(0:56 people's noises)
(check who) 1.17 We've got one hour and a quarter.
(confused voices then 1:31) How do we know when these things are going to be turned on?
(confused voices, then1:58) What? OK? Right.
(Chairperson 2:03) Ladies and Genltemen, can I ask everyone
to take their seats, please?
We're about to begin, so if you're visiting the bar,
can you charge your glasses and return to your seats, and then we'll begin.
We've got an hour and a quarter for this debate.
OK, can I -- Welcome everybody to the Online Educa OEB debate.
I'm not sure what number this is in the series of debates that we've had,
I think it may be getting up to our 10th.
What I can tell you is that in the time that we've been having these debates
and that I've been chairing them, my eyesight has now gone so bad
that I can't possibly read any notes that I have without using glasses, so
I think we must be on at least our 10th.
What I can also tell you is that Online Educa itself, OEB,
this year is celebrating its 21st anniversary.
So I think that perhaps deserves a round of applause.
So happy birthday to Online Educa -- (Applause) -- this fantastic conference.
And 21 years ago was a very difficult -- very different world indeed,
when one thinks about the scale and scope of change that there --
that has taken place in the last 21 years.
One statistic I was reading recently was that in the UK, in 1994, 21 years ago,
there were only 67 mobile phones per 1000 people.
But only ten years later, in 2004,
there were more mobiles in the UK than people.
And that pattern of spread of mobile communications alone
has spread across the world and in Africa, for instance,
those of you who have been to Elearning Africa will have learned about
the spread of mobile communications across the African continent.
So in terms of the scale of technological change,
and the spread of that change across the world,
the change in that short period of time, in these past 21 years alone,
has been enormous, and we heard about
the scale of it in the opening plenary session this morning.
We live in a world that is globalized, interconnected, hyperlinked
and that scale of change we're experiencing, have experienced
in the last 21 years, is going to gather pace and continue.
And all that is going to create a huge challenge for education and training,
which is going to be at the heart
of dealing with both the positive and negative aspects of that change.
And that's why the motion that we're dealing with today, in this debate,
is so important, and why the whole subject of giving young people the skills
that they need to cope with the challenges of this new world
that we all are going to -- that we are creating, is so important.
We've got four speakers, four panel speakers
to open the debate this evening
and I'm going to ask each of them to speak for 10 minutes,
and then I'm going to --
-- two of them will speak for the motion, obviously,and two against --
then I will throw open the debate to all of you,
but if you want to intervene whilst they are speaking, because
we're having a parliamentary-style debate,
then you can try to intervene on them
and if they want to take your intervention,
then they can do so, but it will be entirely up to you.
And if they don't, then you can draw whatever conclusions you want from that.
But I want to ensure that we keep the flow going,
so I'm not going to let you bully them but I'm going to allow you,
if you want to make a particular point,
or if you want to make a short intervention, to do so.
Then after they've spoken, we'll throw open the debate to the floor
and you can make your contribution,
but do please realize that time is of the essence,
so please try to keep it short and to the point, succinct.
This is the kind of debate equivalent of texting.
So, no long rambling contributions, because I will cut you off
if you try to do that.
So, very short contributions, please.
And then I'll ask each of our -- I'll ask one speaker from each side
to sum up, and then we will take a vote, and we'll do that by a show of hands.
And I've also made it clear to all the speakers that they may
say things that they don't necessarily want to be held to in the future,
so I hope that you will understand that.
But this is an opportunity for us to explore some of the issues,
but don't take it all too seriously,
and don't come and accuse people of saying things that you would --
that they might not necessarily always want to be held to.
With that in mind, I'm going to ask our first speaker, who is Jo Swinson.
Jo Swinson, who is the former Minister for business, innovation and skills
in the UK's coalition government of 2010 to 2015,
to speak first for the motion.
And Jo, since leaving Parliament, has begun a new career
and is involved in an award within a data intelligence company
called Clear Returns
and she is an expert on the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.
So, over to you, Jo.
(Jo Swinson) Thank you very much indeed, Harold.
And I'm absolutely delighted to be here in Berlin at OEB.
A bit of a first, actually, the first technology-related conference
that I've been to where there is a queue in the ladies' loos!
I have to say I was particularly pleased by that, not only as a feminist,
but also as a Brit who appreciates the art of queuing.
So it was good on two fronts.
So, this house believes that 21st century skills aren't being taught,
and they should be, is the motion that I want to convince you
to support this evening.
We absolutely need to be equipping our young people,
and indeed, people at every stage of their lives,
with the skills that they need for the 21st century.
And our education systems, and our wider society,
have an important role to play in this.
But I will put it to you, this evening, that when it comes to technical skills,
when it comes to social skills, and vitally,
when it comes to capacity to embrace change,
we are not yet rising to that challenge sufficiently.
There are very specific skills, there are gaps in science and technology
that are not being properly filled. 9:32