Just NSBE
Its been over a week since the last entry. Time flies cause it definitely hasn't felt that long. Since my last entry, I had some family come in from England and it rained, and rained, and rained. I'm not saying its their fault, because they suffered more than we did (they're on vacation)... BUT of course everyone in my family said, "You brought the bad weather with you." And the thing with my fam is, that is OLD. They say it to EVERY relative that comes from overseas no matter how the weather is. If they are half as tired of hearing about it as I am, then I hope they find the strength to come back...
Yesterday, I went to a NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) Conference. I learned a great deal (as always) and for once it was nice being on the experience side (and not in the planning). The problem I'm going to talk about today is children and education. Mr. Carl Mack is right, we NEED to stimulate children earlier. Tutoring high school students is good, but what can we do for those that are already too far gone. I remember what got me into engineering... this place my parents used to take me to in NY. I know AT&T had something to do with it, but I can't find the place online now. Anyway, the technology back then was nothing, but they would type your name in, and give you this little swipe card. Everywhere you swiped the card, you would see your name. Your name would follow you down the stairs, and robots would build your name out of blocks. For me, that was the coolest thing in the world. We may need to step the game up to impress the children these days BUT, it can be done. Building more of these centers will stimulate young minds, and solve America's problem of lower science, math and technology enrollment.
As Carl Mack said, we need to have 3 week summer conferences with students in Middle School, not one day conferences with high-school students. We need to get the children earlier. Its easy to forget Calculus, but once you know how to read, you aren't going to forget. Exposure and stimulation is better than sitting and being lectured. The technology center needs to be on the level of Great Adventure. We don't want to bore people with facts or how stuff works (those will still be there though), we just want them to know that if they to be a PART of it all, engineering is the field to be in. Reminds me of the Liberty Science Center, except this will be corporately funded, and the companies will be able to show off their emerging technologies. Bottom line, we need to save our people, minorities. Stimulate them early, give them exposure that they may not be able to afford otherwise, and let them know that there is a place for them in technology. Someone had the great idea and did that for me. I think NSBE's name should be on this.
Yesterday, I went to a NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers) Conference. I learned a great deal (as always) and for once it was nice being on the experience side (and not in the planning). The problem I'm going to talk about today is children and education. Mr. Carl Mack is right, we NEED to stimulate children earlier. Tutoring high school students is good, but what can we do for those that are already too far gone. I remember what got me into engineering... this place my parents used to take me to in NY. I know AT&T had something to do with it, but I can't find the place online now. Anyway, the technology back then was nothing, but they would type your name in, and give you this little swipe card. Everywhere you swiped the card, you would see your name. Your name would follow you down the stairs, and robots would build your name out of blocks. For me, that was the coolest thing in the world. We may need to step the game up to impress the children these days BUT, it can be done. Building more of these centers will stimulate young minds, and solve America's problem of lower science, math and technology enrollment.
As Carl Mack said, we need to have 3 week summer conferences with students in Middle School, not one day conferences with high-school students. We need to get the children earlier. Its easy to forget Calculus, but once you know how to read, you aren't going to forget. Exposure and stimulation is better than sitting and being lectured. The technology center needs to be on the level of Great Adventure. We don't want to bore people with facts or how stuff works (those will still be there though), we just want them to know that if they to be a PART of it all, engineering is the field to be in. Reminds me of the Liberty Science Center, except this will be corporately funded, and the companies will be able to show off their emerging technologies. Bottom line, we need to save our people, minorities. Stimulate them early, give them exposure that they may not be able to afford otherwise, and let them know that there is a place for them in technology. Someone had the great idea and did that for me. I think NSBE's name should be on this.
posted by JC at 11:00 AM
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