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Creating IT Futures: 2014 Summit

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Creating IT FuturesCREATING IT FUTURES: 2014 SUMMIT

You are invited…

Who:  Up to two IT CTC Faculty from each college (Note:  a $300 (maximum) per faculty stipend to offset travel costs will be allocated upon delivery of receipts totaling up to $300 for faculty from Central, Eastern, North and South Western Washington to encourage attendance and engagement at this event) and select IT industry professionals. Faculty who attended the June 7, 2013 IT Futures Summit will be given the two slots to attend.  If faculty who did not attend that event register and those slots aren’t filled with the 2013 attendees, then their registration will be accepted in their place.  Be sure to coordinate with your Academic or Workforce Administrator to ensure this attendance coordination is understood.

What:  Will be happening?  This group will take up and complete issues that were address at the June 2013 Summit (held at Microsoft), including:

  • the six IT common courses that have been finalized and need final adoption,
  • standardization of IT BAS degree titles, IT pathways for worker retraining students,
  • new ways to offer IT certificates to students who already have a bachelor’s degree,
  • how to make YourFuturein.IT website work for student populations other than high school students entering the CTC system, and,
  • how to track IT students once they leave the CTC system.

Note:  You provided feedback on the June 2013 Summit and we listened.  1.  A suggestion from Bates Technical College was that it would be good to have a two-day event so the first day would involve discussing, debating, contributing to a solution, and the second day would about coming to decisions and finalizing take-aways.  2.  Small group discussions work better when the environment is a bit quieter.  There will be three break-out rooms that can be created with dividers available in the main Summit room, (the Mercer Room).

Where:  Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, WA 98040/tel (206) 275-7609, The Mercer Room.

When:  9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Thursday, May 15, 2014 & 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Friday, May 16, 2014

Why:  Everyone has worked very hard to collaborate and create solutions that make it easier for IT faculty and students access and succeed in completing an IT program of study in the CTC system and enter the workforce prepared to meet employer needs.  We need to continue our collective work together and explore and create new innovative solutions for our system.

Requirements:
1.  Before you register, you are required to complete the common course survey.  We received 13 responses, which needs to move to 100% so the work at the Summit has everyone already familiar and ready to make decisions about the IT common courses that we worked on June 2013.
2. Register by Monday, April 28, 2014.
3. Review materials that will be sent to you before the Summit and be prepared to discuss, brainstorm, and make decisions.
4.  If possible bring your laptop or tablet.  There is wifi at the event.
Food will be provided (Thursday: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, Friday: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack).
Recommended hotel:  The Hyatt House near Bellevue College (easy access to 1-90, and then you can hop off and reach the Mercer Island Community Center very easily). However, for our out-of-town guests, with the stipend you can decide where you want to stay.  Mention my name, the Center of Excellence, and Bellevue College to get the government rate.

 


Develop A Cybersecurity Camp for High School Students

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WCC CIS ProgramWhatcom Community College (WCC) has developed a Cybersecurity Center to provide access to Information Security and Information Assurance (IA) resources.

Specific resources at WCC are the College’s Computer Information Systems (CIS) program that includes an Associate in Science (AS) degree, certificates, and stand alone courses that prepare students for positions in the information security field.

WCC is also the only community college in Washington State certified by the National Security Agency (NSA) and Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS) to map its courses to the 4011 and 4013E standards. In addition, WCC was recently awarded a grant to support the establishment of a CyberWatch West Center to address the shortage of information security professionals.

Information on the National IA Education and Training Program (NIETP), which oversees Information Assurance education standards, can be found here: National Information Assurance Education and Training Program (NIETP).

WCC Cybercampcyber_defenders_logo.jpg

The WCC Cybercamp has developed a number of useful materials (below) that can be adopted to create a high school cybersecurity camp. The  materials were developed through funding from the National Science Foundation.

For information about this project, please contact Corrinne Sande at Whatcom Community College (csande@whatcom.ctc.edu)

Materials

Building an IT Career-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond

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Ideal IT Graduate High Level

Maureen Majury, M.Ed.
Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology
Bellevue College, Bellevue, Washington

Introduction: In considering what transforms someone who has even a mild curiosity about pursuing an academic and career pathway in IT, one of the primary questions is, what are the critical components that can produce an ideal IT

  • student,
  • graduate,
  • job candidate, and finally,
  • worker?

