Dive Brief:

• The workforce is becoming increasingly automated, with a recent study showing that the global workforce will lose more than 7 million jobs over the next five years to automation —but this reality only means that instructors must work harder to "disrupt" the classroom and ensure students are still being taught human values like creativity, reports The Huffington Post. 
• Teachers are continuing to adopt technology and ideas like gamification into their curriculum to meet the demands of the evolving workforce, but often run the risk of failing to teach important skills like creativity, critical reflection, compassion, collaboration and communication when only using machines. 
• In order to curb the potential for failing to teach students the necessary soft skills for employment, experts suggest that educators selectively choose tech to make learning more interesting without letting the tech become the actual instructor. 

Dive Insight:

Contrary to the popular belief that employers don't care about soft skills like creativity and empathy, a 2016 ACT National Curriculum Survey showed in its sampling of workforce supervisors and employees that criteria like “acting honestly,” by treating others sincerely and genuinely, “sustaining effort,” and “keeping an open mind" are important for students entering working life. A move toward automation in teaching may lead to new challenges for educators in preparing students for the workforce, as machines are incapable of helping students learn these types of values. Subsequently, the "disrupter" in the classroom is shifting from technology back to the teacher.