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It
is a lot easier to do a good job teaching ICT knowledge and
skills with adequate resources and assistance. There is a very
real need for contributions to improving ICT education by
business and industry. Schools need labs where students can
gain real experiences with real ICT equipment doing real
things. Programs need money to develop curriculum and improve
other facilities. Teachers need teaching aids: videos, real
world scenarios for student exercises, real world site visit
opportunities, guest speakers, exposure to cool new
technologies they do not yet teach.
Contributions don’t have to be money. Participating in the
business advisory group for an ICT related program makes a big
difference and costs only your time and attention. Passing on
used ICT equipment for student labs and workshops makes a big
difference at little real cost. Internship, job shadowing,
service learning and mentoring opportunities make an enormous
difference in student success.
If you are a member of business and industry, and you want a
high quality workforce that is efficient, productive and able
to contribute to your technology enabled strategic successes,
please consider putting some skin in the game to help make
that happen in your communities.
On the other hand, opportunistically, many ICT faculty are not
aware of a lot of wonderful resources and funding
opportunities that already exist and are available to them. If
we can put faculty together with existing resources, it is a
real win-win. Here are some:
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