Ohio IT Skills Blog

School district considering ICDL

Link: North Union Local School District.

I had the pleasure of visiting with a group of education professionals at the high school of the North Union School District last night, at the invitation of Technology Coordinator Pam Wenning-Earp.  About 10-12 faculty and administrators came to the evening meeting to hear about the ICDL program.  They are concerned that their students are fully prepared to meet the challenges of school and work once they leave the public school system. 

A number of elements might move more school districts to consider ICDL as a guide for their current "technology skills" curricula, and as a bonus certificate in addition to the diploma. 

• First, the new Ohio Academic Content Standards for Technology mandate students show competency in a level of computing skill - by the 9th grade - that is very similar to the expectations of the ICDL certification program. 
• Second, colleges are increasingly concerned that students have adequate skills to enable them to fully participate in, and benefit from, higher education. 
• Third, employers have increasingly high expectations - even of employees hired at the so-called "entry" levels.

I applaud the team at North Union for taking their own after-hours time to explore this enhancement to their existing programs.  It simply re-confirms the dedication we have always seen from our  systems' professionals, and their  sincere concern for the future of our kids.  A nice bunch of folks - thank you Pam for the invitation and the reception - and I look forward to talking with you again as you have more questions to explore.

And - BTW - I'm delighted to talk with any school group who wishes to explore ways to assure their students' computer skills.

And, on a side note:  As I drove back to Columbus about 7pm, I passed a number of churches and other meeting places with busy parking lots and bright lights - that were obviously engaged in any number of meetings and events in the communities in that area.  It occurred to me what dismay that must bring to the TV networks, and cable companies and Internet advertisers - who didn't have the attention of these people.  But it felt good to realize that large numbers of us - for personal and for professional reasons - still find time to actually get together with each other, face-to-face, to learn, to solve problems and to move our communities forward.  Evenings don't simply belong to American Idol - they belong to us - and the wise stewardship of our own schedules can bring us benefits far beyond 24-hour entertainment.

I returned to Columbus thinking "I've got to get out more." <g>

(-- originally posted by Rich Bowers, Coordinator, Ohio IT Clearinghouse)

Inside Higher Ed :: Science Ph.D.'s Continue to Grow

Link: Jobs, News and Views for All of Higher Education - Inside Higher Ed :: Science Ph.D.'s Continue to Grow.

There has been much alarm lately about the relative decline in numbers of advanced degrees in key scientific fields - but there is some good news in this story, relating that numbers of PhD's are indeed increasing.  Whether this resolves any crisis is not known, but at least the endeavors are not just fading away.

(-- originally posted by Rich Bowers, Coordinator, Ohio IT Clearinghouse)

We Are IT! - Success at Owens!!

Well, the big day came - Friday November 17 there were 9 simultaneous events focused on interesting early-high-school-aged girls in IT-related fields - and I drive to Toledo to be a part of "We Are IT!" day at Owens Community College.

Under the leadership of Lyn Snyder, the program came together beautifully.  Beginning at 9:30am - about 70 girls had a chance to sample some of the ideas and opportunities that are part of a career in IT.  As noted in my previous entry about the Edison pilot in October, the girls at Owens were focused, interested and involved.  One of the proud moments was the projection of the Proclamation issued by Ohio's Gov Bob Taft, declaring that day to be "We Are IT! Day" all across the state. 

After a brief general session, the group split up to attend a number of sessions covering specific topics relevant to IT careers.

Hod Doering, member of the faculty at Owens, did a marvelous exercise in which teams of girls learned something about binary math by playing the roles of computer registers.  In those roles, they encrypted and decrypted a message by doing the kind of arithmetic computers do routinely.  It was physically involving, and a very practical way to demonstrate the real work a computer must do to be useful - and also to demonstrate the speed advantages of chips instead of people.<g>

Another session, run by Dora Bensch of Owens' career planning and counseling group, was a surprising success.  Imagine sitting a number of typical teenagers down to do a career preference assessment (even sounds a little dull, doesn't it?) and then explore the jobs to which their assessment pointed?  Not too likely to be a winner among the kids I have known.  But Dora had a straightforward plan for each girl to follow, sitting in front of a terminal - and I observed that most kids really got into it. One popular activity seemed to be checking out the salaries, in the session I attended.  Looks like a lot of money to a  teenager - and given the need for  talent in the IT world, the best of this group will be able to earn top dollar, once they hit the job market.

