Power_to_Create_The_new_digital_age

The new digital
learning age:
how we can enable
social mobility
through technology

The new digital learning age:
how we can enable social
mobility through technology
Anthony Painter
and Louise Bamfield

Contents
Acknowledgements
Author biographies
Foreword
Executive summary
Introduction
Fast technology, slow institutions
Social divides and new technology –
the RSA Power to Create survey
Adaptive public policy
The role of education and technology
in social mobility
Into work: digitally enhanced social mobility
Concluding comments
Bibliography
Annex 1. Power to Create survey summary
Annex 2. List of recommendations
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Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed to this paper. Specialists from
the tech world, education, the commercial world and the
policy world helped provide us with advice and support, chal-
lenge and guidance. There are a few people we would like to
draw special attention to.
Within the RSA itself, Matthew Taylor, Adam Lent, Joe
Hallgarten, Oliver Reichardt, Joanna Massie, Mark Pallis,
Nina Bolognesi, Luke Robinson, Ben Dellot, Amanda
Kanojia, Kenny McCarthy, Chris Thoung, and Janet Hawken
have provided advice, support and feedback. We were sup-
ported with the core research by Alex Kafetz and Charlotte
Highmore at ZPB Associates. Gary Bennett at Logit Research
produced the segments which form a key component of the
report. Chris Menzies and Rosie Tilson-Smith at Populus gave
us guidance on the survey which underpins the segmentation.
Steve Broome steered the Power to Create survey through to a
conclusion and his analysis is contained within the report.
We took advantage of the knowledge base available to us
through the RSA’s 27,000 strong Fellowship to gain from their
wide-ranging experience. Sixty-eight Fellows engaged with the
process. Contributions were received from David Goode, Obhi
Chatterjee, Alice Peasgood, Andrew Manson, Mike Barwise,
Zufi Deo, Hilary Burrage, Rod Hyde, Annette Smith, Wayne
Thompson, Alison Bye, Roger Linley, Dr Trevor Male, Nicola
Herbertson, Justin Barton, Fiona Morey, and Paul Hodgkin.
We were reassured from that engagement that this paper has
the potential to generate considerable debate and that many
of our ideas have some practical resonance. We sharpened up
our thinking and some of the prose as a result of this engage-
ment. The hope is that the conversation will continue beyond
publication – there is still a great deal more we can take from
our expert Fellows.
As we gathered ideas and linked into the considerable
knowledge base in the areas covered in the report, we received
generous help and support. Will Perrin, Dr Ellen Helsper, Dr
Rebecca Eynon, Dan Sutch, Dominic Campbell, Emma Stone,
Julian Sefton-Green, Tristram Hooley, Karl Belizaire, Tristan
Wilkinson, Andrew Sprinz, and Imogen Atkinson all helped

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Acknowledgements
us along the way. Ian Ashman cast his professional eye over
the report.
And finally, this report would not have been possible
without the support of Google UK. Verity Harding, Katie
O’Donovan, Jon Steinberg, and Tom Price were all instrumen-
tal in supporting this research and enabling it to evolve.
The normal caveats about errors, omissions, etc being our
responsibility apply. However, we are grateful for the huge
help we received. It has helped make this a much better report
than it could otherwise have been.

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Author biographies
Anthony Painter, Director of Policy and Strategy
Anthony leads the RSA’s work on policy development, organ
isation change and institutional reform. He focuses on a
range of policy issues including the impact of new technology
on the economy and society, reform to welfare, learning and
skills, and reform to public services and a range of public
institutions.
He previously directed the Independent Review of the Police
Federation and has also worked with the BBC, the BMA, and
the Metropolitan Police. He is author of three books, most
recently Left without a future? Social Justice in anxious times.
He is on Twitter @anthonypainter and can be contacted at
anthony.painter@rsa.org.uk
Louise Bamfield, Associate Director, Education
Louise has a particular interest in tackling educational dis-
advantage, building on her previous roles as senior research
Fellow at the Fabian Society, as a senior policy advisor at the
Child Poverty Unit, where she led development of the national
child poverty strategy, and as head of education at Barnardo’s.
She has an ESRC-funded PhD in the philosophy of education
from Cambridge University.
She can be contacted at louise.bamfield@rsa.org.uk

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Foreword
Foreword – Matthew Taylor
Since we presented an argument for the ‘power to create’ last
year, Fellows and colleagues have expressed the need to better
understand what this world view means in practice.
How can it be fleshed out to provide a stronger definition
of what RSA stands for and provide some guidance to policy,
organisations and even individuals? Through the Power
to Create series, of which The new digital learning age is the
first, we set ourselves the task of considering the practicalities
of this question.
This first paper argues that we need to adapt our institu-
tions to ensure that far more people have greater access to
the skills needed if we are not only to reap the benefits of
pervasive technology but also ensure that some of the down-
sides are mitigated. Only through radical change in the way
we learn throughout our lives will we deliver the inclusive
and socially mobile society that lies at the heart of the ‘power
to create’ worldview.
There are important ideas in this paper. We rapidly need
to develop a clearer and shared understanding of not only
the potential of digital technology to narrow the achievement
and creativity gap in schools but also how this can be practi-
cally achieved. There has also been considerable consensus
about the need to create better connections between employers
and schools. This is an issue that the RSA has championed
in its research and through its Academies. The rapid pace
of technological innovation, of the tools with which we work,
create, connect and learn, makes this ever more pressing.
However these issues are by no means confined to the
classroom; as has long been acknowledged there remains a
chasm between employers and wider learning systems. The
RSA’s ‘Cities of Learning’ recommendation sets out one way
of creating a bridge between a rapidly growing spontaneous
learning economy and real economic opportunity.
As an organisation, the RSA is in the unique position of
having a network of 27,000 change initiators – our Fellows –
supporting our work. Already Fellows and specialists in the
field have contributed to the ideas and knowledge-base on
which the report relies. We ask them now what they could do

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The new digital learning age
in their professional setting or through civic activism to make
some of these important ideas a reality.
Responding to this challenge would help make this publica-
tion a milestone and not a destination. Our Fellowship team
will be in touch to suggest how this could work in practice.
If you are not a Fellow and want to get involved, what better
time to join us than now as we try to turn the ‘power to create’
vision into a society-changing cause.
Finally, I would like to express sincere thanks to Google UK
Ltd for its support.
Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive

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Executive summary
Executive summary
Digital technology is already having an enormous impact on
the economy and society. These impacts are not uniform. For
some, a new vista of creative opportunity has opened. For
others, they see the possibilities but have yet to fully realise the
full potential that digital and other new technologies might
offer. New technology is not a force of nature. Its impacts and
who gets to share in its potential benefits are grounded in the
choices we make as a society. The question is what are the right
policy choices to enhance life opportunities for the greatest
number as we experience widespread technological change?
There are three main groups that we have identified
through a survey conducted by Populus who experience tech-
nological change in different ways:
•• The ‘confident creators’ who are adept at using new
technology to develop their knowledge, creativity and
social capital. They are confident in a rapidly changing
technology environment.
•• The ‘held back’ not only see the benefits of new
technology but they are using it to learn. They are
ambitious and seek the chance to turn their ideas and
hopes into reality and they are trying to work out
how. However, they feel that they need more support,
a greater level of learning and more confidence to
make their hopes a reality. With some support they
might just get there but as it stands they feel a sense of
frustrated ambition.
•• Finally, there are the ‘safety firsters’. This group is
least engaged with new technology and the internet.
It’s not that they aren’t connected; it’s just that they
see it less a part of their lives than the other two
groups. They are not particularly satisfied with things
but they do not see the world as particularly stacked
against them in the way the ‘held back’ do. Without
realising it, they may be missing out on opportunities
to learn, progress and connect and, consequently, this
may pose greater risks as the economy changes – risks
they may not have acknowledged.

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Currently there is a great deal of support for the role of
technology in our society as evidenced in the survey. However,
these groups face different opportunities and outcomes from
the non-neutral (ie biased by the skills levels of individuals)
spread of new technology. Whilst there are considerable
benefits for many, there are also losses and risks for others –
whether they see them or not. These risks include changes to
the labour market that can make certain roles and work obso-
lete whilst downgrading the remuneration and status of others.
How these opportunities and risks are spread, history shows,
is significantly determined by how we respond collectively to
technological change and how people are able to adapt as a
consequence.
So public policy needs to widen its lens to focus on the
interventions that will predominantly help the ‘held back’
realise their creative ambitions and help to ensure that ‘safety
firsters’ are supported as technology spreads. These interven-
tions begin early-on in life but must be continued throughout
an individual’s working life.
The policy toolkit of narrowing the digital divide, introduc-
ing new technology into education, and promoting a rapidly
growing technology sector have been critical. However, this
report calls for leaders at national and local level to go much
further if we are to ensure that the real benefits of new technol-
ogy are to be democratically distributed. This is what we term
inclusive social mobility.
There are three main strategic policy interventions that
we propose:
1. A new approach to learning through and with new
technology in schools. We advocate new ways for
teachers to work together in applying knowledge of
what is effective in the use of digital technology in
schools and being supported in that endeavor.
2. Greater frequency, quality and range of contact
with employers for students. This will be supported
throughout the education system through improving
careers networks developed in schools and beyond.
3. A new ‘city of learning’ initiative to expand formal
skills and learning. This approach is led by local
leaders, employers, informal learning networks and
institutions and increases skills-acquisition through

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Executive summary
peer-to-peer as well as institutional accreditation.
It is based on ‘open badges’ technology where an
individual is able to demonstrate new learning and
skills as they progress. Cities of Learning are already
spreading across the US.
Inclusive social mobility seeks to improve the life chances
of all from a young age in education, in work and in life;
narrowing the gap in pupil attainment and broader life
outcomes between those from disadvantaged backgrounds
and their more affluent peers. This inclusive social mobil-
ity is not satisfied simply with greater mobility but nor is it
about levelling down. It is about all enjoying access to power,
resources and opportunity.
These recommendations constitute a relentless ambition
to ensure a more inclusive form of social mobility – towards
a goal of enhancing the Power to Create. That is a major
challenge in an economy that is technologically biased towards
particular skills. The inclusivity targeted here is a means of
spreading the gains of technological change. It is a way of the
UK taking full advantage of the opportunities that technologi-
cal change offers without leaving people behind.
A note on the structure of this paper
The core of this paper is an argument for significant system
change in education, work, and wider learning. Underpinning
these system-level recommendations are a number of insights
and perspectives of how change can happen in a way that is
distinctive from traditional policy making, which tends to be
centre-led and hierarchical in form. This focus, termed ‘open
policy-making’, ‘complexity policy’ or ‘collective impact’
concentrates on people’s motivations, the way they behave,
current institutional structures, and how to cultivate impactful
systems based on these starting points. We thought it neces-
sary to be explicit about some of this underpinning approach.
For this reason, after laying out the technological changes
that are influencing the social and economic environment,
there is an analysis of the new survey data and then an outline
of the policy-making approach that we have adopted. This
should provide context for the interventions that are recom-
mended in the final sections of the paper.

