Switching gears from the typical rants and raves of politics, I recently was talking to someone about women in IT. Before everyone gets in a tizzy about it, or think that I will dive into a severely chauvinistic rant, I would really like to see more women in the IT field. Here's why.
Forbes wrote an article about the lack of women in the STEM fields (Science, Tech, Engineering and Math), in which women on average only represent 27% of. There has been almost no growth either for women in that field in the last decade. Given that women hold, on average, more college degrees than men, you'd expect more or at least some growth over time.
I think the problem is primarily a social one. I think guys do play a part in keeping them away, but that isn't the sole reason. I don't think women are taught really that's something they can do. Women aren't engaged in at youth to explore their pursuits in those fields, and this is from both men and women. I think society, as a whole, doesn't think to teach their daughters about the field. Could this be the remainder of an era long forgotten? Maybe. I just think it's a big oversight, and requires a shift in focus. We need to make it desirable for them.
I think men are guarded in that field because they don't have enough experience working with women. More experience with them would ease that, and I think overall that would lead to more adoption by women in the end. What we need is the initial push, or break of the cycle, to do it. Sure, it will ruffle a few feathers, but change does that to everyone. This can start by adopting STEM programs for girls in school, or even just by having the parents play a part in making that available. I plan on building computers with my daughter, hopefully you do too!
Women would have opportunities in the STEM world that exceed others, mainly the ability to earn more on average. This would definitely help ease the disparity between pay of men and women, along with getting a more balanced and robust outlook in the IT world. My $.02, that's all ....
STEM Fields and the gender gap - Forbes
Friday, February 28, 2014
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
At what cost?
With all the recently light put on the NSA and the various government agencies, it's hard to look away. Somewhat like a digital car crash, everyone has passed these articles in random browsing, pulling bits and pieces from what seems to be a extremely big problem. I've heard a lot of people say, "Hey, if they want to spy on me, let them. I have nothing to hide!" The issues with this, however, is that this isn't just a case of gathering data, but the means to do so.
Being in IT, the idea of the "government" watching you at all hours of the day, everything you do is pretty far fetched. Granted, they can or do collect metadata on the things you may do, such as snippets of code and tracking data, but the idea that all communication is watched is near impossible. There are several technological feats you'd have to overcome to do so. One, being the ability to store this information would require massive amounts of storage, and the server architecture to support it. Second, you'd need massive amounts of processing power to filter these pieces of information. No easy feat, even for a large government entity.
Here's where the scary information comes in. Several private companies that are major players in the technology field have publicly released the amount of requests of information received by government entities under pressure from the public. These requests, for the big companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple and others are in the thousands within a few months. Yahoo's request total was 12,000 for the last six months. What's troubling is under FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ), companies aren't allowed to disclosed who exactly requested what and at what rate were they actually given data. Furthermore, the checks and balances of these agencies requesting this information is incredibly unchecked, and under current law require no warrant or approval needed to eavesdrop on foreign communications. All requests are pushed through a FISA court, of which no requests have been declined. This is incredibly troubling, given the fact that Americans can communicate with foreign entities, and have their communication watched in error.
What really brought this to heart for me was recent news from Microsoft. I support, along with most IT professionals, predominantly windows-based networks. Windows Server and Windows Desktop/Laptop clients are the bread and butter of most of the IT world. What's worrying is Microsoft recently admitted to giving the government "first dibs" at zero-day threats, security holes and bugs in their software. This gives a group the power to possibly exploit machines and steal data. Several other security firms, such as McAfee, have given critical data on their findings as well as bugs in their own software to aid in thwarting attacks, but may have given them the keys to the kingdom. With the recent uses of malicious code such as Stuxnet and Flame, often tied with the DoD and NSA programs, this is especially troublesome. It says that not only are these pieces of critical security information being used to protect government networks, but also to attack others.
