Fewer students seek tech degrees

Top News – Fewer students seek tech-related degrees

Interesting, however not overly surprising. The news has been dismal regarding technology employment for several years, students are often told that if you want to enter a technology field you need to get on the job training, additionally, they are often discouraged when the talk to industry professionals who relate experiences like, “I have never used what I learned in college” or “I never went to college.” This combination of information leads high school graduates to try to gain employment with little experience and no education believing that they will get a job and training because they have some knowledge of computer technology. While for some this is true, but for the vast majority they will be disappointed to learn that using or even building a computer is not enough knowledge or experience to justify an entry-level position. This discouragement usually leads to getting a job or enrollment in an educational program that leads directly to a job.

Ultimately it seems that this will lead to further outsourcing and hiring of staff from overseas. However, business can address this by being clear about what they are looking for in staff and publishing that information.

ALEXEY TITARENKO | PHOTOGRAPHY

ALEXEY TITARENKO | PHOTOGRAPHY

These are haunting images. However, the idea is intriguing. I would like to see a similar concept with color photography because I think the visual stimulation may be increased. Conceptually incredible.

Weblogg-ed » And No Blog Tattoos Either

Weblogg-ed » And No Blog Tattoos Either

When I think about this article and some of the people that I work with, I can completely understand the school district’s perspective. In addition, I also understand, from the perspective of a blogger, getting the message out there. I have chosen over the past several years to intentionally separate my work and online life because until recently my employer block access to all blogging tools and sites implying that a disclaimer would not be enough to protect me from whatever could become of a complaint.

If you blog, post comments or are otherwise involved in the social web how does your employer feel about it?

Techdirt: Turning Off Internet In The Classroom Won’t Make Lectures Any More Interesting

Techdirt: Turning Off Internet In The Classroom Won’t Make Lectures Any More Interesting

This article is interesting from the standpoint of a student and an educator. As a graduate student at a large regional university, I appreciate the ability to multi-task, while in class. However, I must also note that most of my classes are discussion and participation based, therefore my online time while inclass is often related to class.

However, as an educator I feel that the internet is extremely useful for students for fact checking and information gathering. Additionally, if an educator is not able to keep the students engaged there is a problem that is larger than a need to eliminate access to the internet, because those students are not learning whether they are online or just tuning out a boring lecture.

Schools considering this as an option should assess the students needs and determine if the professors who are leading the drive are reaching these students’ needs. This would allow for a real dialogue about how to best meet student’s needs, while providing assets that will enhance student instruction.

Mind Hacks: The shifting sands of the ‘autism epidemic’

Mind Hacks: The shifting sands of the ‘autism epidemic’

This is a great perspective on the change in the rates of identification of Autism with advanced instruments and changes in diagnostic criteria.

Clifford Stoll

Tim posted a very interesting piece on a Clifford Stoll’s presentation at TED 2006 today. I also recently watched this video and it has been niggling me ever since. How can he have so much energy and enthusiasm, and be frankly so charged about what he finds interesting. I am amazed at his exuberance. While I have not read his books, I have since explored many of his ideas as presented in many places on the web and have found that I am still unsure if I agree with him or not. However, I am sure that a man with that amount of passion and intelligence is sure to have spent time considering his ideas prior to presenting them for mass dissemination.

Additionally, as a technophile I realize that my love of technology can often cloud my judgement of the need for technology (this used to mean computers) in classroom. However, as I see my daughter (who is four) grow I realize that she will have more than ample opportunity to use technology and computers before she is an adult without making them a focus of her education in preschool or elementary school. I feel that she, currently, needs more opportunities to experience the world in a more hands on way than computers allow.

With that statement made, my daughter has an 12″ iBook of her own that she has full access to. She loves to draw with Tux Paint using a Wacom tablet. She enjoys going to Bunnytown, as well. However, she rarely uses her computer for more than a few minutes without asking for my wife or I to sit with her and “help.” This help is the interaction that computers lack for young minds. She rarely needs help with using the touch pad (she has never used a mouse) or the pen for the tablet. But when she uses the computer she seems to try to use it as a “common point” to establish social interactions.

Therefore, it is my fear that the increase of “social” websites and destinations will pull kids from the developmentally appropriate interactions of face to face, hand in hand, and toe to toe to the face to screen interaction with someone they really don’t know. While I believe that these “distant” relationships can be very beneficial for developing social understand of differences and cultural identity, I also believe that putting your hand on a sheep, in the mud or around a tree branch can be very beneficial for developing a child’s mind into the mind of a well grounded (or rounded) adult.

Finally, as a special educator, I frequently have conversations with students and parents surrounding computers and specifically game systems and how students can be so good at games and so delayed in the social areas of their lives. The statement that I find myself frequently sharing with parents is have you ever had a conversation with a person who only wanted to talk about their passion and could not shift subjects, now consider that same conversation with a person who limits their social interaction opportunities to 6 hours a day and the rest of the time they are enhancing that passion, that is what your student is doing. These parents often don’t understand that by encouraging their children to spend 4-5 hours a day on week days playing video games, because it is something that they are good at and enjoy, they are essentially closing all doors to opportunities for these same kids with limited social skills to practices social skills or basic communication for that matter.

What is the Truth about Autism

According to a recent article in Wired the thinking about Autism has changed. This is a curious shift and I wonder if it is becoming more widespread. Currently, as an educator, it seems that parents are more open to have a child with a diagnosis of Autism than any other diagnosis, including in some cases ADHD.

This implies that Autism is a Diagnosis Du Jour and is actually become a sought after diagnosis because it opens doors to special education services, funding streams from the state and federal government, and availability of outside resources. This has been a shift that I have been noticing in the past few years. This is a concerning trend that implies, in some ways, that parents are seeking both doctors and clinicians that will provide a diagnosis and possibly leading to an increased prevalance of students with diagnoses. I have been noticing lately that some of the students that I work with, who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, would have been "labeled" as different and a little wierd just a few years ago. Not to dispute any medical diagnosis, this is mearly an observation.

In conversation with Dr. Tony Atwood a couple of years ago, he indicated that everyone has a little "Aspy" in them, which is a way of accounting for quirks and oddities in daily life. However, this also implies that if everyone has a little "Aspy" or "Auty" in them, how much is necessary to be labeled as a true "Aspy" or a true "Auty?" This raises another question: Are these students, who would have previously been identified as "wierd" or "different", truly just variations of different or truly students with Aspergers or Autism. While this question is important, does it really matter as they are being educated in a way that "meets their needs."

Finally, with a shift in thinking about how "Autistics" think, what does that mean in what must be done to teach them? Should they be taught in segregated classrooms specific to students with Autism? Possibly, but how do they gain access to appropriate models? Should there ultimately be "Autistic Colonies" like the Leper colonies of the past? I don’t think so. Should this change the expectations for their future? Maybe. I think the ultimate question comes down to is: What do students need in order to be functioning (in some way) adults requiring as little support as is feasible? Even if their minds work differently, how can they manage their own needs (food, clothing, shelter) so they are not seen as a "burden on society."

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Autism and the Future

According to these news stories the strategies for treatment of Autism may be expanding in the future. Which is promising for those individuals with Autism, as well as parents. This is especially important since the current treatment strategies consist of prescribing medications to address the “attention issues” that are similar or the same as those prescribed to treat ADHD. Although there is nothing wrong with treating symptoms, often these prescriptions worsen other symptoms and create a more difficulties in the long run.

Addiction – A matter of attention

Psychology Today: Addiction: Pay Attention

According to this article, addiction is a matter of misplaced attention. If you can change  your focus you can eliminate your addiction.