Skip to Main Content

Lesson 2

We will continue or look into the questions: Should people be concerned about the possibility of AI replacing humans in jobs? Will AI create or eliminate jobs? Why or why not? We will read and examine excerpts from “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?” To support our reading, we will study challenging vocabulary from the text and consider a set of guiding questions to help us read it more closely.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I use a variety of strategies (e.g., context clues, word study, and vocabulary resources) to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases?

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central idea of "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?”

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?,” Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne, Elsevier Inc., 2016
  • Digital Access
    • “Charts of the Largest Occupations in Each Area, May 2019,” Division of Occupational Employment Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2018

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Write – Discuss

We will define unfamiliar words from the research study we have read.

In groups of six, create a list of unfamiliar academic vocabulary words you noted from previous lesson’s homework reading. Shorten the list to 8-10 words.

Within your groups, create three partner pairs. Split the words among the pairs.

With your partner, use the Vocabulary in Context Tool to define your assigned terms. Share the definitions with your group.

Activity 2: Present

We will share some of our unfamiliar words.

Each group will share two of their vocabulary words with the class. Record your peers’ words in your Vocabulary Journal.

Activity 3: Discuss – Write

Using the Attending to Details Tool, we will answer the guiding questions from the reading with a partner.

With the same partner from the vocabulary activity, discuss your assigned guiding question, using an Attending to Details Tool to further analyze a relevant section of “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?”

Partners will be assigned one of the following questions:

  1. What does it mean if an occupational employment field is in the high-risk category?

  2. What fields and types of jobs are in the high-risk category?

  3. Which occupations are likely to be the least susceptible to computerization?

  4. What types of intelligence or skills might lead to a lower probability of machines taking over jobs?

Locate a section of the text that is related to your guiding question. On the Attending to Details Tool, add information about the text, author, and the guiding question.

Review the notes you took in your Learning Log and the section of text you have identified as relevant. Write down key details related to your guiding question on the tool.

After each detail is added, complete the Think about the Details section. Summarize what you think the details mean or suggest.

Finally, express your understanding. Answer the guiding question and make observations about what that answer means for society.

Activity 4: Discuss – Write

In the original vocabulary study groups of six, we will share what we have written down on our Attending to Details Tools.

Each pair of students will share their Attending to Details Tool. While the pairs share, other group members will take notes in their Learning Logs.

Activity 5: Discuss – Write

As a whole class, we will discuss our responses to the guiding questions and text-based observations about the implications for society.

With your teacher facilitating, share your responses to the guiding questions and text-based observations.

Consider the final, interpretive question:

  1. Why might this paper have “set off alarm bells and helped kickstart the future of work conversation”? (Benjamin Herold, Education Week Blog)

Write a response to this question in your Learning Log.

As a class, share your response and discuss why this study might have been significant.

Activity 6: Read – Write

For homework, we will examine an employment Statistics chart for three us states and develop some evidence-based observations and claims about the employment patterns displayed on the charts.

Follow your teacher’s directions to form research groups. In your research group, you will study data about employment in the US. With your group members, choose three US states you would like to study.

For homework, access the “Charts of the Largest Occupations in Each Area, May 2019” on the Occupational Employment Statistics page of the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

You should find a chart with the largest occupations in the United States as of May 2019. From the drop-down menu, select each state that your research groups agreed to study.

In your Learning Log, take note of the jobs most residents have. Do the same for two other states.

After looking at the data from those states, form a set of data-based observations about what types of jobs are most popular in these states.

Individually, form an interpretive claim in your Learning Log in response to the following question:

  1. To what extent do the most common jobs in the states you have examined fall into the high-risk category as identified in “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?”