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Finally, it is important to be clear about what this paper
does not cover. We are not arguing that enhanced inclusive
social mobility is simply a function of supply-side factors.
The ability of the economy to develop sufficient jobs at higher
levels of productivity, while impacted significantly by supply
side changes, also rests on comparative advantage, science,
technology, innovation and economic institutions. Moreover,
the way in which individuals are able to resource and access
formal learning is a very significant consideration. This
latter question will be addressed in a forthcoming paper on
changing the relationship between the citizen and the state,
the background to which can be previewed in a recent blog
post by Adam Lent and Anthony Painter entitled Let citizens
spend tax revenues rather than technocrats at the top.1
The
means of building the economic asset base of individuals and
households will be reviewed in a further paper to be written by
Ben Dellot. Together, these papers are termed ‘Power to Create
papers’ and they are aimed at collectively demonstrating how
the RSA’s worldview – the Power to Create – has practical
application. This paper should be seen in that broader context.
1 www.rsablogs.org.uk/2014/adam-lent/citizens-spend-tax-revenues-
technocrats-top

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Introduction
Introduction –
on inclusive social
mobility
New technologies can be great disruptors.2
Disruption is
non-neutral in its impacts: it re-distributes market, social and
political power. This in turn shifts social values and interac-
tions. Yet the risk is that technology and the change it induces
is simply seen as an exogenous force which can’t be shaped.
The argument of this report takes a different approach: the
degree to which benefits of change are distributed and costs
mitigated depends on collective institution building and adap-
tive public policy. If the infrastructure and the institutional
environment is right then an inclusive and social mobility-rich
form of technological change could be available to us. If we fail
to adapt adequately, then there is a risk of a socially divisive
and inequality-laden trajectory.
In other words, if the benefits of new technology are to
be distributed more widely, we have to act smartly through
the public sector centrally and locally, communities, and the
commercial world. The goal should be an inclusive social
mobility where all have the ability to pursue and accomplish
their personal and creative goals.
The RSA is interested in exploring our individual and col-
lective Power to Create. In philosophical terms, this approach
rests on a notion of each being the ‘author of their own lives’.3
In essence, this means each and all possessing the ability to
turn their ideas into a reality that has wider societal value. It is
conceivable that new technologies could both stimulate greater
supply of, and demand for, creativity – and help to develop the
2 For the purposes of this paper we are interested in new technologies
that have an impact on productivity, work, and learning. This includes
any technology that connects people through their devices, automation
of tasks, new emergent products that disrupt existing market relations,
and new ways of aggregating, utilising and sharing data, services,
knowledge, and assets.
3 www.matthewtaylorsblog.com/thersa/the-power-to-create-in-about-5-
minutes

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creative capacities that allow people to generate ideas that are
new and valuable.
These ideas further enhance the ability of people to turn
their ideas into practical reality. That practical reality is one
in which people have the freedom and power to develop and
improve their lives. In this regard, the Power to Create has
a close alignment with inclusive mobility. Power to Create is
a means, and inclusive social mobility is one of the outcomes.
To secure a society that epitomises the Power to Create,
it is critical that the opportunity to pursue one’s creativity is
spread democratically across society (rather than simply at
‘elite’ levels). Digital technology creates abundant new oppor-
tunities but contains risks as well. This report acknowledges
the potential risks but considers how, through the education
system, through the interface between education and the world
of work, and through supporting those in work, the chance to
fulfil one’s creative goals can be dispersed.
This paper’s conclusion is that a significant change to the
whole system of education, learning and career progression –
enhanced by new opportunities afforded by digital technologies
– is possible and necessary to develop greater inclusive social
mobility. That is if the right policy interventions are made.
Inclusive social mobility
A sustained focus on social mobility began in the Blair/
Brown administrations but has been taken up by the
Coalition with gusto. It was a core ambition of many of
the senior members of the Government from 2010–15,
not least David Cameron and Nick Clegg, and the agenda
has been driven by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty
(SMCP) Commission, chaired by Alan Milburn MP.4
These
debates have focused upon: (i) a notion of (selective) open-
ness with career opportunities distributed in accordance
with merit; (ii) the desire for a generalised upward trend
4 There have been other accounts of ‘fairness’ within the Coalition. For
example, Iain Duncan-Smith as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
was far more concerned in the 2010–15 parliament with stable family
relationships and averting ‘breakdown’ than notions of mobility per se.
These are nuances but notable ones.

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Introduction
of mobility, in a colloquial sense ‘each generation feeling
better off than the last’.
In this regard, political advocates of social mobility appear
to focus on what the academic literature would term absolute
inter-generational social mobility. Essentially, this measures
the degree to which incomes and/or social
class in one generation compares with their
parents across the population in aggregate
terms. The social mobility public policy
agenda is aimed at seeing greater numbers
in higher occupational classes or income
intervals over time. This is why fair access
to university and the professions are such hot topics within the
social mobility policy debate.
Academics in the field tend to take a different measure
of social mobility, relative intergenerational mobility
(Goldthorpe 2012). This measures the probability of an
individual from one class ending up in a different class (or a
different income interval) to their parents. Overall structural
change in the workforce is then factored out to understand net
relative inter-generational mobility. This measure captures
underlying social forces of upward and downward social
mobility (as it cuts both ways). This notion of social mobility
lies at the heart of Michael Young’s famous satirical book,
The Rise of the Meritocracy (1994). In this, a perfectly mobile
society results in a disconnected elite legitimised by their own
individual success. Losers, through what we would now term
‘loss aversion’, are highly discontented whilst winners are
self-satisfied.
The debate has become even more complex as there is a
ferocious academic debate about the direction of change of
social mobility in the UK. Economists, in focusing on net
inter-generational mobility measured by income, contend
that social mobility is in decline (Blanden, Gregg and Machin
2005). Sociologists meanwhile paint a static picture in net
inter-generational mobility for men and a slightly improving
picture for women (Goldthorpe and Mills 2008). This analysis
essentially concludes that the chances of an individual finding
themselves in a different occupational class to their father,
net of changes to the overall occupational structures, remains
at best unchanged for men and slightly improved for women
across the last half a century.
Overall, the UK has a mediocre
level of mobility when
compared with other similarly
economically advanced nations

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Overall, the UK has a mediocre level of mobility when
compared with other similarly economically advanced nations
(OECD). Recent data from Goldthorpe (2012) suggest why this
might be the case. In the 1970 cohort of men of middle class
origin (lower white-collar occupations), there is pretty much
the expected 20 percent chance of ending up in each of five
class destinations. However, 62 percent of men born in the top
class end up in the top two classes. This compares to 23 per-
cent of those born in the bottom classes (routine non-manual,
lower and non-skilled manual). It should be noted, however,
that 66 percent of men from the lowest class in the 1970 cohort
moved to a different class position in total.
There is some movement, therefore, but it is unspectacular.
These findings mirror the data assembled by Gregory Clark in
The Son Also Rises (2014). Using a range of historical records
based on surnames, Clark observed a great deal of immobility
over generations. Slow change in this regard is nothing new.
Taken together, much of the evidence does suggest that the
UK is unimpressive by international comparisons, has a mobil-
ity profile that is far from open, and, at the very least, is failing
to improve mobility to any great extent over time. The conclu-
sion is that for all the focus on mobility in public policy, it has,
as yet, had little incontrovertible effect. It could well be that
we will observe change over time as interventions over the last
decade and a half to improve childcare, narrow the attainment
gap between different socio-economic groups in schools, and
greater access to university have an impact. This would not yet
be apparent.
The SMCP Commission, working with the Resolution
Foundation, has looked at intra-generational mobility as well
as mobility between generations (D’Arcy and Hurrell 2014).
This concern naturally suggests that we must take an interest
in learning, access to market opportunities, wage and career
progression.
If economic, educational and class privilege and disadvan-
tage perpetuate across generations whilst people – those who
are disadvantaged – are held back occupationally across the
life-cycle, we have to question very seriously whether we are
really a society that has the Power to Create. An uneven spread
of opportunity and outcomes reflect an uneven spread of social
capital and meaningful connectedness as well as individual
talent (Allen 2013).

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Introduction
The levels of inequality that have persisted since the 1980s
between the top and the bottom are an accompanying source
of concern. Recent OECD (2014) data points to the gap
between the top decile of income earners and the bottom to
be higher in the UK than other comparable nations other
than the US and Japan. Even if it were the case (a case that
we don’t accept) that nothing could be done to improve levels
of social mobility, the consequences of failing to improve your
income or social class – especially if you are born into a less
affluent family – are even more severe in an unequal society.
That is why we propose a goal of inclusive social mobility
which comprises four core elements:
1. A greater level of upward inter-generational absolute
social mobility to align the UK more closely with the
best international performers.
2. Within generations, progression is needed within
classes and income intervals – especially at the lower
end and middle of the class/income distribution.
3. Wide status and class distinctions undermine inclusive
social mobility. This implies the need for a more
democratic distribution of power, income and wider
resources (including assets).
4. Greater access to beneficial networks, institutions,
and opportunities to learn and acquire formal skills is
important as a means to greater upward mobility and
individual advancement.
Greater mobility is not enough alone. Inclusive social mobil-
ity means that the individual (in a community context) has
constant access to the social, educational, and economic
resources that enable them to pursue their creative potential.
It also means that status and class distinctions in society are
diminished as these ultimately hinder the open realisation of
creative capabilities.
Social mobility and inequality are knotty problems but they
shouldn’t be put in the ‘too difficult’ box – despite disappoint-
ing levels of change over the last few decades. Fragmented
learning settings, from school and beyond, to online learning
communities and workplaces, could be brought together in
a way that better meets the frustrated ambitions of many.
The ultimate goal is to replace the desire to create we have

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identified with a Power to Create. New technology blended
with adaptive public policy is one of the means – albeit com-
plex and uncertain and by no means the only set of changes
that will be necessary – of securing the type of social change
that a socially inclusive and upwardly mobile nation would
expect to see.
The next sections establish how perspectives on new tech-
nology intersect and frame the discussion about social change.
We then explore how this affects three key segments of society
based on a new survey commissioned by the RSA. A series of
systemic policy responses in school and beyond are suggested
based on new understanding of how adaptive public policy
can sustain positive change. We conclude by outlining a way
that individuals, employers and education institutions can be
mobilised to translate informal learning observed in a spon-
taneous learning economy into formal and marketable skills.
Based on successful innovations in the US, through the spread
of ‘open badges’ and Cities of Learning, we suggest a phased
change to the system of learning throughout the lifecycle in the
UK context.
All these interventions are designed to significantly improve
inclusive social mobility through new technology interfacing
with individual motivations and institutions. They are also
a means of changing institutions to help individuals adapt to
some of the threats posed by new technologies of different
types. To achieve this will require a concerted and imaginative
set of policy responses to which this report aims to make some
contribution.

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Fast technology,
slow institutions
Lying behind discussion about the economic impact of new
technology is a deeper social story. It is important that this story
becomes foregrounded. Technological and economic changes
must ultimately be anchored in beneficial social change.
Technological and economic change rely on evolutionary
public policy and institution building if greater social inclu-
sion, engagement and mobility are to be secured. The public
debate has been dominated by the macro economic benefits of
new technology rather than the distribution of those benefits.
In reality, the economic and social are related in a series of
complex feedback loops.
There is now, in our view, a need to add a stronger social
dimension to the public policy as it responds to and harnesses
new technology. This aligns with broader government objec-
tives around enhancing social mobility (though rarely in
clear-cut or non-contested ways). The RSA Power to Create
survey finds that, at present, there is a positive set of attitudes
towards the impacts of the internet and new technology.5
5 Triangle on gauge indicates average of five-point scale ranging from
‘Strongly disagree’ to ‘Strongly agree’ with the statements above the gauge.
Figure 1
Attitudes to technology and the internet are generally positive …
Respondents agree that technology can help
to solve societal problems
Respondents agree that the benefits of the
internet outweigh its risks
… But there are concerns about the distribution of those benefits
Respondents agree that society is increasingly
divided according to those who can and cannot
use technology
Strongly disagree Strongly agree Strongly disagree Strongly agree
Strongly disagree Strongly agree

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However, in line with the analysis of the benefits of
change being increasingly unevenly distributed the following
responses are instructive:6
There is an optimistic set of attitudes towards the internet
and new technology in the main but very serious concerns
about the distribution of the benefits both in general and as a
consequence of new technology. It would be highly risky for
these concerns to be left unaddressed.
Much of the public debate around new technology has
focused on economic impacts. The tech sector is often viewed
as a series of high productivity, high growth sectors and core
skills such as coding, finance and clustering policy, for exam-
ple, through Tech City, are seen in the context of the economic
gains through a high potential productivity growth sector
(Koss et al 2012).
More widely, Michael Porter (2014), the leading business
strategist, sees a coming ‘third wave’ technological revolu-
tion as a consequence of smart, connected products (which
has become colloquially known as the ‘internet of things’).
Jeremy Rifkin (2014) goes one step further in seeing these
6 The chart shows the top five (of ten) groups that respondents thought
were holding increasing power. Less than 15 percent thought that power
was either not changing or decreasing in concentration.
Figure 2
Where respondents think power is becoming increasingly concentrated
More than half of respondents
thought that power was increasingly
concentrated among the wealthy
Power is becoming
increasingly concentrated
in the hands of the
wealthy
Percentageofrespondents
agreeingwithstatement
Power is becoming
in the hands of large
business
Power is becoming
in the hands of international
institutions such as the EU
Power is becoming
in the hands of Central
Government
Power is becoming
increasingly
concentrated in the
hands of the media
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

