Often, IT employers bemoan the lack of innovation and critical thinking in an IT graduate. Why do you think that is? What can a student do to “grow” their own capacity to innovate think critically?

Listening – It Takes Practice: The following are a series of ways for students to think about how they listen, ask questions, consider linguistics, and the actual meaning of both the spoken and written word in the context of academics and the workplace.

o Listening exercises that lead to proper dictation of what the speaker is really saying should be incorporated into the classroom. The Udemy Academy (opens in a new window) lists a number of listening exercises that will introduce students on how to become more effective listeners.

Example:

• “Participants should stand in a line, or a circle. One person begins the game by whispering a sentence to the person after them. This sentence should be prepared beforehand, by someone moderating the game, but it should only be known to the person starting the game. The person who received the messages should then whisper it to the person after them, and so on.
• By the time it gets to the final person in the group, they should say the message aloud. The first person will read the sentence they were given, and participants can note how much the two have changed. It’s very unlikely, especially in large groups, that the message has not been altered at least a little bit…” (Source: Udemy.com (opens in a new window) )

While Udemy offers tuition-based courses, the exercises can be used in any classroom. You can also view another Ted Talk (7:47 minutes) with Julian Treasure, a sound consultant, who outlines 5 Ways to Listen Better (opens in a new window) . Treasure’s most recent Ted Talk presentation, How to Speak (opens in a new window)  So People Want to Listen (opens in a new window) runs 9:58 minutes.

o How can the IT student learn how to craft questions to get the best answer? What are good follow-up questions? The Conversation Café (opens in a new window) offers resources as well as meet-ups for students (in Washington State) who want to learn how to ask questions in the course of a general conversation.

Dan Pink’s To Sell is Human offers two worthwhile exercises:

1. Take Five: Start a conversation with a partner (classmate, friend, casual acquaintance, family-member, etc.), and take five seconds before responding. Pink asks a few questions for the participants to ask themselves.  “Is your conversation partner actually finishing their sentences? Is your partner getting their perspective fully on the table without you interrupting? Do they have the time to take a breath before you start yapping?” (Source: To Sell is Human, Dan H. Pink, 2012, pages 199-200)\
2. Start a conversation with a partner and decide to essentially debate an issue with two distinct and different points-of-view. One person starts, and the other person can only respond by asking questions. “These questions must also abide be three rules: 1) You cannot ask yes-no questions. 2) Your questions cannot be veiled opinions. 3) Your partner must answer each question.” (Source: To Sell is Human, Dan H. Pink, 2012, page 200)

The general 5 W’s are also a good way to think about asking questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why (How is sometimes included). The 5 W’s can also be used to analyze a general business problem. For example, here it’s used to provide data on who makes game purchases.

• Present IT students with potential interview questions (opens in a new window) , and also ask them to think about not only how they would answer these questions, but how and why they would ask them of someone they were interviewing.
• IT graduates sometimes struggle to adapt to a world where they are not given very prescriptive direction on a frequent basis. There is not always a “right” answer; instead, there is just a “best” answer.

Innovation: IT employers often talk about the need for innovation in their employees and the trouble they have in finding employees who can actually innovate.

One of the IT professionals responded to this section’s question with this, “Mainly because ‘innovation’ is a buzzword: to innovate, you need creativity, divergent thinking, and the ability to sell ideas.”

Again, Ted Talks (opens in a new window) (Ideas Worth Spreading) provide a variety of presentations on innovation. Ted Talks is a valuable resource as it provides snapshots and bite-sized, easily digestible, pieces information that get to the point and provide an overview of somewhat complex issues or questions. Nizah Shaer of High Start Group curated the top ten Ted Talks here (opens in a new window) . Take a look at Stephen B. Johnson’s 17 minute presentation.

Both IT educators and students can review the third (opens in a new window) part of a series from Scott Anthony (opens in a new window) , author of TheLittleBlack Book of Innovation (opens in a new window) .

• Questioning: Asking probing questions that impose or remove constraints. Example: What if we were legally prohibited from selling to our current customer?
• Networking: Interacting with people from different backgrounds who provide access to new ways of thinking.
• Observing: Watching the world around them for surprising stimuli.
• Experimenting: Consciously complicating their lives by trying new things or going to new places.

“To grow, explore and engage in exercises that expand divergent thinking – public speaking, persuasion, take on puzzles, and (examine critiquing skills and experimentation).”

Inspect the following from Dr. Daniel Raviv, Florida Atlantic University, ENCOURAGING (opens in a new window)  DIVERGENT THINKING (opens in a new window) , for a series of exercises created to encourage divergent thinking or, as Dr. Raviv names it, “ideation.” (Source: ASEE (opens in a new window) )

6. Our IT Professionals Offer the Following Ways IT Students Can Demonstrate IT Competencies:

• Online Portfolios: There are a variety of free online project portfolios out there.

However, the majority are geared towards graphic artists, photographers, designers, etc. That doesn’t mean that they can’t be used to host an IT student’s project work. Alternatively, there are online portfolios that charge a user fee of $8 to $15 per month. Another option is to use LinkedIn, as they have recently added a portfolio option for your profile where links can be added and project files can be uploaded.