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Bill Gates, Amazon and Google Urge Followers To Share Data On Teacher Friends
theodp writes: Facebook may be facing the threat of a multi-billion dollar FTC fine for privacy lapses that included allowing companies to obtain users' email addresses from their friends, but that didn't discourage Bill Gates from taking to Twitter to urge his 46.5 million followers to give up the names and email addresses of teachers so they can be contacted by tech-bankrolled Code.org for a chance to receive a "Computer Science Scholarship" (attend Professional Development workshops). Or Amazon. Or Google. "The success of our professional learning program depends on the work of our partners to spread the word," explained Code.org in a Medium Post. "Corporate partners like Amazon, Infosys, and Google are rallying their employees and communities to nominate a teacher, and so are fellow teachers, parents, and students. We couldn't do it without you! [...] Code.org (and these scholarships) are supported by: Amazon, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Facebook, Google, Infosys Foundation USA, Microsoft [...] Code.org has prepared almost 100,000 educators to teach our courses, and they give our program rave reviews. We welcome teachers from all subject areas-no CS experience needed!"
In May, Code.org announced it was crowdsourcing a database of U.S. K-12 schools that teach -- or don't teach -- CS, with a goal to "gather data for 100% of U.S. schools by the end of 2018." The database would be used by the nonprofit and the CS community to "make our shared vision [for every school to teach computer science] a reality." Several months later, Amazon disclosed its involvement with the data collection effort, explaining it "will help us bring access to the schools that need it most." Amazon on Thursday announced it had selected 1,000 high schools to receive Amazon-funded CS classes and will be tapping another lucky 1,000 schools in the next few months. An Amazon press release said the company hopes to "inspire and educate 10 million children and young adults each year from underprivileged, underrepresented, and underserved communities to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer science and coding" through its Amazon Future Engineer program, which the e-tailer describes as "a four-part, childhood-to-career program."
In May, Code.org announced it was crowdsourcing a database of U.S. K-12 schools that teach -- or don't teach -- CS, with a goal to "gather data for 100% of U.S. schools by the end of 2018." The database would be used by the nonprofit and the CS community to "make our shared vision [for every school to teach computer science] a reality." Several months later, Amazon disclosed its involvement with the data collection effort, explaining it "will help us bring access to the schools that need it most." Amazon on Thursday announced it had selected 1,000 high schools to receive Amazon-funded CS classes and will be tapping another lucky 1,000 schools in the next few months. An Amazon press release said the company hopes to "inspire and educate 10 million children and young adults each year from underprivileged, underrepresented, and underserved communities to pursue careers in the fast-growing field of computer science and coding" through its Amazon Future Engineer program, which the e-tailer describes as "a four-part, childhood-to-career program."
As a CS engineer, I would never recommend any of my teacher friends to attend a brainwash from the GAFAMs in order to help them format the students for the industry.
If the GAFAMs really want to help education, they may start by paying their taxes.
I have a collection of over 1.1 million email addresses from known spammers/hackers on my websites, maybe I should submit them.
I do not care WHAT your motivation is. Do NOT send me unsolicited e-mails!
And why would I want to "follow" him? On Twitter, of all things?
What's this "Twitter" thing, anyway?
We all know that data sharing is a thing that we all are scared of and by the post, we can see how big companies are sharing our data and making millions and billions of money. The whole database is being transferred from one company to another. As I got to know this from https://applesupportnumber.net... while being concerned with the data on my ios devices.
Focus on the people who can actually pass all their tests and exams every year.
Without needing extra non academic consideration.
Full academic scholarships for the very best in every state after all passing exams.
Years of testing should find the top percentage of every generation, every decade.
The underrepresented can sit the same free tests, pass the same exams as all other students.
Data sets, workshops, a new CoC, money, academic programs, charity cant help people who can't and won't study.
Some people want to be vets, lawyers, historians. To play a sport, do music. Learn a language. Become a mathematician.
Put that new support into all of education.
Let people select what they want to do and ensure the needed academic support is not all about computers and a code CoC.
Let the underprivileged select their own professions. Carpenter, plumber, law, arts, math, languages, sport, math.
They may want to find work with topics such as agriculture, chemistry and finance.
Computer work is not underrepresented. It just needs really smart people who can actually study.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
just forgot to buy the data from Bookface. /s
Here's the evidence that these people are nothing but a bunch of narcissistic psychopaths. Collecting information on unrelated people, invading their privacy at your own convenience at any time with out a thought or care about what they might think about it, as if they'd themselves, personally, would enjoy having to deal with all the crap that gets pushed at you non-stop when you can't afford to hire layers of people to filter it down for you.
The mental disconnect of these people are unfathomable.
Maybe it's a test of basic courtesy? When you enter someone's details, they get contacted and asked if someone asked their permission to post their email address. If they say no, an orbital laser fries the brain of the person who DIDN'T HAVE THE COMMON FUCKING COURTESY TO ASK BEFORE SHARING PEOPLE'S DETAILS.