Is there a formula to this composition?  What are the different critical elements that might be distilled into a general guideline that informs IT educators and students when building and refining an IT Program of Study?  Can an actionable plan and series of steps build something concrete that better prepares the IT student? Questions were developed for a team of IT professionals to extract a list of ingredients for IT educators and students to reflect upon as they start their next academic year.

This report, Building an IT-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond outlines the in-demand technical skills and knowledge, including employability skills, IT students should become familiar with as they are required by prospective employees. The information, resources, and expansion on what these technical knowledge and skills are, and why they are important increases the probability the IT student will be prepared to meet their future employer’s job requirements and responsibilities.  This report also showcases and details a compilation of standards for IT students and educators in creating clearer expectations of what an IT program should be offering in terms of content. Essentially, these highly desirable attributes, as identified by a team of IT professionals, should be absorbed into the student’s lexicon upon graduation.

Authorship of all reports and interview: Maureen Majury, M.Ed.

Introduction:  Building an IT Career-Ready Washington:  2105 and Beyond

Section 1. For an IT graduate (whether a 2- or 4-year degree) about to enter the workforce, we asked our IT Professionals what are the top five IT courses and subsequent IT concepts/competencies they should have mastered?  For example, networking, programming, database design/development, etc.

Section 2. What new technology competencies should the IT graduate be anticipating and searching out to master either in college, a training program, opportunities provided online, or by self-mastery (reading a book, or IT content-specific website)?

Section 3. Often, IT employers bemoan the lack of innovation and critical thinking in an IT graduate. Why do you think that is? What can a student do to “grow” their own capacity to innovate think critically?

Section 4. When you are training and/or mentoring a new IT employee, what main things do you spend the most time on with them to improve their performance?

Section 5: What Constitutes the Ideal IT Student? The IT professionals were asked, based upon their own IT experiences, to take the diagram below and write down which qualities would make up the ideal IT student. They were asked to think about this in the context of their IT expertise/specialization (i.e. web, programming, gaming, etc.)

Section 6. Bryan Stevenson Talks about The Challenges and Opportunities of Creating the Ideal IT Career Pathway

 

Bryan Stevenson Talks About the Challenges and Opportunities of Creating the Ideal IT Career Pathway

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Section 6

Bryan Stevenson

  • Who is the ideal Information Technology (IT) student?
  • What did they do to forge a successful career in IT?
  • Can such a student’s experiences and education be distilled into relevant recommendations and considerations for future IT students?

Bryan Stevenson (not his real name), a web developer and a former Bellevue College IT student, agreed to an in-person interview and a brief follow-up call, in March 2014. He spoke about:

  • how he decided to enroll in Bellevue College’s Web Development Certificate program back in 2010,
  • what led him to that point in his life, and,
  • now that he is a web developer, what were the challenges and rewards of his employment experience over the last four years?

In mapping out Building an IT Career-Ready Washington for 2015 and Beyond, a student’s perspective was needed. Since web application software developers are in high demand in the Seattle-Metro area and his ascent into the world of web development, Bryan was a good choice. He was a graduate of a two-year college IT certificate program and employed in a “hot” IT industry focus area.

While attending Bellevue College, Bryan participated for a quarter on a Microsoft Imagine Cup Team project. (Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is a world student technology competition, with the main goal of showing how technology can help solve the world’s toughest problems).

By the end of the Bryan’s interview, three things became apparent:

  1. He was very much in control of his own destiny as an IT professional.
  2. Given his story, how could students’ exposure to all the great opportunities IT offers them be increased?
  3. And, how can we reach them at an earlier age to help them figure this out for themselves?

Bryan had a regular high school experience in Burlington, Washington. He thought maybe he would end up as an architect, an engineer or a computer animation specialist.  In such a small town, and Burlington is small–made up of strip malls, far and wide farm houses dotting greens, and the ocean–he was an anomaly. A fisherman’s son, he knew the family’s livelihood depended upon the risk of the boat and the sea.

