Abstract:

Under the Reimagine Workforce Preparation Discretionary Grants Program a unique collaboration between the Governor’s Office of Workforce Innovation, the state’s Systems of Higher Education, and libraries across the state was formed to scale, enhance and further transfer knowledge into digital components from fields in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, logistics, IT and construction trades. Leveraging the novel approach of public library as platform to reach an entire population of potential candidates, the collaboration worked to develop systems to connect otherwise largely untrained individuals with nascent Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) interests into a growing ecosystem to build a pipeline of qualified individuals to fill the in-demand jobs of the state’s resilient STEM industries. Development of virtual reality and 3D interactive training applications was begun to focus on providing short-term industry credentials and vocational training through distance learning to reskill and upskill potential candidates. Enhanced features included precision career navigation elements to enable students to elicit existing skills in potential students and award them relevant college credit and competency credentialing for prior knowledge and experience. Additionally, development was undertaken to produce digital tools for broad use across both primary and secondary education levels across topics relevant to primary and secondary-level STEM education. Content would be made accessible through the states’ public libraries in partnership with community colleges and partners within the workforce ecosystem; the library to become linchpin in connecting prospective trainees with training providers and provisioning wrap-around services. The public library’s technology, spaces, and information professionals, freely available and accessible after hours and on weekends, would make the process of reskilling and upskilling equally realistic and attainable for everyone in the community.

With the arrival of the novel Coronavirus and onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, a sense of urgency in the anticipated deliverables of the program grew out of dire conditions in the state’s workforce. Leveraging a statewide roll-out of virtual reality headsets and technology to public libraries in years prior, the authors report on the implementation of central ideas of the program and insights derived from the implementation of a pilot that brought together career navigation, information, and training services to transform workforce development into workforce recovery. Anecdotal insights and initial metrics illuminate potential impact the combination of distance learning, custom career exploration and virtual reality-based learning tools to deliver experiential learning in a generally accessible format, and the availability of the public library can have in expanding access to and benefits of otherwise existing traditional geographically-bound courses of study.

Keywords:

Career Exploration, Experiential Learning, Vocational Training, Virtual Reality, Technology-Enhanced Learning, STEM Education, Workforce Innovation.