MOOCs Could Help 2-Year Colleges and Their Students, Says Bill Gates

Chronicle of Higher Education (10/03/13) Katherine Mangan

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) that "flip" homework and coursework using outsourced lectures could help community colleges and students, said Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at the recent Association of Community College Trustees' leadership meeting in Seattle. Gates encouraged attendees to offer resources to instructors who want to try using technology through methods such as flipped classrooms. "I'd be the first to say this is a period of experimentation, but we'll learn much faster if people jump in and engage," Gates said. Like a flipped classroom, a flipped MOOC involves videotaped lectures viewed on a student's own time, with homework completed during class. Flipped classes at edX, for example, have helped reduce the failure rate of online classes. Classroom professors will face a challenge in competing with MOOC lectures as they advance, offering such high quality that "no individual performance is likely to come up to that level," Gates said. However, he said that such an arrangement frees up the professor for more-personalized instruction in the classroom. Meanwhile, he predicted that as students begin to do more work at home and online, they will reduce their time on campus, making room for more students.


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U.S. Agencies Revamp Standards for Cybersecurity Program

Chronicle of Higher Education (09/30/13) Megan O'Neil 

The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are releasing new curriculum standards for the joint National Centers of Academic Excellence cybersecurity program. The designation currently covers 181 cyber­-security programs at colleges and universities, and the overhaul will require institutions to reapply for the program. "Every cybersecurity professional that comes out of college and takes a job is a win for the government, whether they work for John Deere, Boeing, or Target," says DHS cybersecurity­-education awareness branch chief Robin Williams, noting that global cybercrime costs $388 billion annually. "We are losing intellectual property. We are losing our nation's work and our nation's vision and our nation's ingenuity because we are not able to protect it." The Centers of Academic Excellence label carries prestige for colleges and universities, helping attract students and federal scholarships and grants. However, the program's former training guidelines, the Committee on National Security Systems standards, were criticized for recommending that students learn how to execute specific technical functions. In addition, critics argued that too many programs received the designation, thereby lessening its value. NSA and DHS have changed the standards to include new knowledge units with a core curriculum and additional, optional units that colleges can implement to promote specialties.

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Fed Says Tech Demand Outstripping Supply in Boston, San Francisco (Computerworld (09/09/13) Patrick Thibodeau )

The U.S. Federal Reserve's recently released Beige Book states that in some markets, particularly Boston and San Francisco, demand for certain types of technology skills is outpacing supply. For example, the report found that in New England, "there remains a shortage of skilled technical workers to fill high-end [information technology] and engineering jobs," and that despite a large pool of available workers, the skills mismatch prevents staffing firms from fully meeting client demand. In addition, the Federal Reserve reported that demand in the Bay Area is forcing firms to compete for a limited pool of qualified workers, which is leading to significant wage growth in those positions. One of the most in-demand skills is experience and expertise in building the Web infrastructure and applications that can handle millions of visitors, says HireMinds' Sean McLoughlin. Recruiters also cited a demand for programmers skilled in Java, Ruby on Rails, and Python. Large technology firms, such as Twitter, have created a lot of competition, forcing salaries up, and 10 to 15 percent increases are now the norm, says ICI Software Recruitment founder David Freier

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UK Five-Year-Olds to Learn Programming and Algorithms in Major Computing Curriculum Shake-Up

V3.co.uk (07/08/13) Michael Passingham 

The United Kingdom's Department for Education (DfE) recently overhauled the country's computing curriculum, removing the teaching of software basics such as Microsoft Word and adding programming and algorithm teaching for children as young as five years old.
The new curriculum will be mandatory starting in September 2014, and spans the breadth of all four key stages, beginning when a child first enters school at age five through age 16. 

Students will be taught to understand what algorithms are, how they are implemented as programs on digital devices, and that programs execute by following precise and unambiguous instructions. 