So, with all these issues with transparency and the possibility of major over use of power, it's simply no longer acceptable to condone this practice. I can tell you, from a IT person, this scares me. Not that I'm afraid that they think I'm participating in nefarious activities (I can assure you I have plenty to worry about, such as bathing two kids!), but the implications of this policy. It's been stated that these programs stop terrorist plans and attacks from materializing, yet, we seem to keep going further down the rabbit hole of surveillance. Why isn't it proposed that we stop behaving in ways that make use targets, so that a lot of this isn't necessary. Granted, governments like China and other Hacking groups would make that hard, but taking a look at how our policy affects the world wouldn't hurt. History has shown that whatever we give the government, it never gives back. Safety is hardly a good sale for essential freedoms, and when it comes to the never ending need for more and more private information, it should not be handed over without just reason.
Sources:
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Deal with it, folks
Fueled with internet rage, most of you will enter the voting booths on Tuesday, raring to vote. People to seem pretty enraged these days with the choices. No matter what candidate you choose, please know this
I DON'T CARE
I don't care for the reasons you vote for or against a candidate, as most of them are probably complete bullshit. Vote for whoever has the prettiest hair, fuck if I care. If you are registered one party and voting solely because your candidate is that party your reasons are completely invalid, much like the hair vote method.
Why I don't care about your reasons is simple; if you don't take facts (real ones) and use them to analyze your decision, I don't care what you think anymore. Simple as that. As someone who believes in logic, what's infuriating is the enormous lack of it during an election. Only the bits of actual, thought out and verified fact are what I try to listen to. Otherwise, my mind would melt and pour out of my ears. Selective hearing is what some may call it, I call it the Mind Firewall. Posting on Facebook that Obama is a Socialist Job Killer or Romney supports Rape as birth control, then guess what my friend...you just earned a spot on the Mind Firewall block-list.
Now sometimes something so idiotic appears that I have to say something. Not because I wanna win an argument, but because I want to clear up something. No matter who get's elected, the same things will eventually have to occur. No more of this Team Edward, Team Jacob bullshit anymore. Our country has had both sides run the show, and have failed. Now's the time for mutual agreement so things can be done.
This country has survived something that could of been extraordinarily worse. There's a reason why this recession was called "the worst since the Great Depression", because the worst WAS the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, people lost all of their savings when banks completely closed shop overnight, brokers committed suicide in droves, unemployment reached 25%, Hoovervilles full of tents of the homeless popped up, and people generally lost their minds. Wanna know why Great Grandma was so frugal? Well it's because she probably had to scrounge during the depression to live.
There was a lot that was done during this depression that saved us from being like that. The auto bailouts did work, and some of the government protections put in place did help the economy for collapsing. The Dow Jones reached 6500 in 2008, and now is sitting at over 13000. We spent our way out of it, and we are dealing with debt that is above our GDP. We've only reached this after WWII, and guess what has to happen next? We need to spend less!
Both sides of the fence have to realize this. We can't pick and choose anymore what to fund more and fund less, I'd say if we cut anything, it's all spending across the board equally. Nothing special about it, no magic recovery plan needed, there are no favorites. Spend less and take in more.Simple?
Since we've been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001, and ending our involvement with Iraq, this is to be expected that spending was so high. To top that, historic tax cuts, bailout programs and recovery acts similar to the New Deal took place, so that is why spending is so high and why our debt is so large
Now's the time to do exactly with what we did after WWII, drastically cut spending. It's gonna suck folks, but either candidate needs to do it. The good news is that history seems to show a trend the end of wars showing a reduction of debt and overall improvement of the economy. We just need to get over the hump. We have been growing in jobs, our unemployment rate has been continuously dropping for the last two years, and is finally below recession numbers.
Point of the matter is either candidate has an equal shot of making things good. No policy is right all the time in every situation. You can't give tax cuts forever in a depression and make things better. You also can't bail out everything, but both had their places at certain times and worked. Wanna debate them? Sure, but bring facts. Do they work all the time? Probably not. That's the policies we have to adopt, not everything we believe in will work all the time.
Notice how i'm not giving a specific candidate the "seal of approval." There's a reason, because who I vote for is between me and God ( and maybe my wife). As it should be, not posted on my lawn or on my Facebook page. Keep it in your pants, folks...