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developments as a potential ‘eclipse of capitalism’ due to
distributed production power, linked devices, and the sharing
economy. He calls this the ‘zero-marginal cost society’. The
economic frame is a powerful and important one. These views
are examples of tech-optimism.
There is also a broader debate about the historical, eco-
nomic and social impacts of new technology. The economist
Carlota Perez (2014) identified major tech-
nological leaps through the last two decades
and their impact on society. Technological
discovery is non-linear; it appears in surges.
Each leap is followed by asset bubbles and
concentrations of wealth and ownership. Eventually, leaders
find ways of changing institutions to more evenly distribute
wealth and opportunity.
It is a tech-pragmatic view and chimes with the outlook of
John Maynard Keynes (1963): the short-term costs of tech-
nological change become long-term benefits as the economic
problem (scarcity) is solved. The problem though is, whether
Keynes’ long-term prophecy is realised or not, we are, as the
pragmatists contend, in the midst of a period of friction and
could well be for some considerable time. Keynes saw his era as
one such period of friction. Ours could be too.
Two important concepts emerge from these analyses: non-
linearity and skills-biased change. We see surges of innovation
and creative destruction but the benefits are not evenly spread.
Economic and technological change is fast, public policy and
institutional reform is slow.
Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAffee (2011), and others
such as John Van Reenen (in Michaels, Natraj and Reenen
2010), describe a process of skills and talent-biased technologi-
cal change. These are distributed in favour of those who have
higher level non-routine information processing, creative,
and analytical skills. In the words of Tyler Cowen (2013), the
productive worker and the smarter machine are ‘stronger
complements’ than before.
The key determining factor on the impact of new technol-
ogy is the task content of a given job. Non-routine workers
are more shielded from technological change than those who
primarily undertake routine tasks (Autor, Levy and Murnane
2003). Data for the US jobs market has found a gradual hol-
lowing out of routine work whether cognitive or manual.
We see surges of innovation
and creative destruction but the
benefits are not evenly spread

20
POWERTOCREATE
Structural declines in non-routine, manual work have been
reversed whilst non-routine, cognitive employment has consid-
erably expanded (Autor, Katz and Kearney 2006). Brynjolsson
and McAffee (2011, p165) reflect:
“Today’s information technologies favour more-skilled
over less-skilled workers, increase the returns to capi-
tal owners over labour, and increase the advantages
that superstars have over everyone else.”
This is a more pessimistic outlook (although there is a
great deal of disagreement within the literature on the
impact of new technologies on productivity). These effects
have meant a ‘de-coupling’ of employment and wages from
productivity growth. Andrew Keen in his The internet is not
the answer argues that concentrations of digital ownership,
the online mob mentality and a negative jobs impact have
made the internet a ‘destructive’ rather than ‘disruptive’ force.
Evgeny Morozov sees data, surveillance and new tools of
social regulation and even control coming with the internet.
It is important to be aware of both potential upsides and
downsides if new technology is to retain its wider political
legitimacy. The degree to which it is seen to have beneficial
social outcomes is critical to this legitimacy.
The OECD (2013) has found there is a positive association
of proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in
technology-rich environments and the probability of participat-
ing in the labour market and with higher wages. The demand
for information-processing and other higher level cognitive and
interpersonal skills is growing. There is a need for 745,000 ad-
ditional workers with digital skills to meet rising demand from
employers (Development Economics and O2 2013). Someone
with web skills is 25 percent more likely to find work and, once
they are in work, they are likely to earn ten percent more than
those without (Magowan and McDonald 2013).
UKCES (2013) forecasts that people with hybrid skill-sets,
such as technology and project management skills, are likely
to be in demand and workers will need to continue training to
develop new skills throughout their careers. Already, different
groups are responding to the different opportunities and chal-
lenges afforded by technological change in different ways. The
following section outlines how.

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Social divides and new technology
Social divides and
new technology –
the RSA Power to
Create survey
In recent years, the survey data available on use of the internet
has grown considerably. The most impressive of the available
datasets is the Oxford Internet Survey (Dutton, Blank and
Groselj 2013). This has shown a consistent deepening of inter-
net penetration, growth of skills, and ever more sophisticated
use of new technology. According to the most recent survey,
74 percent of internet users rate their internet use skills as good
or excellent (including 92 percent of students). All teenage re-
spondents to the survey now use the internet with the numbers
of adult users ranging from 94 percent to 85 percent of those
aged 18 to 54 years old. The public policy objective of closing
the ‘digital divide’ (ie access to the internet) is becoming less
relevant than an objective of narrowing the utility divide
(ie how people use new technology). This is a mark of success.
For the RSA Power to Create survey, we were aiming to
supplement these insights with some wider comparisons of
attitudes to, and use of, new technology related to other life
goals, motivations, and attitudes. The data is a randomly
selected sample of 2,000 UK adults and was taken in summer
2014. Respondents were drawn from Populus’s online panel
and answered circa 150 questions covering demographics,
attitudes towards having ideas, ability to put them into prac-
tice, power, technology and the internet, design and enterprise,
public services and community, education and creativity. The
questions were based on current RSA thinking and discussion
about the Power to Create, RSA change programme plans,
Populus’ question bank, and external studies on applied crea-
tivity (eg Adobe State of Create report, 2012). In addition to
basic survey data analysis, segmentation analysis was under
taken by Logit Research. The segmentation was based on
a selection of key questions within the total question set.

22
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We are interested in predominantly working age segments
for the purposes of this report given a social mobility focus (as
opposed to, say, a well-being or social activism focus). There
are two further segments making up the remaining 39 percent
of the survey sample but they mainly comprised of those in the
late stages of their working lives and in retirement. Our focus,
for the purposes of this analysis, is on those groups who are in
the early and middle stages of their careers. And they are:
•• ‘Safety firsters’. Thirty percent of the population as
a whole. These are moderately ideas-oriented. They
don’t generally believe power is becoming more
concentrated and disagree that there are technology
haves and have nots. They are more dissatisfied about
their lives than the average. They have relatively
low usage of the internet, particularly for accessing
interesting information, information about local/
national issues, or for accessing knowledge/expertise
they can put to practical use. ‘Safety firsters’ are more
likely to be consumers.
•• ‘The held back’. Twenty percent of the population.
They are more ideas-motivated than ‘safety firsters’
and, on average, are more likely to believe that more
can be done to turn their ideas into
reality. They are more likely to believe
power is becoming too concentrated,
particularly in hands of big business,
the wealthy and the media. They are the
least satisfied with their lives as a whole.
Very entrepreneurially minded, they
often think about starting a business and
look for opportunities to do this. This
group is more likely to have high use of the internet,
particularly for educating themselves about an area of
expertise. They feel constrained but aspire to have a
greater degree of control on their ability to create.
•• ‘Confident creators’. Eleven percent of the population.
The most ideas orientated group. They are more
likely to believe people like them are likely to make a
difference. They are the most pro-technology group,
and confident of their ability to turn a business
idea into reality. This group is more likely to use the
[‘The held back’] are more
ideas-motivated than ‘safety
firsters’ and, on average,
are more likely to believe
that more can be done to turn
their ideas into reality

23
POWERTOCREATE
internet, particularly for developing new contacts
for opportunities, blogging/posting, selling a service,
engaging in campaigns/politics. They are the most
likely group to live in London.
Essentially, a well-targeted public policy strategy would tend
to focus its economic growth support strategy on the ‘con-
fident creators’ (as indeed it is doing). Economic and social
gains are best achieved through targeting the ‘held back’. And
targeting support on the ‘safety firsters’ would create more
social than economic gains – initially at least.
As will be explored further below, these are not either-or
choices. They are part of a comprehensive set of policy and
institutional interventions designed to maximise the beneficial
economic and social impact of new technology. Given our
interest in spreading social as well as economic benefits of new
technology, it is natural to concentrate on the ‘safety firsters’
and the ‘held back’ in this analysis.
First, we see that in terms of ideas generation, the ‘held
back’ are pretty much at the mid-point between the ‘confident
creators’ and the ‘safety firsters’ (scale is one to five, where five
is strongly agree and one is strongly disagree) but ahead of the
average by some margin:
But these ‘held back’ are seeking more support that they don’t
feel they are getting:7
7 Horizontal lines indicate percentage of *all* respondents.
Figure 3
I consider myself to be someone who has new and workable ideas that
could make a positive difference to society
All
Confident
creators
Safety
firsters
Held
back

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POWERTOCREATE
As a result of these frustrations they are very likely to see
unequal concentrations of power and wealth in society.
Seventy-nine percent of the ‘held back’ see power and wealth
becoming more concentrated in the wealthy (compared to
53 percent in total and 22 percent of ‘safety firsters’). Sixty-six
percent of ‘held back’ see the same process with regards big
business (compared to 42 percent overall and 13 percent of
‘safety firsters’). This is underlined by a view of society in
which people are increasingly divided by their technological
capability but this attitude relates differently to the life satis-
faction of the ‘confident creators’ and the ‘held back’:
Figure 5
All things considered, how satisfied or unsatisfied are you with your life as
a whole nowadays?
Confident creators
Total
Safety firsters
Society is increasingly divided into those who can use new technology and those who cannot
Held back
Very satisfied
Very unsatisfied
Figure 4
Even the confident
creators seek more
help …
… but the held
back want it most
Safety firsters
Greater access to
finance would help me
turn my ideas into reality
Percentageofrespondents
agreeingwithstatement
More time would
help me turn my ideas
into reality
Greater support from
Government would help me
to turn my ideas into reality
More education or
training would help me turn
my ideas into reality
More self-confidence
would help me turn my
ideas into reality
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

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POWERTOCREATE
This is a picture of a group or a ‘segment’ of society that has
creative ideas but needs greater support from government, banks,
the learning system, and their support networks to have the
confidence to make these ideas a practical reality. Inadequacy of
support is sapping their enthusiasm and potential. But are these
‘held back’ just dreamers without the drive or capability of fol-
lowing through? The evidence does not suggest this is the case.
They are actively seeking to improve their lives and, what is more,
they are turning to new technology, in which they have some
faith, in order to do it. The table below is on a ten-point scale (one
is never; nine is at least once a day) on use of the internet:
The ‘safety firsters’ are much less regular users of the
internet. The ‘held back’ tend to be looking for information
and accessing knowledge and expertise but less likely than the
‘confident creators’ to use it for professional networking.
However, the ‘held back’ are very likely to see the internet
in very positive terms as a means of advancing knowledge and
learning, including on an informal basis. The table below is
on the five point scale. (A note of caution is necessary. These
were prompted by perceived benefits so the table is most useful
for assessing relative positivity between groups rather than
absolute levels per se.)8
8 Horizontal lines indicate level of agreement for *all* respondents.
Figure 6
Use of the internet for
professional development
sets the confident creators
apart from the held back
Points further from the centre
denote higher frequency,
ranging from ‘once a year’ to
‘once a week’
Safety firsters use the
internet the least
Total
Educating yourself
further about an area of
interest or expertise
Staying in touch with
friends and family
Developing new contacts and
discover new opportunities in
an area of professional interest
Accessing knowledge
or expertise that you can
put to practical use
Accessing interesting
information, for example,
newspaper articles of interest

26
POWERTOCREATE
When we take into account behaviours (ie frequency and
type of use) and views of positive impacts, there is an opportu-
nity here to engage many who are ‘held back’ in new forms of
learning, connection, and skill development. The ‘held back’
have very similar attitudes and behaviours towards new tech-
nology to ‘confident creators’. At least, they are more similar to
‘confident creators’ than to the ‘safety firsters’. They are will-
ing to learn and try out new things but are looking for greater
support. However, positive attitudes towards new technology
are visible across the board. There is undoubtedly an opportu-
nity. It would appear that the opportunities are realised mainly
by a relatively small segment – the ‘confident creators’.
This is the fundamental public policy challenge in the
context of social mobility: how can these benefits be spread?
Isolated policy initiatives are inadequate to the task. What is
needed is a whole system change in education, in the transition
to the working world, and within the working world itself.
That requires a different approach to public policy itself.
Figure 7
The held back have
very similar attitudes to
the confident creators
The internet as a source of
information and ideas that
I would not otherwise have
access to in my personal
and professional life
The internet as a way for
others to provide more
informal education, eg
instructional videos
The internet as a way for
educational establishments
to provide new platforms
for learning, eg distance
learning, MOOCs
The internet as a platform
for collaboration between
individuals, firms and
organisations
StronglydisagreeStronglyagree

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The attitudes to life, work, technology, and wider social issues
revealed in our survey reflect deeper challenges on the social
mobility front. Given formidable challenges, there will need
to be deep and adaptive changes to public policy. This mirrors
some of the emerging approaches to deep change – in terms
of impact, openness, and mobilisation – that are becoming
recurrent themes in public policy discussions.
The concept of the state as rational hierarchy is increasingly
challenged by three overlapping policy-making approaches:
•• Openness. This operates through a range of
approaches. There are open data and information which
allow wider involvement in institution design. And open
policy making deliberately seeks out stakeholder voices
in policy design so that implementation considerations
are moved upstream in the policy process, mitigating
risk of failure further down the line.
•• Devolution. Policy formation has, to a limited degree,
become increasingly located at a more local level.
This is visible in the ‘metro’ discussion and within
the post-NHS Act 2012 strategy of NHS England.
In the NHS Forward View (2014), NHS England lays
out a suite of models for local NHS systems to adopt
and adapt. The centre provides a steer and suite of
options, but local preferences and circumstances
evolve the response. The major national political
parties are all committed to devolution in some form.
The devolution impetus can also be observed in the
approaches of public bodies such as the Big Lottery
fund, which has focused on community and place-
based capacity development.
•• Human-centred design. In this approach, institutional
clusters are designed around people; not just as
bundles of ‘need’ but as active contributors to wider
well-being. Pioneering in this regard are agencies or
units focused on design thinking such as Policy Lab in
the UK, Sitra in Finland, and Mindlab in Denmark. It

