Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Spending $75M To Boost K-12 CS Education, Put TEALS In 4,000 Schools

Posted by timothy on from the uncertain-returns dept.

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."

7 of 48 comments (clear)

  1. Really? I mean... by Lord+Duran · · Score: 2

    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).

    1. Re:Really? I mean... by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Most people are not good teachers. Those that are have learned how to be over a long time and brought specific talent to the table in the first place. There is no reason to believe software engineers can do any better. But hey, it is Microsoft. Doing things badly is what they excel at.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re:Really? I mean... by dougg76 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      We live near MS land and my son just finished a course where they sent a few programmers from MS to teach the course. While they did seem like capable programmers, they were not very good teachers. I think only 20% or so of the people who started the class finished. I tried to make my son drop the class because it was taking so much time from other classes that it was negatively impacting his grades. Interestingly enough, he did pass the AP exam, but I mark that more up to his participation in the First Robotics program and his actual enjoyment of making things. While he had a lot of fun coding, the overall experience left him with a bad taste in his mouth and he does not want to program anything again (did not want this). In some ways this makes me happy because he wants to go into mechanical engineering and I don't want him to get distracted by the software industries shinies.

      --
      I laugh at inappropriate times.
    3. Re:Really? I mean... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Funny

      We live near MS land and my son just finished a course where they sent a few programmers from MS to teach the course. While they did seem like capable programmers, they were not very good teachers.

      THIS!

      I rememberd my initial foray into Linux, I'd go online with a question, and the answer always came back:

      "Oh, that's simple! All you have to do is" - and then immediately launched into a dissertation that had my head spinning in 5 seconds or less.

      And I figured out pretty quickly that the person answering was trying to answer my question, but also trying to impress me with how smart he was. As well, a lot of things he took for granted that everyone knew.

      And that is bad teaching. A teacher has to break things down, and bring them to the level of the person being taught. And most software engineers I know can't do that. Because they are pretty darn smart - just ask them.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  2. What's Good for Microsoft is Good for K-12 Schools by theodp · · Score: 2

    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."

  3. meanwhile, in the real world ... by swell · · Score: 3, Informative

    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...
  4. What could possibly go wrong? by arielCo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.