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Internet politics at it's finest
Politics. It's everywhere and anywhere. You can't wake up and check your email or Facebook anymore without getting a blast of political nonsensical arguments. Whether it's Obama supporters spamming your inbox, or friends tagging your in Glenn Beck posts on Facebook, you literally can't go 5 minutes now without seeing slanderous and hate-filled comments.
To all these people contributing to the mass downfall of modern day courtesy, let me briefly state the obvious:
BOTH PARTIES ARE TERRIBLE, AND HAVE CAUSED HORRIBLE THINGS TO HAPPEN TO OUR COUNTRY. SHUT UP AND WORK TOGETHER. DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER? TOO BAD.
Congress has seen the lowest approval rating in modern history (12%) and it's because of the lack of fucks being given by the Congressmen and women regarding any of today's true problems. Want an example?
Recently, in the news, Chick-fil-a's CEO was asked if he opposed same-sex marriage and was quoted to say "Guilty as charged." This of course caused massive campaigns to boycott the chain. The mayors of Chicago, San Francisco and Boston went online with them, and blocked the chain from city limits (because apparently that's legal or something?)
On the opposite side, Congressman Mike Huckabee rallied a mass of people online to man the battle stations and go in droves to the chain, and they did. Chick-fil-a recorded record of sales because of the backing of congressmen and senators wasting time on frivolous stuff, claiming it was protecting the rights of those oppressed. Let me give you guys another hint and this is from a guy who typically sides to the right (me)
GAY PEOPLE GETTING MARRIED DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE OPPRESSED, IT MEANS FREEDOM OF RELIGION IS ACTUALLY IN PLACE FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE ITS OK
Freedom religion means that everyone who is a christian can practice their beliefs, so much as it doesn't harm the lawful rights of others. This also means that people who aren't christians (they do exist) can practice those beliefs in the same way. They believe gay marriage is hunky-dory? Then guess what, it's allowed. End of discussion, that's how freedom works.
However, most of the folks who lined up at the chicken shack think this way
So the ultimate irony of this entire situation is both sides claiming victories for rights did the exact opposite. The left denied the freedom of speech and oppressed free trade by banning the chain from major cities, and the right claim they protected the freedom of speech and religion, but really just took a big dump on it and ate a bunch of chicken sandwiches.
All this while we have a government so dysfunctional that it can't decide on the budget, spending $14 on a muffin, allowing 2,000 guns to be sold to Mexican cartels, and passing into law provisions that allow the indefinite detention of american civilians in the NDAA 2012. Something seriously needs to stop here.
As part of the hip and happening generations of youngsters that literally grew up with technology, it almost seems like another thing ruined by politics. It's haste in the 21st century. People are harassing each other with Tweets and Hash tags. If George Washington was alive today, he'd total change his prediction that political parties would ruin the country to a Tweet
George Washington @TheRealG-Wash
OMG These guyz are totes lame lol #SMH #BOTHSIDESARESTUPID
To all these people contributing to the mass downfall of modern day courtesy, let me briefly state the obvious:
BOTH PARTIES ARE TERRIBLE, AND HAVE CAUSED HORRIBLE THINGS TO HAPPEN TO OUR COUNTRY. SHUT UP AND WORK TOGETHER. DON'T LIKE EACH OTHER? TOO BAD.
Congress has seen the lowest approval rating in modern history (12%) and it's because of the lack of fucks being given by the Congressmen and women regarding any of today's true problems. Want an example?
Recently, in the news, Chick-fil-a's CEO was asked if he opposed same-sex marriage and was quoted to say "Guilty as charged." This of course caused massive campaigns to boycott the chain. The mayors of Chicago, San Francisco and Boston went online with them, and blocked the chain from city limits (because apparently that's legal or something?)
On the opposite side, Congressman Mike Huckabee rallied a mass of people online to man the battle stations and go in droves to the chain, and they did. Chick-fil-a recorded record of sales because of the backing of congressmen and senators wasting time on frivolous stuff, claiming it was protecting the rights of those oppressed. Let me give you guys another hint and this is from a guy who typically sides to the right (me)
GAY PEOPLE GETTING MARRIED DOESN'T MEAN YOU'RE OPPRESSED, IT MEANS FREEDOM OF RELIGION IS ACTUALLY IN PLACE FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE ITS OK
Freedom religion means that everyone who is a christian can practice their beliefs, so much as it doesn't harm the lawful rights of others. This also means that people who aren't christians (they do exist) can practice those beliefs in the same way. They believe gay marriage is hunky-dory? Then guess what, it's allowed. End of discussion, that's how freedom works.
