Page 16 - Toy & Hobby Dec-Jan 2020
P. 16

STEAM
PLAYING TO LEARN
STEAMing Ahead
How can STEAM toys impact what jobs
kids do in the future? Imogen Bailey finds out.
CAST your mind back – nearly 20 years ago now – to 2000.
Social media was non-existent and the
best form of technological entertainment
was playing Snake on the iconic Nokia 3310. Technology that we take for granted these days was not even a twinkle in its founders’ eyes or had only just been invented.
While the toy industry is used to constantly looking for the next ‘big thing’ to satisfy children’s shifting interests, the introduction of
technology to the mix has added yet another factor to consider.
And it’s not just the toy industry that has had to adapt to the dominant role technology plays in society today; educators, industry and parents have also witnessed the effects.
Hence, it is only logical that as technology evolves, the educational foundations of it in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) evolve too.
With this evolution comes heightened focus and a desire from parents to prepare and equip their children with skills for the future. If we can go from a Nokia 3310 to an iPhone 11 in the space of a mere 20 years, where will we – and technology be – in the next 20?
To best attempt to answer that question, Ford Australia teamed up with Deakin University and Griffith University to discover what the jobs of the future could look like.
The 100 Jobs of the Future report investigated; trends and issues associated with technological advancement and disruption; the changes in work that
will occur; jobs that will emerge due to technology; and, the skills and interests that are needed for these roles.
The study extensively examined existing literature on the subject and also consulted 11 experts from organisations including Google Australia, City Futures Research Centre and the Department of Jobs.
Dr Peta White from Deakin University worked on the report and says that while it’s clear that the jobs of the future will be based in technology, robots aren’t going to entirely replace the workforce.
“The literature review is very clear in
that we are heading into a technological advancement. A lot of the jobs that we’re currently employed to do are fairly routine and those routine jobs can potentially be taken up by automated processes.
“That certainly doesn’t mean – and this was very clear in the literature – that we’re going to lose our jobs to robots.
“So while we might use technology
to augment some of our roles, it doesn’t mean that it’ll all be about technology and that our jobs are all going to the robots,” she explains.
Not only will robots not be taking over, White says that many elements of the jobs of the future already exist in today’s society.
16 TOY & HOBBY RETAILER NOVEMBER / DECEMBER / JANUARY 2020


































































































   14   15   16   17   18