DQ: The intelligence of the present and future

PRIOR to the forced migration to the new (and better) normal of learning, the 21st-century learners were taught by 20th-century teachers in 19th-century classrooms. There is uncertainty if the learning outcomes are achievable through the disruptive shift to digital learning. The greater doubt comes from the parents and the employers who learned differently in the past. But the greatest doubt may come from the teachers who were trained to teach differently, and who are not only adapting to and learning how to use digital technology, but also learning how to teach the learners (who are more familiar with the use of these digital technologies). Content and pedagogical competencies of teachers are not sufficient as technological competencies become equally important.

The current learning environment, the blend of the physical classroom and the virtual space, is teaching our learners the intelligence that they actually need more in the future — digital intelligence. Facilitated into learning properly and while giving relative autonomy, the Gen-Z and alpha learners of today may actually learn better in the blended setup than in the outdated traditional classroom, especially within the context of the 21st-century competencies that the future world of work will require.

Pandemic-induced acceleration

At the onset of the First Industrial Revolution in 1784, the focus of human worth was on the body as the primary skill set was the physical skills. That was the early age of industrialization when steam and water were sources of power with the beginning of mechanization that regarded humans as productive machines.

After less than a century, in 1870, the Second Industrial Revolution used electricity with humans participating in a more organized manner like in assembly lines utilizing concepts of division of labor and management in a maturing industrialization concerned with mass production to meet the challenges of the growing world population. The focus of human worth shifted from the physical to the mental (mind) with the primary skill set centered on cognitive skills. The intelligence quotient (IQ) was then introduced in 1964.

The Third Industrial Revolution was set in 1969 with the introduction of the computer and information technology in the modernizing age of electronics and automation. The primary human skill set shifted to soft skills with a focus on emotions. Emotional intelligence (EQ) was then introduced in 1964 while the adversity quotient (AQ) and spirituality quotient (SQ) were introduced in 1997.

Before the onset of Covid-19, the world was bracing for and anticipating the great disruption brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIRe) which was feared to set the status quo on FIRe with the emergence of artificial intelligence, machine learning, Internet of Things, big data, cyber-physical systems, cryptocurrency, and more disruptive technologies. This shifted the focus on the human spirit and values with human’s primary skill set as digital skills. Digital intelligence (DQ) was introduced as early as 2006.

DQ: Intelligence for the future

The Unesco defined digital literacy as the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, evaluate and create information safely and appropriately through digital technologies for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship. As future jobs are expected to digitally transform, only the digitally competent will survive and only the digitally intelligent will thrive.

In order to prepare for the future, the World Economic Forum formed the DQ Institute that aims to bring quality digital intelligence education to every child. The DQI defines DQ as a comprehensive set of technical, cognitive, meta-cognitive, and socio-emotional competencies grounded in universal moral values that enable individuals to face the challenges of digital life and adapt to its demands. Thus, individuals equipped with DQ become wise, competent and future-ready digital citizens who successfully use, control and create technology to enhance humanity.

DQ has a framework with three levels, namely digital citizenship, digital creativity and digital competitiveness. Digital citizenship is the ability to use digital technology and media in safe, responsible and ethical ways. Digital creativity is the ability to become part of the digital ecosystem and to create new knowledge, technologies and content to turn ideas into reality. And digital competitiveness is the ability to solve global challenges, to innovate, and to create new opportunities in the digital economy by driving entrepreneurship, jobs, growth and impact.

The future readiness of persons with digital intelligence comes from their transformative competencies of taking responsibility, creating new value, and reconciling tensions and dilemmas, as they anticipate, reflect and act in the future work and life.

Opportune time to develop DQ

The pandemic experience has accelerated humanity’s transformation to optimize the value of digital resources and technologies in the way we live. The use of digital technology may come as a necessity initially, but has become a prevailing lifestyle and a comfortable living style after more than two years of its consistent use. The pandemic has re-oriented everyone in the digital ecosystem.

The dominance of the purpose-driven millennials and socially relevant Gen-Z in the population and in the digital space will exert positive traction toward more responsible and ethical use of digital technology, like in social media and in the use of AI like ChatGPT. They are well-informed and well-grounded generations who are assertive enough to be stewards of what matters to them. They will co-create the future that rightfully belongs to them. And they are becoming ambassadors of DQ, which the older generation’s IQ and EQ may not be able to fathom.

In the past, learners trusted their teachers to guide them in becoming the best persons they could be. Today, teachers, parents, and society need to trust the learners as digital natives who are capable of bringing out the best in themselves toward a future that is totally different from yesterday and today. Onward to the future, the millennials, Gen-Z’ers, and Generation Alpha shall transform digital technologies using intelligence, which humanity is yet to understand.

Next week: The issues of AI in education.