MS Tackles CS Education Crisis With Popularity Contest

theodp writes " The lack of education in computer science is an example of an area of particularly acute concern,' Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith told Congress (PDF) as he sold lawmakers on the need to improve 'America's access to high skilled foreign talent'. Smith added that Microsoft also wants to 'help American students and workers gain the skills needed for the jobs that will fuel the innovation economy.' Towards that end, Microsoft will award $100,000 worth of donations to five technology education nonprofits 'who teach programming and provide technical resources to those who might not otherwise get the chance.' So, how will Microsoft determine who's most worthy? With a popularity contest, of course! At the end of October, the top five vote-getting nonprofits — only Windows AzureDev Community members are eligible to vote — will split the Microsoft Money. By the way, currently in second place but trying harder is Code.org, the seemingly dual-missioned organization advised by Microsoft's Smith which has reached out to its 140,000 Facebook fans, and 17,000 Twitter followers in its quest for the $50,000 first prize."

Comments

Re:A whole 100,000 bucks?

[Sponge Bath]

Makes you wonder how much they gave to congress for more H1Bs. A lot more than $100K for sure.

Ah, the mythical CS skills shortage

[GameboyRMH]

There's no shortage of skilled CS workers, just a shortage of companies willing to pay them decently.

The goal of this effort and similar ones like FWD.us (Facebook's Wealth Demands Unlimited Slaves?) is to make sure every kid can program when they leave high school, so that you can pay entry-level programmers the same as gas station attendants.

Re:Ah, the mythical CS skills shortage

[AmazingRuss]

I still don't think it will solve the problem. How are programmers gonna buy those 400k Redmond tract houses on a 40k salary?

There are too many vultures looking to exploit the next generation, and not enough meat to go around.

Re:Ah, the mythical CS skills shortage

[Z00L00K]

And there's a shortage of companies that still has a decent moral compass.

If you want to improve and attract coders then it's important to provide a platform that is usable and cheap and that provides tools that are useful when you actually learn to code. For example you need Visual Studio Premium or Ultimate in order to get the Code Metrics feature - something that is really useful to those that aren't professional coders.

Another problem is as mentioned - the inability to pay for skills - many organizations hires developers for the same amount of money per hour regardless of skill, but a skilled person may produce result a lot faster and with higher quality than someone fresh from education.

Re:Ah, the mythical CS skills shortage

[David_Hart]

"There's no shortage of skilled CS workers, just a shortage of companies willing to pay them decently" and are willing to train them.

There, fixed that for you. College is not about learning specific job skills which expire in 3 years, it's about learning a larger scope of skills that will stick with you throughout your career. Companies complain about a specific set of skills not being available in the marketplace and are unwilling to train or mentor graduates. Instead they go the green card route...

Re:Ah, the mythical CS skills shortage

[More Trouble]

Spending a big $100K on a popularity contest isn't going to ensure every kid can program. That's shut-up money, "Look, we tried, but USians just aren't up to snuff, give us more H1Bs!"

one idea...

[Connie_Lingus]

maybe if corporations (like Microsoft for example) stopped the practice of refusing to hire developers with 25 years of experience (like myself for example) with 13 year-old drug-possession felonies (like myself for example) they wouldn't be so desperate to hire foreigners...