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POWERTOCREATE
is seen within the Troubled Family programme and, in
the voluntary sector, in Participle’s ‘relational’ welfare
approach. Human-centred design focuses on people as
social actors with behavioural biases instead of purely
rational actors in alliance with the ideal-types drawn
from classical economics. The RSA itself has focused
on ‘social productivity’ (Kippin and Lucas 2011).
All these concepts forcefully argue that value is co-
created between ‘users’, ‘customers’ and ‘recipients,’
and ‘services’, ‘entitlements’, and ‘structures’. These
relationships all require trust and generosity.
Achieving system change relies on a different form of leader-
ship. Peter Senge, Hal Hamilton and John Kania (2014) see
the core of new leadership as being centred on enabling others
within the system to adapt. They quote Ronald Heifertz on
adaptive leadership:
“As Ronald Heifetz has shown in his work on adaptive
leadership, these leaders shift the conditions through
which others – especially those who have a problem –
can learn collectively to make progress against it.”9
Systemic change and leadership require the ability to see the
whole system rather than isolated elements of it. It requires
the ability to develop trust over time through deep and em-
pathetic learning. It requires a shift from reactive problem
solving to a collaboratively created different future. Such
leadership is capable of operating with the long view in mind
(closing the gap between rapid technological change and slow
institutional development).
There are clearly broad opportunities to expand mobility
and social welfare through such sustained policy responses –
and our proposals are grounded in this adaptive thinking. It
is a complex policy environment (Colander and Kupers 2014).
A complex policy approach focused on the role of institutions,
sees technology as fluid and changing, takes an evolutionary
stand-point, and understands that needs and capabilities are
highly variable. Colander and Kupers (2014, p24–5) describe
government’s role in such an environment as follows:
9 www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/the_dawn_of_system_leadership

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“Opening up new institutional space allows agents
to develop new coordination institutions to better use
the evolving technology. Government’s role here is to
create an eco-structure of freedom that encourages
the exploration of that new institutional space, and
by doing so enlarging the solution space to make way
for innovation.”
Such an approach is intrinsically evaluative. There is also scope
and even some requirement for failure within the system. The
role of both central and local governing institutions, much as
NHS England has done in the case of the Forward View, is to
help the process of evidence evaluation and build knowledge
of successful approaches. It also may, without creeping into
heavy output management, help to define
failure and intervene where it is manifested
and not corrected.
These themes are central to Sir John
Elvidge’s concept of the ‘enabling state’:
empowering citizens, co-production, trusting
people to find solutions, adapting to particu-
lar circumstances, integrated, and sharing
of responsibilities (Carnegie UK 2014). Elvidge’s instinct is for
the state to be hands off: to get out of the way whilst providing
resource support. There are some similarities with the socially
productive state (RSA) and the ‘relational state’ (Cottam IPPR).
Whilst the language revolves around the ‘state’, in fact it is about
seeing the state as one player amongst many. The state becomes
about coordinating, resourcing, knowledge development, sup-
porting innovation and engaging. However, it also gets out of
the way when it needs to.
One approach to this new policy making is collective
impact. It is defined as follows:
“The commitment of a group of important actors
from different sectors to a common agenda for solving
a specific social problem.”
This agenda is developed as follows (Kania and Kramer 2011):
“Collective impact initiatives involve a centralised infra
structure, a dedicated staff, and a structured process
The state becomes
about coordinating,
resourcing, knowledge
development, supporting
innovation and engaging

30
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that leads to a common agenda, shared measurement,
continuous communication, and mutually reinforcing
activities among all participants.”
The description ‘common’ seems a better fit than ‘centralised’
in the above quote. Nonetheless, the basic concept is that new
collective spaces are developed between multiple agencies.
These collective spaces have an outcome-focused strategic and
operational purpose that is far deeper than the thinner notion
of multi-agency partnership. An example of collective impact
is the Strive network in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.10
Over 300 local leaders came together to develop a systemic
response from ‘cradle to career’ by pooling the strengths and
resources of all their organisations. Participants that join
Strive develop a common agenda, measurements, co-learning,
alignment of activity, and accountability. Educational out-
comes have rapidly improved as a result even in a time of
financial stress.
Applied to the social mobility context, these new policy
approaches provide a guide to the types of systemic policy that
may work. In the field of education, it involves considering
the range of influences on a child’s development and increasing
the capacity of the education system to improve and evolve
as a self-learning system. As the child moves into further
education, higher education and employment, new sets of
players such as employers, colleges and universities become
important: what should be done to smooth this pathway?
As the individual enters the world of work how do their
networks, the welfare system, employers and their own skills
and motivations interplay to continue their development so
that they are able to continue to progress and match their
aspirations and capabilities to new opportunities? And how
is this achieved without the state trying replace or replicate
much of the spontaneous learning, community formation,
and new networks that are already out there and growing?
We explore all these areas in the coming sections and suggest
interventions which, taken together, align with this new
approach to adaptive policy.
10 www.strivetogether.org

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The role of education and technology in social mobility
The role of education
and technology in
social mobility
Education is widely seen as a key driver of upward social
mobility, as the education system promises a route out of
poverty and disadvantage for those children who are able to
demonstrate success in exams and high status qualifications
(HM Government 2009; 2011). And yet, despite this promise,
studies show that the overall effect of the UK education system
as it currently stands is to reproduce, or even exacerbate,
existing inequalities in society (Francis and Wong 2013).
Research reveals a wide gap in children’s learning and devel-
opment, which emerges early in life and then widens during
primary and secondary schooling, resulting in stubborn
attainment gaps by the end of compulsory schooling (Hills
and Stewart 2005; DCSF 2009). These inequalities have lasting
repercussions, as young people who leave school with low or
no qualifications have a much higher risk of suffering from
unemployment, ill-health and poverty in later life (Hills et al
2010), while the more affluent and privileged young people
tend to be well positioned to enjoy the ‘bright side of a crafted
future’ (Gratton 2011).
The key question for this report is whether the use of
digital technologies and the development of digital capabili-
ties can help to break intergenerational cycles of poverty and
disadvantage and achieve a more inclusive form of social
mobility – which focuses on improving the relative life chances
of all children and young people, rather than just lifting the
most talented and ‘deserving’ individuals into top positions.
Alongside narrowing the gap in formal attainment, we argue
that it is also vital to enhance young people’s personal and
social development as well as promoting a broad set of crea-
tive capacities, if both the ‘safety firsters’ and the ‘held back’
discussed in chapter three are to flourish. To rebalance the
system in favour of both greater mobility and greater inclu-
sion, we consider below how to raise the system-wide capacity

POWERTOCREATE
32The new digital learning age
of learning institutions, applying notions of public policy as
evolving eco-systems.
In particular, we focus on two main ways that enhanced digi-
tal capability can promote greater mobility and a more inclusive
society: first, by contributing to improved teaching and learning,
to help narrow the social class gap in formal attainment which
shapes and constrains future pathways and outcomes; and
second, by closing what we call the ‘creativity gap’ between
those who have access to a creative life – who are empowered
to make the most of opportunities, tools and resources to turn
their ideas and aspirations into reality – and those who are
locked out due to inequalities in wealth, status and education.
In the next section below we begin by reviewing the evi-
dence from the most recent studies examining the use and
impact of digital technology to improve learning outcomes,
before going on to identify six main priorities for action.
The potential contribution
of digital technology
Tech enthusiasts and tech sceptics take rather different views
of the contribution that digital technology can make to in-
clusive social mobility: while the latter are sceptical about the
cost-effectiveness and transformational power of new tech-
nologies, enthusiasts lament the slow pace of change, calling
for a more radical overhaul of schooling and education, with
some even warning that schools may become irrelevant with-
out urgent action to close the technology gap between young
people’s digital engagement at school and in the rest of their
lives (Attwell 2007). In between these opposing positions, we
adopt a more cautious but open perspective, recognising that
technology can be used to complement and enhance forms of
teaching and learning, rather than replace traditional models
entirely, not least because the evidence base is not yet strong
enough to warrant a wholescale transformation of teaching
and learning (Higgins et al 2013, p4).
Drawing together findings from multiple studies, meta-
analysis shows a small positive effect of digital technology on
pupil outcomes (Higgins et al 2012). According to the Sutton

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Trust-EEF Toolkit,11
the use of digital technology is associated
with moderate learning gains for pupils, amounting to an ad-
ditional four months of learning on average. To date, evidence
shows considerable variation in impact across different studies
and interventions, highlighting the importance of ongoing
evaluation to monitor how well technology
is being applied in the school and classroom
(Sutton Trust-EEF 2014, p13).
Promisingly, targeted use of technology to
provide intensive learning support has been
shown to be particularly beneficial in sup-
porting lower-attaining pupils, those with
special educational needs and those from disadvantaged back-
grounds to catch up with their peers (Higgins et al 2012, p4).
Studies show that technology-based interventions can be espe-
cially powerful when used in focused and time-limited ways
(eg over a course of five to ten weeks), whereas longer-term use
appears to be less effective in boosting attainment (ibid).
In principle, therefore, digital technology has a potentially
powerful role to play in contributing to social mobility by nar-
rowing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and
their peers. As things stand, however, there are no guarantees that
the use of information and communications technology (ICT)
will automatically lead to more equal life chances. In practice,
more effective teachers tend to use more innovative approaches
and use ICT resources more appropriately (Higgins et al 2012).
Given the unequal distribution of resources and high quality
teaching staff across the system (Ofsted 2013), there is a risk that
the uneven use of technologies under current arrangements could
actually widen rather than narrow gaps in pupil attainment. It
follows that efforts to build digital capability and promote the use
of digital technology need to go alongside a sustained focus on
improving the quality of teaching across the board and ensuring
effective models of professional learning and development in all
parts of the country, with a particular focus on coastal and rural
areas which currently perform less well than the main urban areas.
Our analysis points to six main priorities for action to
ensure that digital technology has a sustained, positive impact
11 The Sutton Trust and Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) Teaching
and Learning Toolkit is an accessible summary of educational research
which provides guidance for teachers and schools on how to use their
resources to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.
Studies show that technology-
based interventions can be
especially powerful when used in
focused and time-limited ways

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on teaching and learning across the system to achieve both
greater social mobility and inclusion:
1. Taking a learning-centred and developmental
approach to technology.
2. Developing a broader set of creative capacities for
learners.
3. Building capability and engagement amongst
educators.
4. Setting strategic direction and ensuring value for money.
5. Building systemic capacity to innovate.
6. Connecting with communities and the world of work.
1. Taking a learning-centred and developmental
approach to technology
As a first priority, making the best use of digital technologies in
schools and colleges to promote inclusive social mobility needs
to start by putting the horse before the cart – that is, by taking
a learning-centred and developmental approach to technology,
instead of taking a technology-centred approach to learning.
This means focusing first and foremost on desired learning
outcomes and the appropriate teaching methods to meet them,
and only then on how technology can enable and accelerate
learning. A learning-centred approach is both developmental
and contextual: that is, it is informed and inspired by a rich
understanding of how people learn (rather than simply know-
ing what technology can do) and the support needed to meet
the developmental needs of different learners. Taking account
of wider social, cultural and environmental factors means
recognising that some groups of children and young people are
more vulnerable to poor social and emotional development
and online risk, due to poor attachment in early childhood
or because of exposure to difficult or abusive relationships
(Livingston and Helsper 2007). More vulnerable and disadvan-
taged children need targeted support to help strengthen their
social and emotional foundations of learning and to enable them
to engage with technology in a beneficial and enriching way.
Putting learning first and technology second means focusing
on the types of learning approaches that will help students
develop all the elements of digital capability; not just the
technical and operational skills needed to access and use