However, most of the folks who lined up at the chicken shack think this way
All this while we have a government so dysfunctional that it can't decide on the budget, spending $14 on a muffin, allowing 2,000 guns to be sold to Mexican cartels, and passing into law provisions that allow the indefinite detention of american civilians in the NDAA 2012. Something seriously needs to stop here.
As part of the hip and happening generations of youngsters that literally grew up with technology, it almost seems like another thing ruined by politics. It's haste in the 21st century. People are harassing each other with Tweets and Hash tags. If George Washington was alive today, he'd total change his prediction that political parties would ruin the country to a Tweet
OMG These guyz are totes lame lol #SMH #BOTHSIDESARESTUPID
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Yeah...uh, fill this out
The internet is full of wondrous and mysterious things. One of these things are Job boards, because nobody fully understands how the work or how useful they actually are. I call them the abyss, because no matter how many things you throw in them, you'll never see them again.
If you decide to post all your personal information online, you'll more than likely get calls from recruiters across the world, each offering one completely terrible position after the next, in the hopes that you are willing to relocate to Wilmington, Delaware for that "golden opportunity" of a job at Wal-mart as a retail consultant.
What's most frustrating is by far the software used to upload resumes. First, businesses, use ONE type of job posting software. And if you do, make it so you can share login info with others, so I don't have to create an entire profile EVERY SINGLE JOB POSTING I SEE
Second, you're resume scanning software is absolutely atrocious. Stop using it, please. If you are scanning jobs with this software, god help you. Nine times out of ten I always have to scrub the randomness your software attempts to read. To the point were I usually just copy-paste stuff from my resume in the boxes your software failed to read.
After the rigamorale of creating a profile, uploading your resume, redoing everything the software messed up, and submitting it, your application is whisked away through the tubes of the internet to the company's email. Where, most likely, it is either forwarded to account that is no longer in use or is forwarded to someones junk mail because it is marked as spam. Your application never gets read, ever. Thanks for spending 30 minutes filling it out!
However, recently I received news on a position I applied for about 2 months ago. In the mail, they sent me a note saying they received my application and that I should fill the following forms out to be considered for the process. What they sent me you may ask? ANOTHER APPLICATION, this time in paper form!
So after doing the online equivalent, and attaching my resume, cover letter, and references, they want me to fill out a paper application, print out my resume, cover, letter and references and send it back to them. Keep in mind, the application asks you everything that would be on that resume, but just to be safe, they want you to scribble it down, in case they loose the other two things that already have that. I didn't fill out the paper version, because I figure if they are that backwards with recruitment, then possibly they would be in every other way.
So, I have a suggestion for the perfect job posting, so businesses listen up!
Here's what SHOULD be on the website:
Job XYZ
Email at yada@blah.com your resume to be considered. Don't send a cover letter because they are useless.
Requirements (that we will actually use to grade you, not make believe ones after you apply to discredit you and make you feel bad)
Education (that we will actually use to grade you, not make believe ones after you apply to discredit you and make you feel bad)
Salary: PUT THE SALARY RANGE HERE!!! YES, WE WANNA KNOW THAT !!!
Here's what I'd send in an email:
Dear Herp,
Enclosed is my resume for Job XYZ. ***COPY-PASTE COVER LETTER CRAP HERE*** (Because folks, cover letters are memos, and nobody sends paper memos any more. Emails are electronic memos, and people have been using them for like 20 years).
Sincerely,
Herpty Derp
PS: I put a read flag on so I'll get notified when you read this email. So i'll be looking forward to that in 3 months
And that's it folks!
No more wasted money on terrible job screening software or wasted time filling out crappy applications. Use the best tool to screen applicants! Your eyes!
