, punctuality, time management, professionalism, and adaptability (Kent, 2016). I personally think of these as "get your act together" skills or "reality check". The article is absolutely correct:  college students are shocked every time I tell them there isn't a second chance. There isn't extra credit to make up for late or missing work, and as the article states "there are no extra credits" in real life.

Bottom line:  our college students, like ourselves, have to be able to show initiative, learn on their own, manage their time, their work, and their responsibilities, all by themselves.  That's a life lesson for an 18-yr-old who has only experienced endless do-overs and in some school districts no due dates whatsoever.  I'm happy I read your blog, because it helps me remember that we're all challenged too, and reinforces that we need to keep the reality check going, it's "tough love" in the classroom.