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technology, but also the broader cognitive, social, emotional
and creative capacities that allow them to make discerning
judgements and engage in more powerful ways.
2. Developing a broader set of creative capacities
for learners
Recent research identifies four main types of internet skills and
digital capability (Van Deursen et al 2014):
1. Operational or technical skills, such as connecting to a
network, downloading and installing apps.
2. Informational skills, such as knowing how to search
for information and assess the appropriateness and
reliability of results.
3. Communication skills, such as feeling confident in
posting comments or contributing to a forum, know-
ing how to protect one’s privacy and share appropriate
personal details online.
4. Content creation skills, ranging from basic skills such
as putting video content online to advanced skills such
as designing a website.
It follows that digital capability encompasses much more than
purely technical or operational skills. As well as the ability to
log on to a network, search for information and make connec-
tions with other users, being a competent and confident digital
learner requires the cognitive and emotional maturity to make
judgements about whether information is reliable and comes
from a trustworthy source, and to decide whether specific con-
tent or online behaviours are morally and socially appropriate.
Thus, rather than treating digital skills in isolation, schools
and colleges are advised to take a developmental approach,
which explicitly recognises that individuals at different ages
and developmental stages, growing up in different material
conditions and family circumstances, have varying levels of
capability, maturity and motivation to engage with digital
technology for learning and other purposes. From a develop-
mental perspective, the neurological systems for controlling
physical movement (such as fine motor skills), social and emo-
tional behaviour and making mature judgements are not yet in
place during early childhood and develop over time into early

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adulthood. Just as younger children need help in crossing the
road safely in the non-digital world, they need guidance and
support in using the internet in a safe and appropriate way,
with gradually increasing opportunities to exercise autonomy
and independence as they get older (Byron 2008).
What is more, in a rapidly changing social and economic
landscape, the ability to convert digital skills into tangible
outcomes calls for a broader set of creative
and enterprising capacities, which are needed
to generate original ideas, generate new
ideas, design new content or software, sell or
market products and services, and convert
‘soft’ social media communication skills into
human capital (OECD 2010). While impor-
tant, the new computer sciences curriculum
tends to focus on technical skills such as coding, but there
is also the need for a much wider lens, which encompasses
this broader set of creative capacities. Such capacities are
important both for achieving conventional outcome measures
of social mobility (income, occupation and social status), and
also contributing to a greater sense of fulfilment and emotional
well-being by giving people the Power to Create – by which
we mean the resources, motivation and capability to generate
original and valuable ideas and make them happen.
Developing this broader set of capacities requires a more
sophisticated, design-led approach to education and innova-
tion beginning in primary school (Livingstone 2012). Such an
approach recognises that multi-modular, digital literacies are
‘in a deep and profound sense new literacies, not merely the
traditional concept of literacy – reading and writing – carried
on in new media’ (Kress, cited in Gillen and Barton 2010, p6).
This calls for more practical and experiential approaches,
including learning by doing, making and designing (Luckin et al
2012). Of note here is the CREATE skills framework developed
by the Studio Schools network, under which students work on
enterprise projects commissioned by external partners, such as
a health report for a local hospital or business brief for a local
employer, with the aim of creating learning that is authentic and
integrated into the local community. While these programmes
are still in their infancy, established models such as High Tech
High in San Diego, a partner of the Studio Schools Network,
have demonstrated considerable success in using hybrid learning
Developing this broader
set of capacities requires
a more sophisticated,
design-led approach
to education and innovation

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models to stimulate creative approaches amongst students
and staff. What is striking about such examples is how much
broader and richer the curriculum can be for students when they
are given the chance to take on real-world challenges and come
up with innovative solutions to problems, rather than focusing
on a narrow set of learning outcomes.
Recommendation: We recommend that teaching school al-
liances, in partnership with pedagogical experts and tech
specialists, lead the way in developing a model of learning
through digital technologies to inform schools, parents and
other educators. This model should guide approaches to learn-
ing in the classroom and beyond, drawing on robust evidence
from established and emerging models and programmes to
highlight the specific learning experiences needed to develop
digital literacy, as distinct from literacy and numeracy.
3. Building professional capability and
engagement
Studies show that students have high expectations about the
use of technology, which only a very few teachers manage to
meet (IfL 2010). Higher education students report concerns
about the ICT competence of teachers and lecturers, with
one-fifth of students calling for additional staff training and
two-fifths requesting more and better use of ICT in their lec-
tures and tutorials (NUS 2010). Various reasons are suggested
for the limited take-up and variable use of digital technologies,
from lack of confidence and ability, unfavourable dispositions
and resistance by teachers, to practical and organisational bar-
riers such as time pressures and lack of training and support.
Although much of this appears to be anecdotal, there is
evidence to suggest that teachers’ attitudes are changing
(Haydn and Barton 2008), and the majority are now confident
and positive about the potential of ICT to improve teaching
and learning outcomes (IfL 2010). The biggest needs reported
by teachers are for more training in how to make best use of
technology and finding time to really explore its potential
(IfL 2010). Although digital tools may help to ease workload
pressures over the longer term, the perceived or hoped-for
benefits may still not be enough to overcome the initial costs
of time and energy (Luckin et al 2012, p56).

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At present, in budgeting for the costs of technology, schools
rarely make allowance for the ‘additional training and support
costs which are likely to make the difference to how well the
technology is used’ (Sutton Trust-EEF 2014, p13). Ultimately,
training activities will only be effective if education leaders
protect the time that educators need, not just for a one-off
training session on how to use a particular technology, but
through a structured programme of professional development
activities, providing on-going support on how technology
can best be used to improve teaching and learning outcomes
(Sutton Trust-EEF 2014).
Research highlights the benefits of professional collabora-
tion, for example when groups of teachers participate together
in a cycle of joint lesson planning and observations (Timperley
et al 2007; BERA-RSA 2014). Digital networks create new
possibilities for peer learning, with virtual learning environ-
ments (VLEs) identified by teachers as the most used tool for
sharing good practice and connecting with new ideas and
insights from other settings (IfL 2010). There is also strong
evidence about the value of inquiry, to give teachers structured
opportunities to generate, test and trial new ideas and so
develop new paradigms for learning which engage and moti-
vate all students (Timperley et al 2007; Cordingley and Bell
2007; Cordingley et al 2007; Robinson et al 2008).
In our view, the best way for schools and colleges to
leverage the technology base is through a culture of crea-
tive, collaborative inquiry through which teachers are able to
make evidence-informed decisions and consider what tools
and strategies are most appropriate to meet particular learn-
ing needs. In particular, we believe that there are significant
mutual benefits to be gained from combining the three princi-
ples of collaboration, creativity and evidence-informed inquiry:
purposeful partnerships provide the chance to connect with
valuable new ideas and robust evidence; having a culture of
inquiry stops both collaboration and creativity being weak or
woolly; while developing creative capacities and organisational
conditions ensures engagement and motivation in learning for
both students and teachers, and helps generate the valuable new
insights that can drive progress and improvement over time.
Above all, successful use of technology for learning depends
on professional engagement, conceived as ‘motivation –
enthusiasm, interest and ongoing commitment’ on the part

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of teachers and lecturers to explore the potential of technolo-
gies in their practice (Vogel cited in Atwell and Hughes 2010,
p44). As we argue further below, professional engagement and
motivation are most likely to be sustained when institutions
create the conditions for disciplined innovation, recognising
that people are more likely to be motivated and engaged if have
the chance to explore ideas and issues that are important to
them, rather than following a rigid set of instructions.
Achieving such a culture depends on sustained focus and
investment in teachers’ professional development, both at the
school and system level. Both school governing bodies and
Ofsted have a role here in the way they assess leadership and
management in the context of how well they develop teachers’
capacities in this field.
4. Setting strategic direction and ensuring value
for money
The education sector has invested heavily in new technologies,
with schools and colleges spending hundreds of millions of
pounds each year on ICT provision.12
Commentators worry
that equipment may be languishing as ‘kit in the cupboard’
rather than being actively used to enhance learning (Luckin et
al 2012). The 2011 Review of Education Capital highlighted
significant problems with the ‘cumbersome’ approach to
capital investment in schools, describing the capital allocation
process for school buildings and ICT provision as ‘complex,
time-consuming, expensive and opaque’ (James 2011, p5).13
12 According to the Department for Education’s Review of Education Capital
(James 2011), maintained schools spent £487m on ICT equipment and
services in 2009–2010.
13 In particular, it drew attention to the bureaucracy and confusion created by
multiple funding streams, resulting in ‘serious inequity between different
areas … because those best at winning bids will often receive the most
funding, rather than those with the greatest genuine need’ (James 2011, p31).
To reduce inefficiency and inequity in the provision of ICT, it called upon
central government to ‘develop a clear market strategy for the provision of
internet services to schools, taking into account value for money and internet
service standards’, including a ‘clear menu of core and additional Regional
Broadband Services for schools [to] allow them to select and pay only for
the services they need’. In addition, it recommended that the support model
for ICT procurement be reviewed, ‘to reduce external consultancy costs
and provide direct central advice, supplemented by tools and guidance for
individual institutions and education providers’ (ibid. p62).

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Whilst recent reforms have reduced some of the complexity
and opacity in the funding system (DfE 2013), there is still
more to be done to ensure that the full potential of educa-
tional technologies is realised. With ICT expenditure by
schools set to reach an all-time high in 2014–1514
(following
falls in investment after the previous high in 2008/9),15
there is
even greater need to ensure value for money and demonstrate
that new technologies are having a significant and sustained
impact on student outcomes. Agencies such as the Education
Endowment Foundation (EEF) could help filter out poor value
technologies and promote better value interventions.
School leaders and governing bodies have a vital role to
play in ensuring effective use of capital expenditure on ICT
and Pupil Premium funding to support teaching and learning
strategies for disadvantaged pupils.
Recommendation: Before any new investment is made,
we recommend that schools and colleges conduct an audit
of existing ICT provision to review its impact and cost-
effectiveness. To assist governing bodies in this task, we
recommend that an audit tool and guidance be produced for
school governors, to allow them to monitor impact and make
judgements about ICT requirements in a more robust and
strategic way – including deciding what not to continue doing.
This assessment must be embedded in teaching and learning.
5. Building systemic capacity to innovate
Research highlights the difficulties of scaling up innovation in
all parts of the education system without diluting the impact
(Raudenbush 2003, 2008). Studies suggest a pattern of impact
and behaviour over the lifecycle of an innovation, where
14 The survey of 1,238 UK schools (731 primary, 507 secondary) which was
conducted in July 2013 found that in the school year 2014/15 schools
forecast their ICT expenditure will be higher in cash terms than at any
other time on record. Investment in hardware replacement, peripherals,
software and technical support will reach £14,220 per primary school and
£65,570 in each secondary school.
15 The previous highest estimate of technology expenditure was in 2008/9
when allocations averaged around £14,000 in primary schools and £65,400
in secondary schools. This totalled an expenditure on ICT across all UK
maintained schools of approximately £320m. From 2009/10, average ICT
budgets across all schools fell year on year until 2012/13 when secondary
maintained schools indicated a 1.8 percent rise in technology expenditure.

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the early stages are characterised by high enthusiasm and a
strong pedagogical focus, whereas later adopters may not
bring the same energy or focus, resulting in reduced efficacy
(Rogers 2003; Higgins et al 2012). The goal of scaling up
and embedding innovation throughout the education system
is particularly challenging in the case of digital technology,
given the time lag between the rapid development of new ICT
products and services and the much longer
periods of time needed to conduct robust
trials and establish evidence of significant
and sustained impact.
Changing educational practice to achieve
a significant and sustained impact on
student outcomes is by no means easy. A
common scenario is one where, ‘educators
end up trying to implement innovations they
do not fully understand, in organisations that do not fully sup-
port their efforts’ (Guskey, cited in Timperley et al 2007, p12).
Against a backdrop of changing social needs and economic
demands, all schools, colleges and learning institutions must
be ready to respond and adapt more quickly through processes
of disciplined innovation. Whereas ‘islands of innovation’
may emerge within the existing system, the education system
of the future will need to meet the challenge of scaling up by
developing systemic capacity to innovate. As Michael Barber
expresses it: ‘In essence, education systems need to think like
‘lean start ups’, becoming ‘more adept at generating, identify-
ing and scaling innovation internally’ (Barber, Donnelly and
Rizvi 2012).
Successfully developing new approaches and sharing ef-
fective practice within and across organisations depends on
achieving the right balance between innovation and consoli-
dation. At a policy and managerial level, staying power is
needed so that priorities do not continually shift to the ‘next
big thing’, undermining the sustainability of changes already
under way. For schools, colleges and other learning communi-
ties, the long-term priority is to develop a culture of disciplined
innovation based on the principles of creative collaboration
and evidence-informed inquiry, to allow for experimentation,
testing and trialling of new ideas, as well as the sharing of
effective practice and embedding well-evidenced techniques.
The long-term priority is
to develop a culture of
disciplined innovation based
on the principles of creative
collaboration and evidence-
informed inquiry

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Recommendation: To build systemic capacity to innovate,
system leaders need to ensure that educators have the chance
to innovate and test new ideas, giving them space and confi-
dence to try things that may not work without fear of failure.
Once the model of digital learning and the mechanisms for
raising digital technology teaching capacities are in place, then
the system should be left to evolve without any abrupt changes
for a period of five years. The system is designed to learn,
evolve and scale without major top-down intervention.
6. Connecting with communities and the
world of work
Finally, schools need to find ways of harnessing technol-
ogy to open up the world of learning and enable pupils and
teachers to tap into the wealth of expertise that exists beyond
the school gates. Education, community and business lead-
ers all have a role to play in helping to make connections
between learners in different settings and allowing more fluid
boundaries between formal institutions and other spaces, such
as businesses, workshops, laboratories and design studios.
Online platforms and networking sites can help promote ear-
lier, richer and more meaningful engagement with the world
of work, beginning in primary schools, so that children and
young people have broader horizons and are better equipped
to make successful transitions into adulthood (Bamfield,
Hallgarten and Taylor 2013). For example, in Nesta’s recent
review of digital education (Luckin et al 2012),16
the most
highly ranked innovation was an online portal linking learners
to real-world challenges set by companies. As this and other
innovations illustrate, industry, businesses, NGOs, cultural
organisations and the wider community can all enhance
16 Nesta’s review of digital innovations consisted of a tailored systematic
review of academic sources, which collected over 1,000 publications
reporting research-led innovations, from which 124 were identified as
being based on sound evidence. In addition, the research team reviewed
a pool of over 300 teacher-led innovations, drawing from a wide range of
informal literature, including personal blogs and teacher networks, from
which a further 86 example cases were selected. A representative sample
of 150 innovations were then selected from the total pool of 210, which
were scrutinised by a group of experts comprising teachers, researchers,
company representatives and policymakers to provide a collective view of
which offer the greatest potential to advance teaching and learning (Luckin
et al 2012, p11).