If you decide to post all your personal information online, you'll more than likely get calls from recruiters across the world, each offering one completely terrible position after the next, in the hopes that you are willing to relocate to Wilmington, Delaware for that "golden opportunity" of a job at Wal-mart as a retail consultant.
What's most frustrating is by far the software used to upload resumes. First, businesses, use ONE type of job posting software. And if you do, make it so you can share login info with others, so I don't have to create an entire profile EVERY SINGLE JOB POSTING I SEE
Second, you're resume scanning software is absolutely atrocious. Stop using it, please. If you are scanning jobs with this software, god help you. Nine times out of ten I always have to scrub the randomness your software attempts to read. To the point were I usually just copy-paste stuff from my resume in the boxes your software failed to read.
After the rigamorale of creating a profile, uploading your resume, redoing everything the software messed up, and submitting it, your application is whisked away through the tubes of the internet to the company's email. Where, most likely, it is either forwarded to account that is no longer in use or is forwarded to someones junk mail because it is marked as spam. Your application never gets read, ever. Thanks for spending 30 minutes filling it out!
However, recently I received news on a position I applied for about 2 months ago. In the mail, they sent me a note saying they received my application and that I should fill the following forms out to be considered for the process. What they sent me you may ask? ANOTHER APPLICATION, this time in paper form!
So after doing the online equivalent, and attaching my resume, cover letter, and references, they want me to fill out a paper application, print out my resume, cover, letter and references and send it back to them. Keep in mind, the application asks you everything that would be on that resume, but just to be safe, they want you to scribble it down, in case they loose the other two things that already have that. I didn't fill out the paper version, because I figure if they are that backwards with recruitment, then possibly they would be in every other way.
So, I have a suggestion for the perfect job posting, so businesses listen up!
Here's what SHOULD be on the website:
Job XYZ
Email at yada@blah.com your resume to be considered. Don't send a cover letter because they are useless.
Requirements (that we will actually use to grade you, not make believe ones after you apply to discredit you and make you feel bad)
Education (that we will actually use to grade you, not make believe ones after you apply to discredit you and make you feel bad)
Salary: PUT THE SALARY RANGE HERE!!! YES, WE WANNA KNOW THAT !!!
Here's what I'd send in an email:
Dear Herp,
Enclosed is my resume for Job XYZ. ***COPY-PASTE COVER LETTER CRAP HERE*** (Because folks, cover letters are memos, and nobody sends paper memos any more. Emails are electronic memos, and people have been using them for like 20 years).
Sincerely,
Herpty Derp
PS: I put a read flag on so I'll get notified when you read this email. So i'll be looking forward to that in 3 months
And that's it folks!
No more wasted money on terrible job screening software or wasted time filling out crappy applications. Use the best tool to screen applicants! Your eyes!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Kick Cancer's Ass
During some discussion at work today, we were discussing technology as a whole and the parts it played in our lives. Technology to me has always been the never ending puzzle I constantly try to solve; just when I figure one thing out I usually uncover more things to solve. I'm a learner, but I also love to apply what I learn to something that will make it worth while or make a difference.
My life, and the people who have been it, have seen the ugliness of cancer. It's taken both of my Paternal grandparents, and almost my Aunt (15+ year survivor). The worst for me was as a child seeing my grandmother, who was always very stoic, slowly get eaten away. Sheer stubbornness in the face of adversity always seems to be a hallmark of our family. My grandfather, also a life lost to the disease, always told people the missing part of his leg was due to a shark-bite while saving a damsel in distress. This was a man who won two bronze stars, and fought in some of the worst battles of WW2, and never said a word of it to his family. Like my grandmother, he also was slowly eaten by cancer, as well as other complications that caused his situation to worsen. He was 6'2" and 210 LBS before he got sick. He ended up being 5'3" and 130 LBS when he died.
I've done research in the past for a program called Folding@home. This is a project hosted by Stanford University, and is a program that borrows computer power from regular users to help solve complex data that helps the research of various genetic diseases. These include many forms of Cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, as well as other symptoms and issues. They've tested several new methods and compounds due to the research done from this project and the donated computing power of users.
