Unit 1: Professional Practice in the Digital Economy Assignment Brief 2025

Unit 1: Professional Practice in the Digital Economy of Learning Outcomes

LO1  Explore the evolution and impact of digital technologies on work environments
LO2  Examine the importance of professional development for careersuccess
LO3  Demonstrate a range of transferable and communication skills used for effective problem solving
LO4  Review ways in which feedback can be used to support professional development planning and role in the workplace.

Transferable skills and competencies developed

• Contextual awareness: understand and meet the needs of individuals, business and the community.
• Intellectual skills: critical thinking; making a case; literacy.
• Self-management goal setting and action-planning; independence and adaptability; acting on initiative; innovation and creativity.
• Team working and management.
• The ability to critically evaluate and analyse complex problems, including those with incomplete information.
• Plan and manage projects.

Vocational scenario

Organisation:

The digital economy and the digital workplace include a range of technologies that are used in today’s society. These technologies can be applications to support specific business functions, departments and/or core business activities.

The integration of technology at all levels of an organisation to support, automate and problem solve, led a need to improve and develop the skills of an organisation’s workforce. For example, the use of applications and social media tools to communicate and send emails, and instant messages, the use of collaboration tools to support virtual meeting and one to-one meetings.Additionally, the rise in remote working has presented organisations and employees with new challenges that they would not typically face in traditional of Ïce settings."

Role:

You are currently employed as a digital technologist at a large organisation operating within the education sector, which has a strong presence in online learning and digital services.

You have been asked by senior management to produce a professional report evaluating how digital technologies were used to meet the needs of various stakeholders, including all the workforce and students. In preparing this report,it is crucial to analyse the effectiveness of these technologies in enhancing communication, collaboration, and accessibility within the organisation. We will also consider feedback from both the workforce and students to identify areas for improvement and ensure that future implementations are aligned with their requirements. The report should examine your own professional practices and development throughout the process.

The project that you have been asked to support involves:

a report about the evolution and impact of digital technologies on the work environment.
the design of a professional development training pack for your organization.
demonstration of using effective transferable and communications skills,that are particularly relevant to the education sector setting, and justification as to their use and application to solve different problems.

Assignment activity and guidance

Task 1: Report

The first part of the project requires you to compose a report aimed at the institute management. The report is intended to create awareness of how digital technology is changing work environments, with reference to the education sector.

You should also consider other aspects of working in the selected environment by giving recommendations for professional development and achieving career success in the sector.

The content of the report should include the following key areas:

• the evolution in, and impact of, digital technologies on the work environment and specifically the education sector. an analysis of trends and improvements in the digital sector that impact the education sector, identifying how they have been influenced by changing work environments.
• An evaluation of trends anticipated in the digital sector, with reference to the professional development and career success of the work environment. This should be in reference to the education sector. The closing section of your report should examine the importance of professional development for career success by including:
• Investigate the importance of ongoing professional development for career success. 
• Examine the key benefits of ongoing professional development for different stakeholders in education organization.
• Analyse the benefits of professional development for both an individual and organisation in the education sector. The report should include the following appendices:
• a fact sheet on the importance of feedback, with an insightful extract on how it has contributed to your own learning.
• a completed professional development plan PDP, outlining responsibilities, performance objectives and required skills for own learning (as an example of good practice). 
• Analyse professional development planning and different types of feedback to make judgements on how they can be used to support own future role in the workplace.

Task 2: Presentation

Based on findings from the above report, it was recognized that organizations encounter several problems linked to them not having a robust professional development framework. 

As part of the project assigned to you, you have been asked to deliver a presentation to a selection of new staff as part of their training and development.

The presentation should focus on transferable skills and communication techniques utilised for effective problem solving. Additionally, you should prepare supporting materials to be included in the appendices of your report, which the staff can take away and reference in the future.

In order to make the presentation relatable and powerful you will need to discuss the following content with examples of your own experience:

• demonstrate a range of transferable and communication skills to find a solution to a problem.
• justify why these transferable and communication skills can be used and applied to solve different problems. 
• Evaluating professional development planning and how feedback can beused to improve transferable and communication skills.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria