Future Work Skills 2020

The Institute for The Future in California recently published a research article (2011) about the kinds of skills that students will need in the future.  Actually, I think they need these skills now.  Their list of ten skills really resonated with me as an educator.  I wonder how they can be integrated into everyday learning experiences at all levels?

1. Sense-making - ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed.
2. Social (and emotional) intelligence- ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions.
3. Novel and adaptive thinking - proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based.
4. Cross-cultural competency - ability to operate in different cultural settings.
5. Computational thinking - ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning.
6. New-media literacy - ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication.
7. Transdisciplinarity - literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines.
8. Design mindset - ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes.
9. Cognitive load management - ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques
10. Virtual collaboration - ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team.