This is where the lightbulb clicked on in my head. I can use this as an outlet for my tech savvy, but also as an advocacy for a cause I believe heavily in. Paired with a new found knowledge of how things work and what would be involved with such a project, I think it would definitely be worthwhile. I just need the interest (and funding) to support it.
So without further ado, I announce
Project: Kick Cancer's Ass
Here's what I need to get:
- A server with a bunch of processing power to do the work for the Folding@home packages sent
- Hosting the server in a Datacenter
The raw number i've come up with is $4-5,000
I'm gonna host this project on Crowdrise.com to get possible funding and see if it would be viable. Of course, I'll do some more number crunching and see what will gather the most project interest. So, i'll be doing some market research as well.
Wish me luck, this is just the beginning!
My life, and the people who have been it, have seen the ugliness of cancer. It's taken both of my Paternal grandparents, and almost my Aunt (15+ year survivor). The worst for me was as a child seeing my grandmother, who was always very stoic, slowly get eaten away. Sheer stubbornness in the face of adversity always seems to be a hallmark of our family. My grandfather, also a life lost to the disease, always told people the missing part of his leg was due to a shark-bite while saving a damsel in distress. This was a man who won two bronze stars, and fought in some of the worst battles of WW2, and never said a word of it to his family. Like my grandmother, he also was slowly eaten by cancer, as well as other complications that caused his situation to worsen. He was 6'2" and 210 LBS before he got sick. He ended up being 5'3" and 130 LBS when he died.
I've done research in the past for a program called Folding@home. This is a project hosted by Stanford University, and is a program that borrows computer power from regular users to help solve complex data that helps the research of various genetic diseases. These include many forms of Cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, as well as other symptoms and issues. They've tested several new methods and compounds due to the research done from this project and the donated computing power of users.
This is where the lightbulb clicked on in my head. I can use this as an outlet for my tech savvy, but also as an advocacy for a cause I believe heavily in. Paired with a new found knowledge of how things work and what would be involved with such a project, I think it would definitely be worthwhile. I just need the interest (and funding) to support it.
So without further ado, I announce
Project: Kick Cancer's Ass
Here's what I need to get:
- A server with a bunch of processing power to do the work for the Folding@home packages sent
- Hosting the server in a Datacenter
The raw number i've come up with is $4-5,000
I'm gonna host this project on Crowdrise.com to get possible funding and see if it would be viable. Of course, I'll do some more number crunching and see what will gather the most project interest. So, i'll be doing some market research as well.
Wish me luck, this is just the beginning!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Sit down and shut up!
I attended the Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference here in Pittsburgh hosted by the Pittsburgh Technology Council today, and it was a refreshing and insightful day. As well as getting my geek and wing chow on, I had the experience to witness how education right now is in a complete frenzy to adapt new technology methods and means to teach the same material, but in a better way.
Now, to say that technology wasn't the bastard-child of education before would be, at best, a lie. Much like music education, technology has been given a stigma that you can't teach and need to be Bill Gates to understand it. Basically, it goes like this:
If you don't utilize technology in school, you are wrong
I couldn't agree more! We as a country have fallen in the trap of standards. Standardized tests, standardized methods, lesson plans, etc. What we need is innovation, and technology definitely is the perfect vehicle for that. I saw teachers in different districts figure out ways to do this.
The first class I attended was a demo of how Fox Chapel schools now utilize iPads in the classroom. Whats interesting about this is the iPad was never intended to do what they are doing with it, and Apple actually had to reinvent it's strategy to figure how to best suite the needs of education. Because of this, volume licensing of apps is now available. They showed how they use the internal features of the iPad that are already there, as well as a developing strategies to teach certain things in a certain way on the platform. What really interested me, as a geek, was how they are now able to deploy iPads much like laptops, and how most of the books in their library are now available to the platform. To add to the list of tricks, the iPad in their district has now replaced a communication machine for autism that was much worse, and much more expensive (~$8000) with a $200 iPad app for Autism.