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teaching and learning by providing resources and expertise
which are not generally available in schools and colleges.
In the next section, we explore this interface between
education institutions and the workplace further, as well
as widening focus to considering continuing development
through adulthood. The relatively disappointing impact of
education on inclusive social mobility should not turn our gaze
away from the importance of education institutions in address-
ing persistent gaps in achievement and progress. However, it
should serve as a reminder that a single golf club approach to
improving inclusive social mobility will be insufficient. There
needs to be a comprehensive approach to these challenges that
continues into adulthood. We map out what this approach
might constitute.

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Into work:
digitally enhanced
social mobility
This paper has been at pains to avoid techno-utopianism.
Amidst a series of claims about the putative benefits of digital
technologies to enhance learning and mobility throughout life,
evidence has often been rather scarcer. However, we are start-
ing to see real change and to understand some of the potential
for digital technologies to enhance the capacities of existing
institutions to facilitate greater progression and mobility.
Inevitably, the tech sector itself is a pioneer in this regard.
Online learning platforms such as Udacity bring together
industry specialists with learners to develop accredited compe-
tences. Github brings coders together to co-work, network and
develop skills further. Inevitably, the target for these initiatives
are the ‘confident creators’ that we identified in our survey.
The challenge is how to widen the beneficial impact of digital
technologies to provide better support and access to learning
networks for the ‘held back’ and ‘safety firsters’.
The previous section analysed how the capacity of the
education system could be enhanced to better develop a
range of digital skills – not least for the least advantaged
and the professionals and institutions who educate them.
This section looks at how these skills can be deployed in a
practical setting to enhance mobility. We continue to take a
whole-system approach, ie considering the linkages across
a range of institutions. It is increasingly the case that new
institutional spaces are being opened up through digital in-
novations. Udacity, Github, and Khan Academy are some of
the more notable examples. However, although often unseen,
people are increasingly learning through digital technolo-
gies in very simple ways. YouTube and advice boards, for
example, have become enormous platforms of learning.
Learning is shared peer-to-peer through the language learn-
ing platform italki and the general skills learning exchange
platform, Udemy (which claims four million students and

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20,000 courses). This is the appearance of a spontaneous
shared learning economy.
The question is how this learning could develop from per-
sonal interest into the demonstration of competence that leads
to career opportunity and progression.
At a theoretical level, digital technologies could be powerful
facilitators of mobility. Social capital is a critical component of
mobility. The open, peer-to-peer aspects of the internet create
spaces for relationship building, knowledge dissemination, and
practical learning. However, these benefits may only accrue to
those who already have privileged access to these assets. Unless
there is a serious attempt to extend these assets to others, it
is conceivable that new technologies could exacerbate rather
than dampen inequalities. In this sense, the beneficial potential
of new technologies is dependent on the institutional environ-
ment in which they sit. This in turn relies on a thicket of public
policy choices and wider social initiatives. As Rebecca Eynon
and Ellen Helsper (2011) point out:
“Non-participation in adult and lifelong learning is
deeply entrenched with ‘trajectories’ based on class,
gender, generation, ethnicity and geography and are
established at an early age.”
These are significant headwinds. These institutional innova-
tions in and of themselves do not unpick such deeply embedded
structural inequalities. However, starting with the transition
from school to the workplace, and then furthering learning
for those in work and looking to enter or re-enter the world of
work, these institutional innovations open up new networks of
support, learning and career development. In other words, they
have the strong potential to enhance the system-wide support
for mobility, with a caveat that that there are limits to the extent
these changes can reach those who have become completely
disengaged. The changes in the previous section, and in the
transition from school to work recommended below, are
designed to help prevent that disengagement in the first place.
1. Bridging education and work
Research shows that frequent contact of different types be-
tween students and employers can have a powerfully beneficial

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impact on the future earnings of the student. One study shows
an extra 4.5 percent of median annual earnings associated with
each ‘additional school-mediated employer contact’ (Mann and
Percy 2013, p19). The same study considers that the key feature
of employer contact for students is the social capital that is
developed rather than the technical skills per se (there isn’t often
time to develop such skills in any context such as work experi-
ence). Moreover, those with the most frequent contacts obtain
the highest benefit. Mann and Percy conclude:
“Those young adults earning a full-time annual salary
who experienced four or more employer contacts
whilst in education could expect to earn, on average
in their early 20s, 18 percent or £3,600 more per year
than their peers, qualified to similar levels, who under-
took no activities during their schooling.”
This ‘frequent contact’ hypothesis underlines the importance
of employer and educational establishment relationships
as a means of underpinning mobility. It also underlines the
importance of fairly weak but frequent ties. These ties can
be facilitated through work experience, employer talks,
mentoring, employer-led projects and prizes. There is an
important potential role for linking in employers with
students on a voluntary advice and support basis (this could
take place within a school, youth centre, further education
or higher education setting). The innovative use of new
technology could and should facilitate these engagements
beyond the local and the available.
Ofsted (2013) has criticised careers guidance in schools
for being patchy. There is a severe disconnect between young
people and the labour market. There is poor knowledge of the
range of careers that exist and what is required of students.
The signals from the labour market are muffled. Youth
transitioning has become more disorganised, polarised, and
more precarious. There needs to be a system wide interven-
tion rather than leaving it to individual schools or individual
careers advisers.
A funnel of careers advice and support has been recom-
mended by the Gatsby Foundation (2013). This involves each
school developing and publishing a careers policy for which
they would be inspected (by Ofsted with support for the

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National Careers Service or NCS). Beyond this, the linkages
that can provide valuable access to networks, knowledge, and
support need deepening. The Gatsby Foundation calls for
the NCS to be expanded to extend access to ‘Labour Market
Information for All’,17
broaden its direct involvement with
schools, and create further linkages between employers and
schools through industry associations. The online platform
would be key for fostering frequent but potentially shallow
linkages that still help to develop social capital amongst those
disconnected from high-value networks. The Association of
Colleges has proposed careers hubs led by Local Enterprise
Partnerships in each area.18
These hubs would be schools, col-
leges and university partnerships. They could supplement any
expansion of the NCS and be a key gateway to its resources.
The CIPD emphasises the benefits to be accrued for
both learners and employers in these relationships (cited in
Oxenbridge and Evesson 2012):
“It’s not only young people needing to learn about
the world of work, how to fit in and fulfil employ-
ers’ expectations. It’s also about employers and HR
professionals, more specifically, learning about today’s
digitally skilled youth.”
Late in 2014, the Government announced funding for a new
company to link employers and educational institutions.19
This company will have a network of advisers and would aim
to improve the standard of careers advice in schools. This in-
tervention is a start but will be insufficient in itself to increase
the system-wide capacity. In addition, the NCS should be
tasked with learning from the best interfaces between employ-
ers and potential recruits from the commercial sector in order
to develop direct interactions between employers and students.
This is particularly important in industries where there is no
local base or organisational experience to rely on, so students
who may have an interest are not given an opportunity to
engage without access to these broader networks.
17 See www.lmiforall.org.uk/about-lmi-for-all/
18 See www.feweek.co.uk/2014/09/15/education-secretary-under-pressure-to-
establish-careers-hubs/
19 www.academiesweek.co.uk/morgan-announces-employer-led-careers-
advice-company/

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UKCES has noted the potential benefits from supplementing
careers advice with online provision: the provision of informa-
tion and resources; the provision of automated interactions
which use artificial intelligence to do some of the jobs that
were previously done by careers advisers; and the provision of
tools for communication which could facilitate engagement
with careers advisers, employers, peers and
wider kinds of personal and professional
networks (Bimrose and Barnes 2010). It is
the last of these benefits that requires sig-
nificant development in accordance with the
‘social capital’ model of careers progression.
And in a later paper – Enhancing Choice – the advice was that
this should be pursued through stimulating and regulating the
careers market whilst correcting market failure in accordance
with policy goals (Hooley, Hutchinson, and Watts 2010).
One of these goals is social mobility. Tristram Hooley (2014)
recently wrote:
“If it is going to support social mobility, it is important
that those from lower socio-economic backgrounds have
access to at least as much career support as those from
higher socio-economic backgrounds and that there is a
concerted effort to support everyone to develop the skills
that they need to pursue their careers online.”
The Enhancing Choice (2010) report counselled against a
‘single website’ or ‘online solution’. There is sense in this but
the NCS could support development of a range of solutions
and link them together for ease of navigation and verification
of quality. It is a formidable task to open up the same career
pathways for all that are enjoyed by a few. However, further
enhancing and developing employer-education links to widen
potential access to professional networks is one contribu-
tion that institutions such as NCS, with best use of available
networks of knowledge, could make. It builds on the develop-
ment of digital skills throughout the education system that
was outlined in the previous chapter. It helps to link education
outcomes to adult outcomes.
Recommendation: Given the positive impact on career progres-
sion of additional employer contact, the NCS should be tasked
It is a formidable task to open
up the same career pathways
for all that are enjoyed by a few

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with working with industry bodies to ensure web platforms are
created to link learners directly to employers, beyond relation-
ships brokered by education institutions themselves. LEP-led
local hubs could supplement such online platforms.
Recommendation: Utilisation of additional employer link-
ages must form part of careers development policy in a series
of education settings. This could be promoted and moni-
tored by Ofsted, the NCS and the new employer-education
careers company.
2. The spontaneous shared learning economy
Adult participation in learning has followed a remarkably
consistent pattern over many years. NIACE (2014) tracks en-
gagement in adult learning each year. It shows that the portion
of the adult population who have engaged in some form of
learning in the past three years was 38 percent in 2014. In 1996,
it was 40 percent. The picture is static and learning tends to be
skewed towards professional occupations, of whom 68 percent
have engaged in recent learning as compared to 28 percent in
elementary occupations. Despite the fact that the acquisition
of new skills and competences can have such an impact on
market position, it is clear that learning becomes even more
unequally distributed through the life-cycle. Inclusive social
mobility as a policy would seek smart ways of addressing this
inequality. David Hughes (2014), chief executive of NIACE,
identifies four key challenges:
“Four big issues shout out at me from our work with
people of all ages: there is low demand from people
in work for skills; a lack of investment in low-paid
workers by employers; Government investment is too
rigidly focused on big qualifications rather than skills
attainment; and, people have too little say and control
about what, where and how they learn.”20
20 https://news.tes.co.uk/further-education/b/opinion/2014/12/05/the-39-
perfect-storm-39-in-the-skills-system-is-damaging-hopes-of-economic-
recovery.aspx

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This call for more sensitive and flexible forms of learning is
key to the need to focus public policy on particular groups. As
has already been demonstrated, the ‘held back’ are a key target
group given their desire to learn and their concern regard-
ing the barriers preventing them from doing so. It is not a
matter of only targeting this group but, given their behaviours
towards learning (including in an online setting) and their
motivation, there is a key opportunity that is likely to secure
both economic and social gains. The question is how to link
those who are motivated to learn (and many ‘safety firsters’ are
similarly inclined to learn) perhaps informally initially to more
formal systems of accredited skills development that are so im-
portant for career and wage progression. Eynon and Helsper
(2011, p2) hint at where the initial connection may occur:
“Policies designed to support individuals’ everyday
interests as opposed to more formal kinds of learn-
ing are likely to be more effective in increasing
people’s productive engagement with online learning
opportunities.”
They go on to argue:
“Technology does not in itself make people more
likely to participate. Yet we argue it can facilitate
existing predispositions to finding out new things even
amongst those who do not wish to engage with tradi-
tional formal learning environments.” (p5)
We have seen how there are very significant groups motivated
to seek out knowledge, skills and learning in an online setting.
There has been a flowering of the informal learning economy.
In order to further develop interests, millions are taking to
YouTube, which must be the most extensive online learning
platform currently in use. The Labour Party commissioned
independent policy document, Making Digital Government
Work for Everyone (2014), explains how local networks are
spontaneously proliferating:
“Citizens can of course just get on with things
themselves and use the power of consumer-facing
digital services to create their own local information