"We are introducing a tougher, more rigorous national curriculum," says Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove. "For the first time children will be learning to program computers. It will raise standards across the board--and allow our children to compete in the global race." 

The British Computer Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering wrote the original draft of the new curriculum and DfE revised it. Students will be expected to create and debug simple programs by the end of key stage one, and they will be taught how to understand computer networks by key stage two.

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HP launches Accredited Technical Associate Program in partnership with Certiport

HP announced on February 20, 2012 the global launch of the HP Institute, an academic partnership program designed to address the worldwide IT skills gap. HP and Certiport propose to bring practical experience and job-ready skills into an academic setting, packaged in a way to help students around the world obtain the IT skills and expertise that will make them successful in the workplace.
The new HP Accredited Technical Associate (ATA) certifications announced will span four key areas: Connected Devices (PC, Printing); Networks; Servers and Storage; and Cloud Solutions.

Detail about their new program can be found at:
http://www.hp.com/certification/hp_institute_portfolio.html

DICE report: Industry Certifications matter in ICT hiring

According to a recent survey conducted by DICE: "Forty percent of tech consultants said obtaining a certification helped them land a new gig, which is about 10 percentage points higher than their colleagues working in traditional roles.

The top ten most notable certifications according to their online survey of more than 28,000 tech. consultants administered last Fall were in order:

1. A+
2. PMP (Project Management Professional)
3. CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
4. Security+
5. MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer)
6. Network+
7. MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional)
8. CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
9. ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
10. MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional)

Una Daly and the Open Courseware Consortium

We were fortunate to have Una Daly, Community College Outreach Manager of the Open Courseware Consortium, to have presented at our recent Winter ICT Educator Conference. For those who have missed her presentation you can find an archived recording of it at this link or just her slides here .
The Open CourseWare Consortium is a collaboration of higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model.
Una Daly has been involved in this movement for the adoption and creation of open educational resources including open textbooks and open courseware for several years as part of the Community College Consortium for Open Education Resources (CCCOER).

Pearson and Google launch "OpenClass", a free LMS

OpenClass, a free LMS that combines standard course-management tools with advanced social networking and community-building, has just been launched by Pearson and Google. It should appear under Google Apps for Education on October 18. An alternative to Blackboard or Moodle?
Josh Fishman in the Chronicle of Higher Education reviews the possible impact of this new initiative in a blog posted on October 13.

Faculty Forum on Smart Grid at CCSF on 9/30

The Bay Area Community College Consortium is hosting its next Energy Faculty Forum on Friday September 30th at City College of San Francisco. The topic will be "Smart Grid".
Presentations and discussions will address the issue of Smart Grid and how Community Colleges can respond to the need for preparing the workforce for jobs in this field. MPICT supports this effort and encourages ICT Faculty from our region to attend. The event is free but you have to register.
Friday, September 30, 2011
9:00AM - 2:00PM (breakfast available 9:00AM, meeting starts 9:30AM)
City College of San Francisco
Multi-Use Building - Room #140
City College Map - Multi-Use Bldg off Phelan
Parking permit forthcoming
Tentative Agenda
Please RSVP using this link

Internet Society Membership Drive

I just joined the Internet Society (ISOC) today.

This organization was founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education and policy. They have chapters all over the world.

They have a membership drive in the next three months. I was contacted by one of my student who was a member already. I can only recommend MPICT blog readers to check the ISOC web site: http://www.isoc.org/isoc/

and use the following link to join (global membership is free!): https://portal.isoc.org/EBusiness/NewMemberStepOne.aspx?refid=xd1364753hf

Update on Wikileaks by Sam Bowne

Sam Bowne from City College of San Francisco gave a brief description and update on the WikiLeaks "situation" at the Convergence Technology Center's Winter Retreat at Collin College in Frisco, Texas. Here's Sam's excellent 16 minute and 51 second presentation from the ICT Center U-Tube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbD-aBjMZJU