A teacher from New Brighton High School built a website and utilized Skype in the Classroom to collaborate with teachers across the country and the world. One in particular was a teacher in Japan that he exchange informational videos about culture of the schools. He also informed us that teachers are now in foreign language class are using this to openly communicate with schools in the countries in which they speak the language they are learning. I can't think of a better way to learn than from the horses mouth, no insult or pun intended. I took 6 years of German throughout middle and high school, and struggled with many parts of it, as it is one of the harder languages to master (mainly because they have 16 forms of "the"). If I was able to have that technology to talk to a german in german live like that I doubt I would of struggled.
You can check out his website here, where he posts his classes projects and such:
http://www.mrpasquale.com/Mr._Pasquale/Home_Page.html
Finally, to wrap my geek learning session, we attended a class on Office 365. Microsoft actually came to the event, and demonstrated the new, all web based technologies that will make the installed office suite obsolete. Everything is now web, or "cloud based". I think Microsoft is really hitting a home run here, because not only are all your documents available on any browser anywhere you have a web connection, but it works on all platforms, to include Mac OSX, iPad and iPhone, Android and even Linux. As an IT professional, I would love it, as it's one less thing to troubleshoot and manage, and allows a completely transparent and flexbile platform to do things. This software really opens the idea of using an iPad or Android tablet as a laptop equivalent. All you need is a weblink to get working! You can check it out here for free if you have a Hotmail or Windows Live account (it's called SkyDrive, and doesn't have a few things):
https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=11&ct=1321484137&rver=6.1.6206.0&wp=MBI_SSL_SHARED&wreply=https:%2F%2Fskydrive.live.com%2F&lc=1033&id=250206&mkt=en-US&cbcxt=sky
Finally, to end the event, we had a closing speech about the Gen Y generation and the needs to change the style of teaching. Heading this was MK Haley, who is the Associate Executive Producer of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center. This section of CMU put the new methods that may be in schools of how to teach this new generation into practice. Typical practices of this are to constantly pair students together on different projects over the courses. These can range from designing a virtual world to developing a new means of expression and communication. What really interested me was they typically have a group of people with completely different backgrounds. One group that stood out to me was the "Random Awesomeness Group" which is 20% of their class, which consists of anyone who excels in a certain field, whether that may be accounting, theater or english.
To sum up her speech in words, she debunks the current method of teaching, which I lightly call "Sit down and shut up", where kids are read to and expected to learn. The differences of the Gen Y group make it so most people in my age bracket learn in completely different ways. We are disadvantaged as most older generations may think, in fact, we have the ability to solve complex and difficult issues that were before possible. Gen Y needs more collaboration, more exposure to actual relevance to what we are learning, and we can teach ourselves anything that we assume is possible. Our generation isn't full of people who refuse to learn how to open a word document in Microsoft Word (Ahem, baby boomers!). Gen Y folks want to learn, not get talked to and remember useless information.
What makes technology so vital to education is exactly why music education is, it forces you to completely dissect and problem solve. I posted a comment about how growing up, the things that interested me in my education were surrounded by technology, as well as music. Music and technology are very similar in how they are taught and understood, and how they compliment anything else in school. Kids with music education are much better students, and have been statistically proven to perform better in subjects like Math and Science. Music forces you to take apart and put something back together, developing critical thinking skills just like learning about technology. I was in hog heaven when I took music technology in school, because it was something I could teach myself and master. It brought aspects of my tech background, as well as my love for music, in a good mix.
Technology is going to lead our culture in the future. To stay competitive, and teach our children, we need to embrace it, not shun it away. Our old methods of teaching are no longer good. Endless tests aren't going to prove anything, we are leaving our children behind.
Now, to say that technology wasn't the bastard-child of education before would be, at best, a lie. Much like music education, technology has been given a stigma that you can't teach and need to be Bill Gates to understand it. Basically, it goes like this:
If you don't utilize technology in school, you are wrong
I couldn't agree more! We as a country have fallen in the trap of standards. Standardized tests, standardized methods, lesson plans, etc. What we need is innovation, and technology definitely is the perfect vehicle for that. I saw teachers in different districts figure out ways to do this.
