Technology to be central to 'almost all careers'

Careers in nearly all of the UK's major industries are set to be transformed by technology.This is according to education secretary Michael Gove, who claimed every sector from farming and manufacturing to fashion and music will depend on digital resources.Speaking in an interview with Computing about the Department for Education's (DfE's) new curriculum guidelines, the politician said the increasing prevalence of technology means no one is certain what skills young people will require in future.He claimed the next generation will need to be as comfortable with programming and understanding how to work a computer as they are with reading and writing.When asked about the lessons the DfE had learned after meeting with groups like the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Computer Society, Mr Gove said schoolchildren will be educated about the academic discipline of computer science, including "computational logic, algorithms and data representation, [giving] pupils … insight into how the digital technologies that they use every day actually work".Mr Gove officially announced the new framework for the English National Curriculum earlier this month, outlining plans to give the school system a stronger focus on digital skills that could give pupils a better chance of finding work later in life.It also means that employers will be required to begin tailoring their workplaces to meet the needs of the next generation of recruits, who will likely have digital expectations about their first job.This would not be the worst thing, however, as there are many benefits to making technology central to day-to-day work practices.For instance, it allows managers to train their staff using online resources, rather than having to organise manual sessions that take up considerably more time and are not cost-effective.Companies can save themselves a bundle of money by turning to e-learning and there are lots of different courses and modules at their disposal through online training provider Virtual College, which boasts its own dedicated learning management system and e-academies.