The Risk of Generationally Embedding Tech Skills Shortages

The digital future is now and students need to learn digital skills but, importantly, they must be the right skills or we risk locking in shortages of top tech workers.

Here’s the rub, two-thirds of teachers face challenges in delivering the curriculum while 72% indicate they were not receiving sufficient support and the number of Year 11 and 12 students studying technology subjects has fallen in recent years.

Professor Johanna Weaver, Founding Director of the ANU Tech Policy Design Centre says, “Tech is already embedded in every aspect of our lives - and this will only be more so for future generations. We need to stop teaching tech like it is a bolt-on and start treating it as a fundamental skill set, like learning English and Maths.

“Most existing tech skills initiatives focus on the current and immediate term skills gap. But if we don’t simultaneously take the long-term view, we risk generationally embedding tech skills shortages in Australia,” said Professor Weaver.

“More broadly, new and potentially disruptive technologies become available every day and we want all Australians to understand the safety and security implications, and be empowered to harness the best of technology to shape a positive future.”

“The good news is there are policy levers that the federal and state governments can pull today to better support teachers. Without this support, we risk widening the digital divide and creating a society where the next generation of Australians are not equipped to navigate the increasingly complex digital world.”

ACS’, the professional association for Australia’s technology sector, Tech Skills for the Next Generation report details how educators are dealing with the Digital Technologies Curriculum.

The report makes 12 recommendations covering areas including ensuring there are accessible ready-to-use teaching resources, embedding digital readiness into initial teacher education, supporting ongoing professional development and training, along with elevating awareness of the Digital Technologies Curriculum in the community.

ACS thinks that The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) should incorporate into ITE accreditation a requirement that ITE programs demonstrate their capacity to prepare our future teachers to: teach with digital technologies (as expected by AITSL standards), use digital technologies within all learning areas (including Digital Literacy development) and teach the F-10 Digital Technologies subject and/or senior secondary computer education courses.

This could be supported through the Australian Technologies Teacher Educators Network (ATTEN) to provide end-user input from Digital Technologies teachers.

Released in partnership with the Australian National University’s Tech Policy Design Centre, the 2024 report follows a previous 2022 survey questioning educators on how they are managing delivering the Digital Technologies Curriculum.

Sharon Singh, Chair of ACS’s ICT Educators Committee said, “Engaging students in digital technologies and empowering them as early as possible and throughout their school education can also lead to more Australians pursuing further education in technology fields and into technology-focused careers, helping them be part of Australia’s next-generation technology workforce.”

The Tech Skills for the Next Generation report can be downloaded from the ACS website