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infrastructures that talk about local public services
and public policy challenges. This can be seen in
thousands of local websites, twitter feeds, Facebook
pages, and Tumblrs where people talk about the good
and not so good aspects of the places in which they
live or work.”
The point here is that people use this infrastructure to learn
from their peers also. Just take the Sheffield Forum website.21
It
has 177,000 or so registered users. Its business and employ-
ment forums are a lively exchange of advice and guidance on
setting up a business, acquiring new skills and qualifications,
offers of expertise and support, and sign-posting to organisa-
tions and agencies that can help with careers advice and skills
development. Sheffield Forum hosts discussions for a whole
series of local groups, such as the Sheffield Crafts Group,
which offers free classes and peer-to-peer support.
More widely, interest-focused websites provide information,
guidance and support on a wide range of areas, many of which
have commercial application as well as hobby development.
The point is that people are engaging in the informal learning
economy en masse.
Professionals use these global information learning net-
works to continue their learning and development. Coders
display their latest work, collaborate with others, and further
develop their skills through Github. Much of this learning may
take place within companies. The Shift network22
– a global
social information, learning, innovation and problem-solving
intranet – run by Cemex is often quoted. Interestingly, Cemex
now awards badges for employees who use and contribute to
the network extensively.
There is a mass proliferation of learning networks locally,
by interest, and within companies. The concept of rewards is a
key one to encourage learners through a pathway. The recently
founded Tech City initiative, Digital Business Academy, has
partnered with world leading education institutions, major
brands, gazelle-like digital firms and many others to provide
courses that, upon completion, open up rewards (such as invi-
tations to free master-classes, mentorship and the opportunity
21 www.sheffieldforum.co.uk
22 www.theshiftnetwork.com

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to be fast-tracked on an internship). What some of these initia-
tives have the potential to do is open out some of the closed
circles of the meet-up culture. Opening out closed circles is
critical to extending social mobility.
By engaging interest, creating pathways and catalysing mo-
tivation through rewards and opportunity, individuals can be
supported in their development in new and effective ways. The
challenge in a public policy setting is to support the spontane-
ous learning economy and consider ways to widen its impact in
order to ensure that what may simply start
off as an interest might lead to the acquisi-
tion of demonstrable skills and, beyond that,
formal learning that has wider value. When
we consider both individual motivation and
the plethora of easily accessible learning
opportunities there is scope for thinking of
the informal learning economy as the starting point for more
inclusive social mobility. The public policy challenge is to
support the development of spontaneous learning rather than
seek to replace it.
We cover how this might be achieved with an ambitious
re-design of adult learning systems – institutions, employers,
accreditation and the desire to learn and create – in the next
section. However, given the proliferation of the spontaneous
learning economy, the success measurement of any systemic
public policy intervention must be the degree to which it widens
and deepens engagement in learning on a continuous basis. The
RSA survey (as detailed in previous sections) did demonstrate
a degree of interest and motivation amongst all three groups –
‘safety firsters’, the ‘held back’ and ‘confident creators’ (albeit
more strongly in the latter two groups). So the policy aim
should be to realise this potential. This should not be a target
as such. It is simply a way of measuring the outcomes of a
policy over time and its impact on the capacity of the system.
Recommendation: The spontaneous learning economy should
be supported and nurtured to widen and deepen its impact on
participation in adult learning of all types.
The public policy challenge is
to support the development
of spontaneous learning rather
than seek to replace it

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3. A nation of learning
In the summer of 2013 Chicago’s Mayor, Rahm Emmanuel,
launched a City of Learning initiative. The basic idea was to
persuade those aged up to 24 to use the summer months to
continue learning rather than slipping back. Up to this point
it sounds like pretty much any other public campaign. But this
one was rather different.
In fact, it contained several of the elements of new public
policy approaches we have identified: a framework-setting
style of public leadership, an open approach, devolved provi-
sion, and a focus on the service users themselves. One hundred
thousand learners engaged in the initiative. It is too early to
evaluate the impact on learning but there is little doubt that
it worked in its primary goal of increasing learning activity.
The initiative has now become year-round and it has been
replicated in several other US cities: Columbus, Dallas, Los
Angeles, Pittsburgh and Washington DC. There are many
distinctive elements to Cities of Learning.23
The programme
overview is as follows:
“Each City of Learning creates a citywide network of
free or low-cost learning opportunities at parks, mu-
seums, libraries, and other local institutions, as well as
opportunities to learn online. Participants earn digital
badges for the new knowledge and skills they acquire.
Cities of Learning are anchored in the principles
of Connected Learning, an interest-driven approach
designed to make learning relevant for our times. Youth
from all backgrounds can explore new interests, devel-
op creative and intellectual competencies, and begin to
see how they can apply their talents in the real world.”
Underpinning Cities of Learning and the related ‘connected
learning’24
concept is precisely the type of adaptive, institu-
tional eco-system centred on individual needs which must
underpin the Power to Create. Connected learning encom-
passes three learning principles and three design principles.
The learning principles are ‘(personal) interest powered’,
23 www.citiesoflearning.org/
24 www.citiesoflearning.org/why-connected-learning/

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‘academically oriented’, and ‘peer supported’. The design
principles are ‘openly networked’, ‘production centred’ (it is
about creating, designing, experimenting and producing), and
a ‘shared purpose’ (people coming together to share skills in
order to confront common challenges). A relationship in terms
of ethos can be observed here between connected learning and
the spontaneous sharing and learning economy. The difference
is that connected learning goes one step further and reaches
from interest-based learning into formal accreditation and
then to value creation in a wider economic sense.
One of the most significant components of this approach
is the technological core – badges. Badges are an open stand-
ard, carrying meta-data about the skill, the level, and the
awarder. The open-source software organisation, Mozilla,
has led the development of open badges with partners such
as the MacArthur Foundation, Hastac, NASA, and Intel.
They are an open standard to recognise, accredit and verify
learning. They can be used in any learning setting where a
competence has to be demonstrated and accredited: schools,
colleges, in the work-place, online, in community organisa-
tions and so on. Essentially, they are a verifiable digital
learning currency. Collections of badges are accumulated in a
shareable online ‘backpack’.
The question is how widely badges are accepted by indi-
viduals, employers and education institutions. The growth of
the movement is very significant. Mozilla estimates that the
number of badge issuers has grown from 98 in 2013 to 14,000
independent issuers, as of summer 2014. It estimates that open
badges will be carried by about four million people by the end
of this year and Mozilla has made a commitment to reach ten
million users by the end of 2016.25
Both the technology and its use are advancing continuously.
In the UK, CityGuilds is integrating open badges with its
Techbac qualification framework.26
A number of higher and
further education institutions are looking at integrating badges
into their study environments. A study into attitudes towards
badges at Sheffield Hallam University had generally positive
25 www.skilledup.com/insights/do-open-badges-matter-to-employers-or-
admissions-officers/; www.badgealliance.org/blog/10-million-better-
futures-through-open-badges-commitment-made-at-cgi-america-2014/
26 www.cityandguilds.com/~/media/Documents/what-we-offer/techbac/
TechBac%20customer%20presentation_June%20pdf.ashx

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responses (Glover and Latif 2013). The Nominet Trust backed
DigitalMe project has adopted badges, as have employers
such as NASA and Disney-Pixar. DigitalMe, which promotes
badge-accredited skills, would be a key partner in any wider
roll out of badges in the UK.
Badges are used in both strategic policy settings such as the
Cities of Learning and in workplaces and other educational
settings. The point is that they supplement existing learning
environments. Structured and immersive learning in an insti-
tutional setting would be enhanced rather than diminished
through their adoption. The package of skills that nests within
existing qualifications could be drawn out and evidenced.
There is no limit to the level of skill that badges can be applied
to – they are completely flexible. Issuers can be accredited by a
range of bodies and other accredited peers, making the system,
once widespread, self-regulating (the value of the qualification
rests on the reputation of the accreditor).
Employer-led demand and the willingness of existing
learning providers to engage with badges would be critical
to a successful connected learning initiative. This is a wider
aim than the US initiatives that have focused more on public
institutions and young people. Employer demand will be an
important signaling device for learners too. Firstly, it indi-
cates market value. Secondly, it could be a means of tracking
employer demand and transparently communicating that
to individuals and institutions as any Cities of Learning
programme develops. Data about badge demand could help
drive learning as a consequence. Firms would be included
in the initiative and encouraged to help their employees
acquire badges.
The Cities of Learning policy design comprises the follow-
ing key elements:
•• Leadership. The Mayor establishes the framework,
acts as coalition builder and communicator-in-chief. It
is about energising and co-ordinating a system linking
public, private and civic networks, institutions and
organisations.
•• Persuasion. This is characteristic of this new type
of leadership. Rather than co-opting a system,
instead political leadership galvanises an eco-system.
Persuasive leadership percolates throughout the

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system as businesses, networks and institutions
become active and outward facing.
•• Infrastructure. However, this is not just a smart
campaign; it relies on smart infrastructure too. At
the core is a skills and competence accreditation
system that takes interest to formal demonstration
of capability that could have market value. The
infrastructure is founded upon open badges which are
awarded by peer-verified individuals and institutions.27
•• Openness. Anyone within the age-group can
participate. A simple website helps individuals
navigate the range of learning opportunities on offer
and the badge awards that are open to them. The
initiative also utilises public spaces, such as libraries
and the city’s parks, as well as an online platform.
Access is absolutely critical. This initiative reaches
beyond traditional in or out institutional barriers.
•• Institutional pluralism. The Cities of Learning approach
pulls together the city’s array of educational, civic,
commercial and social networks to focus on the
learners’ progression. This acknowledges the pluralism
of learning settings. The learner is able to navigate the
city as an eco-system of learning in a way that meets
their needs and interests rather than as a set of pre-
determined, funding or bureaucracy defined pathways.
•• Developmental. The shift from interest to accredited
skills and learning is crucial. However, there is more
than this on offer. As badges are accumulated further
learning and skills are suggested (through the web
platform or through advice within learning networks
and institutions). This encourages the learner to view
skills development as continuous and developmental.
As we saw in the case of the Digital Business Academy,
rewards (special, bespoke, privileged learning and
networking opportunities) are opened up as further
incentive and encouragement.
So the architecture of this approach is social, institutional and
technological. It is difficult to map across from younger groups
to the ‘safety firster’, ‘held back’ and ‘confident creators’
27 www.openbadges.org

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segments in our survey, but given the intrinsic motivation to
learn amongst the latter two groups especially, this open ar-
chitecture approach could offer benefits in terms of inclusion,
progression and then mobility. It rests on the insights gained
from new leadership and new approaches to public policy.
The question becomes whether these developments are
simply best left to organically gather pace, alongside the new
shared learning economy, or whether there is a role for public
policy in extending their impact. An important first principle
of public policy is ‘do no harm’. Therefore, any approach must
support rather than co-opt initiatives such as DigitalMe and
the shared learning economy. With this in mind, there are a
number of recommendations that should be considered to
evolve the adult learning environment. There is no reason why
the focus should be under 24 years old alone. In fact, there is
a strong argument for these initiatives to be more widely avail-
able. The approach would be as follows:
a. A series of Cities of Learning pilots should be estab-
lished with a web platform created (which could be
facilitated by the Government digital service (GDS))
but led by local leaders to promote engagement with
a range of local learning communities, employers and
institutions. This platform should be built around
open badges. There will need to be a coordinating
body, perhaps deploying an independent organisa-
tional model such as Start-up Britain.
b. Job Centre Plus and Work Programme primes should
be encouraged to involve their ‘clients’ in these
initiatives. Where digital skills are weak, digital skills
support should be offered (to be completed after the
‘client’ is in-work if necessary).
c. Careers advice, support courses and badges should
receive some priority in these pilots as they do in the
US Cities of Learning.
d. Once these pilots have been established and evaluated
the movement should then be extended locality by
locality. An important aim in every case is linking
up what is there and connecting it to the open badge
infrastructure.
e. Finally, the network could have a national online
presence in order to aid navigation. This should not

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become an agency in its own right – it is about helping
individuals, employers, learning providers and net-
works navigate the eco-system. This final step would
be at the end of a five-year developmental period.
In essence, these proposals re-design the learning and skills
system in a way that makes it coherent, based on simple
standards, linked with what currently works, and fosters
innovation. It supports initiative in the voluntary, public and
private sectors. In a future Power to Create paper, we will
also be outlining a significant movement of public learning
financial resources to individuals. The supply side changes ad-
vocated here aligned with strong local and national leadership
are targeted at meeting the aspirations of the ‘held back’ who
are seeking greater support. For the ‘safety firsters’, it provides
some basic and flexible first steps to improving knowledge and
skills. By transferring resources to the individual, our aim will
be to support the demand side further.
These recommendations constitute a relentless ambition to
ensure a more inclusive form a social mobility. That is a major
challenge in an economy that is technologically biased towards
particular skills. The inclusivity targeted here is a means of
spreading the gains of technological change. It is about provid-
ing a legitimate form of democratic technological change.