I also tagged along as we visited with a local entrepreneur  -  Vicki Kurtz of Imaging Systems Technology - who produces touch screens for giant televisions.  The girls had a chance to talk with a young woman who actually builds the devices, and to play with them a bit.  They also had a chance to install a TV tuner in a PC and make it work.  Seemed to make quite an impression on the group - and a great way to get a picture of the real people who work in this field - as well as some understanding of what the field really is.

Congratulations to Lyn Snyder, Wendy Howe, Janet Bower (who provided the keynote address on career pathways - intentional and otherwise), and all the rest of the Owens team who did such an outstanding job.  The girls I talked with seemed genuinely pleased to have spent their time this way (and not just for the day away from class)and talked about topics and news they could relate to their families and friends.

I look forward to hearing more about how things went at the other venues - and I'll keep this journal posted as I get more input.

(-- originally posted by Rich Bowers, Coordinator, Ohio IT Clearinghouse)

Why aren't more girls 'geeks'?

Link: Why aren't more girls 'geeks'?. This question haunts the scientific, technical and engineering fields these days.  Somehow, females are being steered away from careers and it doesn't make any sense.  A number of efforts are underway to correct the situation, both in the US and elsewhere - but what will ultimately make the difference?

This is as good a time as any to get onto the problem.  With every projection coming up short on IT professionals, we will need all the help we can get - and those making the decision to enter the profession today may be 1-3 years away from being qualified to start work.

(-- originally posted by Rich Bowers, Coordinator, Ohio IT Clearinghouse)

A Rubric For IT Analysis Papers

Link: A Rubric For IT Analysis Papers.

Announcements often come a feverish rate and a high pitch.  Grand new advances and radical new conclusions about technology and markets appear every week.  And anyone who has observed this process for more than 3 weeks knows that a high percentage of the products announced never appear, and the bally-hooed trends piffle away.  So how does one evaluate how much weight to give any particular story.  Zed Shaw is a blogger who has attempted to list the criteria that can be used as "stop" or "go" signals in interpreting IT news.

This reflects, of course, the even larger problem we have in society, business and our schools as more and more info is put up on the Web with absolutely none of the editorial filters we used to count on to help sort the wheat from the chaff, and give us a boost in determining the credibility of writers and speakers.  With no editorial structure, the wacko's piece appears right next to the Nobel prize winner's - and if you don't know that one is a wacko and one a Nobel winner - you have no basis to distinguish the relative reliability of the articles.  We need more information at earlier ages, to help us fill the gap left by the avoidance of the traditional publishing system.  Just as much as we need to know how a computer works and to achieve "computer literacy," we also need to know how to judge the value of the information we find - "information literacy."

(-- originally posted by Rich Bowers, Coordinator, Ohio IT Clearinghouse)

College students continue to shun computer science

Link: College students continue to shun computer science.

Evidence continues to appear that the computer science profession is suffering in the free market of ideas and capitalism.  After recent reports of over 30% decline in enrollments in CS programs, UCLA is reporting a 60% decline from the peak of the bubble, more than 70% down since their all-time highs.  As long as news reports are dominated by news of lay-offs, outsourcing and obsolescence - one has to wonder where a more positive message might come from.

Not all IT vendors are willing to wait. IBM announced May 24 that it was giving customized training, worth $7 million, to students of the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, part of the Big Blue's Academic Initiative program aimed at students interested in open standards and IBM products. "The numbers don't lie," said Buell Duncan, general manager of the IBM Academic Initiative, in a company statement on the gift. With 1.5 million new IT jobs projected by 2007 by the U.S. Department of Labor and a steep decline in graduates with computing degrees, a labor shortage is inevitable, he said. "The business sector needs to step and be part of the solution."

(-- originally posted by Rich Bowers, Coordinator, Ohio IT Clearinghouse)