According to the statistics platform "Statista", about 4.66 billion people have access to the Internet, which means 59% of the world's population.
According to the research data "Internet Penetration and usage in Kosovo" by STIKK, in Kosovo, this percentage increased to 96%. This means that Kosovo has more access to the Internet, information and communication, among other things, than drinking water, which is accessible only to 86.31% of the population in Kosovo (Kosovo Agency of Statistics). These statistics show that the opportunities for work, education and career development are great.
A 13-year-old child uses social media for an average of 6 hours a day, based on an article published on the Praxis platform. Following this trend, at the age of 17-18 they can reach about ten thousand hours of social media use. The well-known psychologist and author of the book "Outliers" Malcom Gladwell says that 10,000 hours of work makes you an expert in the field. So even though this time spent on social media is not necessarily related to a career; all this dedicated time affects the development of many skills needed for the job market such as analytical skills, creativity, information creation and evaluation, critical thinking, problem solving ability and many more. In addition to social media, merit is also given to video games which influence the development of strategic thinking, teamwork, communication and financial management.
Spending time online, as long as it is moderate, is not a cause for concern, as all the skills needed for a job that are key to career development are being taught in one way or another. Therefore, it is up to parents and teachers to find innovative ways to ensure that children develop their skills while having fun. This increase in internet usage, social media and work automation has completely changed the list of the most required and paid professions in the market. Elon Musk (known as the innovator, creator of Tesla Motors, PayPal and Space X) when asked what he would do if he were 22, he replied that he would study AI (Artificial Intelligence). ), which is considered one of the careers of the future.
Artificial Intelligence aims to create various machines that mimic human intelligence, with the primary goal of learning, rationalization and perception. As a profession which not many years ago was considered as a futuristic and also fictional profession, it is now one of the most required fields in the world of digital technology which is currently developing. According to Investopedia, bright futures and incremental growth in the industry have "Data Scientists" translated literally as data scientists, aiming to collecting structured and unstructured data where they analyze, process and interpret them to plan and implement strategies. Future careers belong to these fields: programming, web design and development, software development, cybernetics, digital marketing and ecommerce..
An important trend is the extraordinary involvement of girls in the field of programming and IT, which proves that professions are not gender-based. One successful story is Whitney Wolfe Herd, who has become one of the few billionaire women. In 2014 she created the application "Bumble", an application that became famous for the fact that it is a "dating app" led by a woman and that differentiates itself from others because it gives courage and confidence to women to take the first step in love relationships, which challenges traditional thoughts and taboos. APPLE creator Steve Jobs has stated that everyone should learn how to program because it teaches you how to think.
It is never too late to learn programming; the earlier, the better. Different curricula enable the development of programming skills from an early age. An interesting story in the world of programming is that of Muhammad Hamza Shahzad; 9-year-old programmer from the UK. Talented and passionate about programming, he began to nurture his passion from the age of six. Muhammad is certified with the "Microsoft Coding Certificate". According to the Digital School curriculum, children start basic programming lessons from the age of 7 years.
JUST DO IT. The three-year 21st Century Schools programme, implemented by the British Council and funded by the UK Government, is present in every primary school in the region and will teach up to one million students skills needed for future professions.