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Concluding comments
Concluding
comments
Technology is a pervasive force. It has very rapidly moved from
the economic sphere into the social and personal sphere. This
change is opening up new opportunities and creating new
risks. Despite this pervasive change, the public policy discus-
sion has been rather contained and, in many ways, stubbornly
situated in isolated discussions. There is now a need to see
technological change – the digital revolution, biotech, data
and processing technologies, and advanced robotics – as a
fundamental force of social change.
This paper has touched on a number of institutional adapta-
tions necessary to disperse the gains and diminish the risks of
rapid technological change. It has centred on learning from
childhood to retirement. At its core is an observation and
conviction that people will have to adapt in ways we can’t
currently imagine and they need smart, personalised, and
relevant institutional supports in order to do so. We know that
‘confident creators’ will have a head-start. The challenge is
to ensure that the ‘held back’ and the ‘safety firsters’ can also
thrive whilst acknowledging their somewhat different needs
and, to a certain extent, expectations.
Essentially, whether it is the changes we have advocated in
schools, to the connection between employers and learners, or
through the recommended Cities of Learning programme, this
is about using digital technology itself as a means of adapting
to technological change. It requires the right social, institu-
tional and personal resources for this promise to be realised.
Technological change is not the only force impacting on
the future ability of society to develop and democratise the
Power to Create. Economic changes, structural inequalities,
the way in which public institutions provide a foundation for
the creative life are accompanying challenges. In each of these
arenas, complex institutional evolution will be equally neces-
sary. This will be explored in future Power to Create policy
papers to be published throughout 2015. With any complex
web of policy challenges, the analysis has to start somewhere.

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Inclusive social mobility will inevitably, though not solely, be
bound up with changes to learning and educational institu-
tional systems and that has been the focus here.
Our hope is that the ideas contained within this paper can
be taken forward and adapted as necessary. As a society, there
is a great deal of work that lies before us – and policy-led
change is one response to a complex and changing environ-
ment. It is just one response, but an important one if we are to
steer change towards the type of society we wish to see.

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Annex 1
Annex 1
Power to Create survey summary
In the summer of 2014, the RSA commissioned Populus to
carry out a representative sample of 2,000 adults across the
UK to explore the RSA’s Power to Create concept. The data
represents a single snapshot as of summer 2014.
Respondents were drawn from Populus’ online panel and
answered circa 150 questions covering demographics, attitudes
towards having ideas, ability to put them into practice, power,
technology and the internet, design and enterprise, public ser-
vices and community, education and creativity. The questions
were based on current RSA thinking and discussion about
the Power to Create, RSA change programme plans, Populus’
question bank, and external studies on applied creativity
(eg Adobe State of Create report).
In addition to basic survey data analysis, segmentation
analysis was undertaken by Logit Research. The segmentation
was based on a selection of key questions within the total ques-
tion set. A number of segmentations were proposed, and after
discussion a five segment solution was selected as being the
best fit to the data and allowing for the clearest description.
Segment 1 – ‘Safety firsters’ (30 percent)
•• averagely ideas orientated
•• least likely to think that the UK is an innovative
country whose people have many great ideas to make
the world a better place
•• slightly more likely to feel they do not face any
particular barrier to turning an idea into reality
•• don’t generally believe that power is becoming
concentrated
•• disagree that there are technology ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’
•• more dissatisfied with their lives than average
•• have relatively low usage of the internet, particularly
for accessing interesting information, information
about local/national issues, or for accessing
knowledge/expertise they can put to practical use

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•• the segment that reports the lowest score on the
importance of future products being designed so
they can be re-used, shared, or recycled rather than
becoming waste (this segment has the only ‘below
average’ score); and are less likely to knowingly spend
more for a product that is environmentally friendly
They are more likely to be:
•• single or co-habiting
•• aged 18–54 (not retired)
•• in social class C2 (and DE)
Segment 2 – ‘Held back’ (20 percent) are …
•• above average ideas orientated
•• more likely to believe that more can be done to turn
their ideas into reality (in particular by getting more
access to finance, support from Government, support
from society in general, education, self-confidence,
and motivation)
•• more likely not to always follow the rules
•• more likely to believe power is becoming too
concentrated, particularly in the hands of big
business, the wealthy, the media
•• the least satisfied with their lives as a whole
•• very entrepreneurial minded: they often think about
starting a business and look for opportunities to do this
•• more likely to be involved in informal business
activities or in the process of trying to start a business
•• more likely to have high use of the internet, particularly
for educating themselves about an area of expertise
•• single or co-habiting
•• in rented accommodation
•• reporting having a mental condition (the only segment
to report a higher than average incidence of mental
health problems)
•• aged 18–34
•• in social class DE (and C1)

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Annex 1
Segment 3 – ‘Confident creators’
(11 percent) are …
•• the most ideas orientated group (28 percent agree
strongly that they are someone who has new and
workable ideas that could make a positive difference
to society, with three percent to nine percent
agreeing strongly across other segments; 51 percent
of ‘confident creators’ agree slightly that they are
someone who has new and workable ideas that could
make a positive difference to society)
•• most likely to think that the UK is an innovative
country whose people have many great ideas to make
the world a better place
•• by far the most likely to think that the people that
live in their area have a great many ideas that make
things better for people locally and/or beyond (26
percent agree strongly, with two percent to six percent
agreeing strongly across other segments; overall,
83 percent of confident creators agree compared to
23 percent to 33 percent across other segments)
•• looking for greater support, finance, and help from
government
•• more likely to feel empowered to create change in
their local area/feel they would be supported by local
authority figures
•• more likely to disagree that power is concentrated in
the hands of smaller groups – they are more likely
to believe people like them are more likely to make a
difference
•• more likely to say that power is being increasingly
concentrated in the hands of trade unions
•• the most pro-technology group, and most likely to
agree they are using technology to make a positive
difference to the lives of others
•• confident of their ability to turn a business idea into
reality
•• more likely to have greater confidence in the ability of
‘people in their area’ and to know people in their area
who can help them change the neighbourhood for the
better

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•• the most satisfied with their lives as a whole
•• most likely to capitalise on business opportunities
•• more likely to feel trust and have confidence in
public services (NHS, police, schools/colleges, local
authorities, welfare agencies)
•• have the highest belief in their knowledge/skills
•• more likely to buy an environmentally friendly
product
•• more likely to use the internet, particularly for
developing new contacts for opportunities, blogging/
posting, selling a service, engaging in campaigns/
politics
•• married / cohabiting with children under 16
•• looking after a disabled relative / friend / partner
•• Labour voters
•• Asian/Black
•• urban
•• in full time work
•• London
•• aged 25–35
•• in social class AB
Segment 4 – Comfortable retired (22 percent)
•• the least ideas orientated group (only one percent
agree strongly that they are someone who has new and
workable ideas that could make a positive difference to
society; overall 51 percent of mature and disengaged
disagree)
•• not interested in turning ideas into reality, and not
looking for support with this
•• more likely to always follow the rules
•• more likely to feel power is increasingly concentrated
in hands of international bodies eg the EU
•• least likely to be using technology to make a
contribution to lives of others, and least likely to use
the internet
•• least confident in their ability to turn a business idea
into reality

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Annex 1
•• more likely to report a high level of satisfaction with
their life as a whole
•• least likely to be looking for business opportunities
•• have the lowest belief in their knowledge/skills
•• more likely to believe men and women have equal
power in UK
•• aged 65+
•• married, with no dependent children
•• Conservative voters
•• people who own their house outright
•• people who left school at secondary level
•• Christian
•• retired on private pension
Segment 5 – Connected retired (17 percent)
•• above average ideas orientated
•• people who tend to look for new ways of doing things
rather than following the rules
•• most likely to believe power is becoming concentrated
in the hands of a few small groups (particularly the
wealthy, big business, Government, people in the
South East, and the EU)
•• more likely to be satisfied with their life as a whole
•• more likely to question how the world works
•• more likely to believe men have more power in the UK
but that the balance is shifting towards women
•• more likely to have high belief that they have the
knowledge/skills to help someone starting up a project
or enterprise
•• more likely to use the internet for accessing information
about local/national issues, interesting information,
educating themselves, and engaging in campaigns
•• male
•• aged 65+
•• UKIP voters

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•• people who own their house outright
•• people with higher education qualifications
•• retired on a private pension
•• outside of London
•• in social class AB

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Annex 2
Annex 2
List of recommendations
Education and new technology
•• Teaching school alliances, in partnership with
pedagogical experts and tech specialists, should lead
the way in developing a model of learning through
digital technologies to inform schools, parents and
other educators. This model should guide approaches
to learning in the classroom and beyond, drawing on
robust evidence from established and emerging models
and programmes to highlight the specific learning
experiences needed to develop digital literacy, as
distinct from literacy and numeracy.
•• In our view, the best way for schools and colleges
to leverage the technology base is through a culture
of creative, collaborative inquiry through which
teachers are able to make evidence-informed decisions
and consider what tools and strategies are most
appropriate to meet particular learning needs. There
are significant mutual benefits to be gained from
combining all three principles together: purposeful
partnerships provide the chance to connect with
valuable new ideas and robust evidence; having a
culture of inquiry stops both collaboration and
creativity being weak or woolly; developing creative
capacities and organisational conditions ensures
engagement and motivation in learning for both
students and teachers, and helps generate the valuable
new insights that can drive progress and improvement
over time.
•• Schools and colleges should conduct an audit of
existing ICT provision to review its impact and
cost-effectiveness. To assist governing bodies in this
task, we recommend that an audit tool and guidance
be produced for school governors, to allow them
to monitor impact and make judgements about
ICT requirements in a more robust and strategic

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way – including deciding what not to continue doing.
This assessment must be embedded in teaching and
learning.
•• Once the model of digital learning and the
mechanisms for raising digital technology teaching
capacities are in place, then the system should be left
to evolve without any abrupt changes for a period of
five years. The system is designed to learn, evolve and
scale without major top-down intervention.
Connecting education and work
•• Given the positive impact on career progression of
additional employer contact, the NCS should be
tasked with working with industry bodies to ensure
web platforms are created to link learners directly
to employers, beyond relationships brokered by
education institutions themselves. LEP-led local hubs
could supplement such online platforms.
•• Utilisation of additional employer linkages must
form part of careers development policy in a series
of education settings. This could be promoted and
monitored by Ofsted, the NCS and the new employer-
education careers company.
A new Cities of Learning approach
The spontaneous learning economy should be supported and
nurtured to widen and deepen its impact on participation in
adult learning of all types:
a. A series of Cities of Learning pilots should be estab-
lished (with a web platform created, which could be
facilitated by the Government digital service (GDS))
but led by local leaders to promote engagement with
a range of local learning communities, employers and
institutions. This platform should be built around
open badges. There will need to be a coordinating
body, perhaps deploying an independent organisa-
tional model such as Start-up Britain.
b. Jobcentre Plus and Work Programme primes should be
encouraged to involve their ‘clients’ in these initiatives.

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Annex 2
Where digital skills are weak, digital skills support
should be offered (to be completed after the ‘client’ is
in-work if necessary).
c. Career advice, support courses and badges should
receive some priority in these pilots as they do in the
US Cities of Learning.
d. Once these pilots have been established and evaluated
the movement should then be extended locality by
locality. An important aim in every case is linking
up what is there and connecting it to the open badge
infrastructure.
e. Finally, the network could have a national online
presence in order to aid navigation. This should not
become an agency in its own right – it is about helping
individuals, employers, learning providers and net-
works navigate the eco-system. This final step would
be at the end of a five-year developmental period.

POWERTOCREATE
The RSA: an enlightenment organisation committed
to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social
challenges. Through its ideas, research and 27,000-strong
Fellowship it seeks to understand and enhance human
capability so we can close the gap between today’s reality
and people’s hopes for a better world.
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