What is technical proficiency?

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Technical proficiency is the ability to effectively use technology skills for personal and business objectives. An individual will become more proficient the more they learn, practice, and work using technology.

Importance of technical proficiency

Technology has become a major part of all of our lives. Both personally and professionally it impacts us daily at home, at school, and at work.

Being technically proficient is the most important piece to being able to use technology. It is your ability to actually apply it and your knowledge, skills and abilities to meet end goals. The better you can do this the more effective you will be.

Finally, it is having this effectiveness that leads to getting someone a job using tech.

What is the role of individuals, schools and employers in tech proficiency?

By attaining technical proficiency individuals make themselves much more valuable both at home and even more so at work.

Schools develop career and technical education programs to teach individuals these important technology skills and how to become proficient with them.

Finally, employers get more value and production from workers when they can effectively use and are proficient with their skills.

Individuals should be driven to achieve technical proficiency

The more tech proficient you are, the more value you can achieve from it in your personal and professional life. As a result everyone should strive to build their proficiency, as well as consistently measure and then build plans to improve their use of their technical skills.

Employers should care the most about technical proficiency

From a work perspective, workers that are technically proficient will produce more and better use their skills in work environments. This means more profit and efficiency through more skilled workers.

Educators are responsible to develop technical proficiency

Schools develop technical proficiency in students through career and technical education, or CTE for short. The goal of CTE programs are to develop technical proficiency in students and better ready them for the workforce. The quicker this can happen the faster and better suited students can transition into workers.

So how do you become tech proficient as an individual?

Developing technical proficiency takes time. You become technically proficient by following a methodical process of learning knowledge, training and building experience, then becoming productive with your tech skills. You also need a series of development tools to support you on your journey.

Train in tech like an athlete

There are many things that can be learned from the world of athletics in technician development. Learn how you can apply these techniques in your own development.

Understand what tech skills are

In order to become proficient, the first step is to understand what tech skills you need to become effective with. Many people think that technical skills just have to do with technology. There is actually a lot more to them that you must understand before you get proficient using them. The good news is you may have many more of them then you think already.

Recognize the development stages

Development stages are simply imaginary lines that illustrate the type of development you should have along your journey. At the highest level you will generally have some sort of learning phase where you develop knowledge. Then a training phase where you practice skills and a work phase where you produce value either for yourself or an employer.

Learn how to use proficiency development tools

If you are ready to build technical proficiency you will also need to learn and use common development tools to help you in this journey Building these technical abilities will take time and use of these additional development items will help.

Overview of common technology proficiency development tools

Proficiency assessment and planning tools

These assessments help developing talent understand their level of technical proficiency and work readiness. They measure how effectively and individual performs using their technical skills and tools versus just their knowledge of them.

Support system

Developing technical proficiency takes a lot of effort and can be hard. To best do it everyone needs a supports system of family, friends or advisers to help you as you develop.

Defined development stages

In athletics this is easier as you have defined levels, such as high school baseball, then college and professional ranks. In technology these lines are more blurred. However, the more you can find development level in training providers this will help you understand where your proficiency level is at a level and where it needs to be to get to the next level.

Realistic training environment

As you train you need a realistic and accurate training environment. For example, if you are a carpenter you need a workshop to practice in that is appropriate, accurate and most important safe. In the areas you are trying to get proficient, seeks out training environments that are realistic.

Game experience

You need to find game like situations to practice in as you develop. These situations are things that generally done in front of others and under pressure. Perhaps this is building something in front of others or explaining it in front of a group. The earlier you can do this the faster you will be proficient at higher levels.

Access to teachers and coaches as you develop

As you develop in tech you will need access to different types trainers. In the beginning as you learn and experience tech, teachers will be more valuable. However as you move into the practice stage, coaches that can provide in the moment support and advice become more important.

Next Steps

For individuals, you may want to explore the different opportunities for high school students, adults or those looking to get into teaching.

As an educator, here are some programs you can bring to your school.

Finally, you may want to measure your tech proficiency now by getting a tech worker readiness score™.