Public School Partners Provide Pupils' Protracted Proficiency

IBM Partners with Public Schools to Give Students a Chance

The real world is a scary place. I speak from hearsay, of course, as I have yet to actually step into that real world. Though I have a foot in the door leading there, the majority of my body remains safely tucked away in my stable, comfortable college world. However, I will be thrust into that harsh reality in which so many live soon enough. I will have to face the growing possibility of not finding a job with the current level of unemployment across the country. I will have to take on the huge numbers of baby-boomer offspring vying for a limited number of positions. I will have to hope that my résumé shines just a little bit more than the other candidates. So, what’s the point? Nothing is going to change any time soon. So, why should it matter? Because we can change it.

We can affect the change we want to see in this scary, real world. And people have already started. Pathways in Technology Early College High School (also known as P-Tech) is a higher education institution in Brooklyn, New York. P-Tech is partnering with IBM in order to educate and employ students in the field of technology.

Currently, there are over 1600 job vacancies at IBM due to the dearth of qualified applicants. The P-Tech partnership seeks to remedy this issue. The high school aims to give students the skills and tools they will need for future careers at IBM. The school functions under a “9-through-14 model” where students attend the school for six years rather than the traditional four. In these additional two years, students gain more proficiency in mathematics and science as well as earn their associate’s degree in applied science. In order to achieve such proficiency, the individual school day has also been lengthened by several hours.

This pairing of the tech industry with public high schools solves several problems. First, IBM fills its job openings with qualified individuals. Second, students receive instruction tailored to their current interests and future careers. Third and possibly most important, students receive a free college education in the additional two years at P-Tech. Thus, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds can get an education that they might not otherwise have received. Students are enabled to enter the workforce with a competitive edge and job-readiness skills.

P-Tech hosts open admissions for students to attend their school based on students’ top choices. Once the students are there, they are taught skills and information that directly apply to IBM’s work. But the school-IBM relationship does not end there. The school curriculum was created with the help from IBM employees, and each student is matched with an IBM mentor who they meet twice a week online. The relationship also extends beyond P-Tech’s doors. Once the students graduate, they are guaranteed first choice for available jobs at IBM.

IBM plans to expand this project into other schools in order to foster the growth of students in the tech world. In the next ten years, 14 million jobs will be created for those with associate’s degrees. Hopefully, this IBM program will help fill many of those positions.

Suddenly, that real world doesn’t look so scary.

For more information on IBM's initiative, check out the CNN article.

To E-Read or Not to E-Read?

To E-Read or Not to E-Read?

That Is the Question

E-Readers are a relatively new technology being employed in classrooms around the country. The typical e-reader is a portable device that uses very little energy to digitally display printed materials from books, magazines, and newspapers. There are even e-readers that have access to the internet in order to display electronic sources. They most often provide black and white text in “e-ink” rather than with an LCD back-lit screen. Furthermore, many e-readers allow their readers to resize the text, highlight, annotate, and bookmark pages. These features make e-readers very similar to printed books.

So, why might this technology be useful in a classroom? Well, there are several advantages to an e-reader for readers in general and specifically students. As previously stated, most e-readers utilize e-ink rather than LCD screens. This absence of back-lighting reduces eye strain and eliminates glare so texts may be read in the sun. Thus, students are able to read electronic documents that would normally only be available on their back-lit computer screens. With the e-reader, students gain access to such documents and spare their eyes in the process.

Over the past few years, e-readers have grown in popularity throughout the nation’s schools. Students download textbooks to their e-readers and have access to their information all in one place. Rather than hauling five heavy textbooks between school and home, students can maintain all of their books in the light, portable e-reader. Most e-readers also offer their users the opportunity to annotate, highlight, and bookmark pages in a text. These capabilities make using e-readers as easy as using printed sources.

E-readers improve upon their printed counterparts relative to the resizable fonts, affordable prices, and ecological impact. For students with disabilities, e-readers often offer text-to-speech options as well as resizable fonts. Students are thus able to hear what the text says as well as enlarge it to better see. E-readers can also offer better prices than printed books. Many texts that have outlived their copyright dates are available for free in electronic format. Rather than purchasing a printed text from a bookstore, students can now receive the same texts for free or at reduced prices on their e-readers. In addition, e-readers provide the environmentally-conscious student with an ecologically responsible option for reading required school texts. E-readers differ from books in the most obvious way: they are not made from paper. Thus, thousands of pages of paper can be saved from investing in an e-reader that does not kill any trees. Go green!

However, this teacher cautions any who wishes to invest in an e-reader. There are several negative features of the device. Due to their expense and oft extensive libraries, e-readers are frequently subject to theft. This becomes a major problem for the student who houses all of his or her reading materials on the single device. Damage to the device is also a concern. Dropping a printed text or spilling liquid on a traditional textbook does not typically render the book useless. However, doing so to an e-reader could very well destroy the device. This can be a serious problem relative to younger students.

Overall, I believe the e-reader will continue to shape many classrooms with its predominantly positive attributes. The future of the devices is bright. For use in schools, e-reader companies are currently developing capabilities for electronic flashcards, pronunciation glossaries, embedded videos, and collaborative note-taking. Tablet-style e-readers will also offer the opportunity for teachers to communicate with their students during class through their devices with interactive charts, maps, and other visual information.

As a teacher with an e-reader, I highly recommend the use of the device for the classroom. And if your school does not move in that direction, I can also recommend e-readers for personal use by students and teachers alike. The greatest benefit I have encountered while using my e-reader has been the instant access. So, when you finish the first book in The Hunger Games series, you can instantly download the next book onto your e-reader. I am not aware of any bookstore open at 3 AM, but my e-reader bookstore certainly is!

Information about e-readers taken from EDUCAUSE's March 2010 article: 7 Things You Should Know about E-Readers .