The first class I attended was a demo of how Fox Chapel schools now utilize iPads in the classroom. Whats interesting about this is the iPad was never intended to do what they are doing with it, and Apple actually had to reinvent it's strategy to figure how to best suite the needs of education. Because of this, volume licensing of apps is now available. They showed how they use the internal features of the iPad that are already there, as well as a developing strategies to teach certain things in a certain way on the platform. What really interested me, as a geek, was how they are now able to deploy iPads much like laptops, and how most of the books in their library are now available to the platform. To add to the list of tricks, the iPad in their district has now replaced a communication machine for autism that was much worse, and much more expensive (~$8000) with a $200 iPad app for Autism.
A teacher from New Brighton High School built a website and utilized Skype in the Classroom to collaborate with teachers across the country and the world. One in particular was a teacher in Japan that he exchange informational videos about culture of the schools. He also informed us that teachers are now in foreign language class are using this to openly communicate with schools in the countries in which they speak the language they are learning. I can't think of a better way to learn than from the horses mouth, no insult or pun intended. I took 6 years of German throughout middle and high school, and struggled with many parts of it, as it is one of the harder languages to master (mainly because they have 16 forms of "the"). If I was able to have that technology to talk to a german in german live like that I doubt I would of struggled.
You can check out his website here, where he posts his classes projects and such:
http://www.mrpasquale.com/Mr._Pasquale/Home_Page.html
Finally, to wrap my geek learning session, we attended a class on Office 365. Microsoft actually came to the event, and demonstrated the new, all web based technologies that will make the installed office suite obsolete. Everything is now web, or "cloud based". I think Microsoft is really hitting a home run here, because not only are all your documents available on any browser anywhere you have a web connection, but it works on all platforms, to include Mac OSX, iPad and iPhone, Android and even Linux. As an IT professional, I would love it, as it's one less thing to troubleshoot and manage, and allows a completely transparent and flexbile platform to do things. This software really opens the idea of using an iPad or Android tablet as a laptop equivalent. All you need is a weblink to get working! You can check it out here for free if you have a Hotmail or Windows Live account (it's called SkyDrive, and doesn't have a few things):
https://login.live.com/login.srf?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=11&ct=1321484137&rver=6.1.6206.0&wp=MBI_SSL_SHARED&wreply=https:%2F%2Fskydrive.live.com%2F&lc=1033&id=250206&mkt=en-US&cbcxt=sky
Finally, to end the event, we had a closing speech about the Gen Y generation and the needs to change the style of teaching. Heading this was MK Haley, who is the Associate Executive Producer of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center. This section of CMU put the new methods that may be in schools of how to teach this new generation into practice. Typical practices of this are to constantly pair students together on different projects over the courses. These can range from designing a virtual world to developing a new means of expression and communication. What really interested me was they typically have a group of people with completely different backgrounds. One group that stood out to me was the "Random Awesomeness Group" which is 20% of their class, which consists of anyone who excels in a certain field, whether that may be accounting, theater or english.
To sum up her speech in words, she debunks the current method of teaching, which I lightly call "Sit down and shut up", where kids are read to and expected to learn. The differences of the Gen Y group make it so most people in my age bracket learn in completely different ways. We are disadvantaged as most older generations may think, in fact, we have the ability to solve complex and difficult issues that were before possible. Gen Y needs more collaboration, more exposure to actual relevance to what we are learning, and we can teach ourselves anything that we assume is possible. Our generation isn't full of people who refuse to learn how to open a word document in Microsoft Word (Ahem, baby boomers!). Gen Y folks want to learn, not get talked to and remember useless information.
What makes technology so vital to education is exactly why music education is, it forces you to completely dissect and problem solve. I posted a comment about how growing up, the things that interested me in my education were surrounded by technology, as well as music. Music and technology are very similar in how they are taught and understood, and how they compliment anything else in school. Kids with music education are much better students, and have been statistically proven to perform better in subjects like Math and Science. Music forces you to take apart and put something back together, developing critical thinking skills just like learning about technology. I was in hog heaven when I took music technology in school, because it was something I could teach myself and master. It brought aspects of my tech background, as well as my love for music, in a good mix.
Technology is going to lead our culture in the future. To stay competitive, and teach our children, we need to embrace it, not shun it away. Our old methods of teaching are no longer good. Endless tests aren't going to prove anything, we are leaving our children behind.
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