Onto a more legitimate point, at least they are asking people and not just skimming it all automatically.
...
Why would any smart kids want to study computer science? Wages in Silicon Valley haven't gone up in a decade, while cost of living more than doubled. The ranks of unemployed programmers are steadily growing, as more and more American programmers are laid off and replaced with H1B scabs.
When I started out, programming was a profession with a bright future. A great field for smart young men without the family connections to make it in the old boys clubs of law and business.
Nowadays? Programming is dumbed down factory work - and we don't even have a union. Moreover, the big majority of what Silicon Valley builds is frankly evil.
Only a fool would waste their time studying computer science today. Better that students learn history, literature, & art. Those won't help ones career any more, or any less, than CS. But at least it will help one be a cultured and civic-minded citizen.
I have to wonder about programs that are supposed to get ordinary teachers to teach CS. I expect many of us had teachers (especially in primary school) who were teaching stuff they personally did not like or understand. Seems to me that's the likely result here: take someone who doesn't really like CS, and doesn't really understand it either - and have them try to teach it. Seems like a great way to turn students off.
Anyone have practical experience with these programs, who can comment?
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
But if people like you repeat it often enough, they might start to believe they have to conform, and help you self-fulfill your prophecy. Congratulations.
It'd likr with Justin Bieber. Who only got popular because everyone kept dragging him throigh town for hating him and saying he is for teenage girls and way too popular, even though he wasn't yet... Until said teenage girls went "Okay. If you say so. I guess I'll fill my role.".
Sometimes I wonder how many of the people like you are paid false-flag puppets, and part of a campaign.
If we can't get you to sign up we'll get friends to do it for you so we can spam you.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
In this competitive world, why would anyone help their future competition? This could impact your ability to work, your pay, your family status for generations.
Are people really that stupid?
It is clear why tech giants want this - it dilutes the labor market and drops prices for them. Do CS and programming people want to be paid like McDonald's cashiers? Then help your competition.
Ok, I'm not really this hard up, but I'd like for my at least 1 of my 3 kids to have a good life coding for a living. One is an architect, the other is a social media "inflluencer" and the last one, the least likely to do anything, has gotten a job doing IoT stuff in a PhD program. I was shocked, since he never showed any interest beyond gaming with any computers. He doesn't have a smart phone, and is very happy with a $20 cell phone.
Anyway, looks like he will be doing coding. I won't be helping his competition, even though I rarely find 4 people out of 100 in a college CS program who are going to remain in coding.
BTW, I used to teach Linux at the local University. I seems kids are dumber and dumber, with a few, very few, talented folks. I'd assign a trivial shell script and you'd think I was asking for a 50 pg research paper on _War and Peace_. And I'm tired of girls thinking that crying about how hard it is will help their grades. You'd think they'd be smart enough to google the answer - but if there isn't a smartphone app, this generation is pretty dumb, mostly.
Be it the copyright lobby, the magazine sales lobby, or another group.
I can't even remember all the pitches teachers made to me in k-8 that in hindsight were obviously propaganda for some special interest group or other, all preached as dogma. Made me understand a bit more those parents who kept their children out of the various activities or 'special education sessions'.
Disappointing, but it's not a first for our schoolteachers.
Urging followers to "out" the friends of teachers...
I have many friends who are teachers, from elementary to HS and college. Not going to post a single one of their email addresses. Because it's not my information to post. If they want spam they can sign up for it.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
Why don't they share more of their success with their workers? Maybe then kids will see other people who are successful in development and follow them. When you work for a company you are creating value. If they are going to strip all that value away and leave the worker with the bare minimum of compensation that the market dictates regardless of the value they create then they will get a poor job pool to pick from because there is no motivation to educate in it.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Ah, now that many states are imposing moratoriums on charters, they have to do SOMETHING to get all that tasty data. These fools will never change, only regulation and legal action will put them in their place. Associating any of their names with education, or intelligence for that matter, is a disgrace.
Teacher or not, these firms should know better., and not resort to scumbag tactics. (What else is it called? Oh I remember-- d-bag tactics, like exes do)
Those of us who know CS know that much of it is just math. Seen any stats on how students are performing at math? Just because the internet and its associated riches and fame made computers fashionable doesn't mean that suddenly everyone who sucked at math will become good at CS. This is dumb.
If someone went viral with a video or something and wanted to round up all the email addresses of CEOs and executives of large companies, I wonder what the reaction would be?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
I dislike the big brothers as much as the next guy, but I can't see how asking clients for contacts or to spread the word is equivalent to Facebook giving these contacts away without the consent of anyone involved.
AND be sure to include his wife and kids as well, because what is goose is good for the gander. I would not want him to circumvent sharing by hiding behind his wife and kids. Remember this is the sort of future he wants for the rest of us, he need to include him as well. Sincerely, Privacy By Gone
If it's a legitimate request, it will be forwarded to them via their schools, colleges, and universities.
If they're just trying to monetize the teachers and have them work below scale for others, it won't.
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