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Microsoft Spending $75M To Boost K-12 CS Education, Put TEALS In 4,000 Schools
theodp writes: An NSF-funded evaluation of the Microsoft TEALS program — which sends volunteer software engineers with no teaching experience into high schools to teach kids and their teachers computer science — isn't scheduled to be completed until 2018. But having declared a K-12 CS education emergency (which it's linked to an H-1B visa emergency), Microsoft is going full speed ahead and spending $75 million to boost computer science in schools. The software giant told USA today that it aims to put TEALS in 700 high schools in the next three years and in 4,000 over the next decade, focusing on urban and rural districts to reach more young women and minorities. "In the U.S. alone, the economy will create 1.4 million new computing jobs by the year 2022," wrote Microsoft President and Code.org Board member Brad Smith. "Yet, less than a quarter of U.S. high schools currently teach computer science. That's not enough and we're working with schools and policy-makers to change that."
The Chicago Public Schools are $500,000,000.00 short this year, yes just this year.
I'd like to know what makes programming so good for learning, but not management skills. With management schools, kids could think of new ways to support themselves, or at least be way more prepared to find careers that will take them through life. Learning programming just creates new slaves, while perhaps learning a bit of logic. But the logic they would learn could be expressed and learned in way more efficient ways than actually writing a program. If anything, the logic is obfuscated by putting it in a java format, just write 'if - then - else' or 'while' and put a circle around the works inside.
The way to attract computer people is to start paying for computer people and demonstrating that it is a worthy career choice where you will be able to keep your job, your knowledge will be valued, and you will be respected. If they keep sending the opposite message, any other effort will fail.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Already plenty of proof in scores that technology does not improve grades and in fact its suggested that it may actually be a distraction. The only reason Apple. Microsoft and Google are trying to push technology in class seems pretty obvious. They want to move product and make more money. Already have seen big districts like Los Angeles drop iPads for a lack of any tangible evidence the cost justifies the benefits.
... do they run Linux? Hah!
Wait... what? They do? 8-[
Salaries are too high so they need to increase competition for available jobs to drive the price down.
I've heard of this time and time again. Is there any evidence that software engineers are good teachers? I mean, the challenge in K-12 is getting control of the students, not the teaching material (which is low level and entirely uninteresting).
That's barely enough for a single school district.
Microsoft's announcement coincidentally came a day after New York City announced an $81M public-private K-12 CS mandate, which prompted Microsoft's Smith to join fellow FWD.us PAC backers Ron Conway and Fred Wilson, as well other execs from Google, Facebook, and Goldman Sachs, to explain to the masses "Why Computer Science for All is Good for All" in An Open Letter from the Nation's Tech and Business Leaders. Making an argument worthy of a tantrum-throwing toddler, the execs exclaimed in a pull-quote, "We need talent, we need it now, and we simply cannot find enough."
That supposed leaders in the field don't differentiate between computer science and computer programming.
They are totally different concepts and require different knowledge and skill sets.
It's like saying "We're going to learn architecture today, here's a pile of two by fours, lets frame a house."
I took computer science in my high school the first year it was available; it was taught by a real programmer with real job experience programming. I don't think he had much teaching experience, but the class was *excellent*. There wasn't any bullshit, it was "this is how to think about these problems" type learning. This program certainly has potential.
Thousands are being laid off at HP, Qualcomm and others.
Most have little hope of an equivalent job.
So much for the urgent need for programmers.
...omphaloskepsis often...
volunteer software engineers with no teaching experience into high schools to teach kids and their teachers computer science
It's like they're trying to put kids off CS before they even have to choose.
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
In an expensive move MS invests $75M to try to steer CS education toward propitiatory closed source environment.
What we need is Tech For America, where the army of laid off American tech workers go into schools and teach computer science.
I like the title 'Tech For America', but if this is the only sponsor what we are going to have is a bunch of vendor biased programmers who eventual will be unemployed because they keep outsourcing the jobs. Like how they are outsourcing these TEALS teaching jobs. People from all over the world come to the U.S. to attend the best universities, they don't stay, they return back to their countries. We export our education, but oh no we have a bunch of guys waving their certs. Wait I like certs, but it won't cut the mustard, it's a prerequisite. Anyone feel left out, or is it just me.
“Mind Control: To control mental output you have to control mental input. Take control of the channels by which developers receive information, then they can only think about the things you tell them. Thus, you control mindshare!” ref
Need help. Any India child of four can program a computer. Stupid American child of four can do what? Nothing. That is what.
Is this your Brahmin Children or the ones who have to look foward to a job market that consists of cleaning your sewers?
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
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Hope the good PR they get is worth the money thrown down the drain. Maybe get a few more kinds interested in CS.
Over the years it's been a long lost endeavor to bolster computer education in schools. Being a costly affair, schools opt to athletics and arts. Computers are not cheap, but computers encompass a vast majority of all the other subjects a student would learn in school. It's about time they learn about the tool they in turn learn on. Good job, Microsoft...... first Windows 10 and now investing in our future!