Daily Lumina News 010621

Even before COVID-19, there was an ongoing disruption in the workforce. Millions of jobs were affected by changes in technology, including automation and artificial intelligence.
On this podcast, WorkingNation's Art Bilger and Frank Luntz of FIL Inc. share their thoughts on the skills and training that workers need in today's rapidly changing labor market.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education across Colorado and the rest of the nation in 2020, forcing schools and families to figure out how to facilitate learning and critical support services outside the confines of schoolhouses and college campuses.
Did the need to respond to the crisis in real time create lasting innovations that might stick around post-pandemic? Colorado education experts are betting on it.

For the first time since 1994, incarcerated individuals can get federal aid to pay for college. The decision comes after a long push for prison reforms that included calls for a greater emphasis on rehabilitation, reducing prison populations, and making prison sentences less harsh.
A prison education scholar explains how higher education helps incarcerated people discover a sense of their own potential.

With the economy still in a pandemic-induced recession, displaced workers haven’t turned to colleges to retool their skills. Some higher-education observers wonder if that disconnect will end this year.
Among the reasons people aren’t enrolling, particularly at community colleges, is that they’re too busy navigating economic uncertainty to make college a priority. But new research suggests that when workers eventually do set out to learn new skills, they’re most likely to enroll in a nondegree program or seek skills training.

President-elect Joe Biden chose Dr. Miguel Cardona, Connecticut’s first Latino education commissioner, to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education. While Cardona’s experience lies in the K-12 sphere, higher education experts are hopeful about what his selection might signal for higher education policy.
Specifically, scholars and college leaders hope he’ll focus on the needs of low-income and underrepresented students, as well as the institutions that serve them.

Music therapists are health-care professionals who use music as a therapeutic tool to help people deal with their physical, emotional, cognitive, and emotional needs. It is a rewarding career, says Maria Nichta, who helps children with special needs, veterans, older adults, and others achieve their therapy goals.
You can learn more about Nichta and what it takes to become a music therapist in this video, which is part of a new series on promising career paths for early-career workers of all education levels.