Bryan took Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry and calculus. He earned A’s in his courses. He said high school was a mediocre experience for him because the teachers taught for and to the curve. That means that you take the average student score and craft your lessons to the median denominator. It’s a common complaint about secondary education. If the majority of students are performing below-average, then why are those who want to make the most of their secondary education often unlikely to receive the resources that might be available to them? Why is mediocrity the norm and exceptionalism downplayed?

Bryan moved on and was “excited” when he was accepted at Western Washington University (WWU). While there he became very interested in the Industrial Design program. It accepted 12 students each year; 30 applied each year. Bryan was not accepted. When asked why, he said, “They had stronger portfolios.”

WWU also has an Industrial Technology (Tech) program that is the “lesser” program, which actually requires the same pre-requisite courses that those hoping to get into the more prestigious program, Industrial Design, take. Bryan said several of his peers ended up in the Industrial Tech program with him. Sometimes, no matter how much they tell you to shoot for the stars, Bryan’s story conveyed, they shoot you down to reality and tell you, “You have what it takes, just not what this program takes”.

Bryan, who now is heavily involved in the IT community and industry, was asked if he ever considered a degree or movement towards computer science when his momentum was towards such a specific degree, he said, “No.”

Why would someone who had such a solid math background, completed AP courses, got good grades, envisioned himself as an architect, engineer or computer animator, end up  settling for a second-tier program?

Where were the college resources to transfer his really solid skill set into an alignment with an IT trajectory? IT needs people like Bryan. So, what was the disconnect?

Upon graduation, Bryan did what many would like to have experienced, but are scared to try. He took a three-month biking trip across Europe on his own. He said, “I visited seven countries.” Bryan paid for it with savings and occasionally stayed with European friends he’d made through WWU. His trip was not funded by his parents.

When asked how WWU had prepared him for the job search which all graduates must face Bryan said, “They could have offered more guidance in terms of jobs and salaries; talked about opportunities.”

When asked previously if he had ever taken advantage of the services afforded by WWU’s career placement center, he said, “No.” He told me that ultimately he did. But that was after he spent two years at a major company (hereafter referred to as “Co. Y”) specializing in vehicle electronics and manufacturing.

Bryan began his initial job search with a company, hereafter referred to as Co. X,  without having developed any professional networking tools (he didn’t have a LinkedIn account at that point).  Upon application to Co.X, a major aerospace company, Bryan found once you filled out the requisite online application form, it was lost in the vast ether of a million other applicants’ data. If you didn’t know someone, you would go nowhere within their network. He never heard from them.

When Bryan ended up at Co.Y, he said he was “excited” he finally had a job. When he said this, it was with the first true excitement he displayed during the 40-minute interview.

After a year, Bryan was laid off. Co.Y was hit hard by the recession. Bryan recalled the original owner’s son was hard on the employees. He would collect them and scream at them at company-organized events, berating them for their failure to perform their jobs.

Bryan went to South America for six weeks in June 2009, and then received an email from Co.Y asking him back, but he would be working with a different team. In his new capacity he worked with interior components.

Once back with Co.Y, Bryan wondered about the pay rates of his peers. He found out from Human Resources (HR) they were being paid at a higher rate than he was. They all performed the same duties. He asked for a raise. He had now been at the company for two and a half years.  Bryan said, “I was grossly underpaid.”

After asking his supervisor multiple times if he would be compensated at the same rate as his peers, he was consistently put off.

Bryan said in a number of different ways, mildly regretful, but at the same time, unapologetic, “I shouldn’t have maybe said this. It was taken out of context. But finally I said, ‘If you can’t increase my salary, I’ll have to look elsewhere.’”

It was an ultimatum. At least that’s how Co Y’s HR department took it. He was called into his supervisor’s office and informed he had essentially “resigned” when he made the statement, “If you can’t increase my salary, I’ll have to look elsewhere.”

Bryan wanted to get a chance to tell his co-workers what had happened so they wouldn’t think he had resigned, but that actually the HR department and his supervisor had used “…I’ll have to look elsewhere” as a loop-hole to fire him.

Thereafter, Co.Y proceeded to fight his claims for unemployment for months, including agreeing to a final Employment Security Department hearing to contest his unemployment claim.  Co.Y’s representatives didn’t attend the hearing.  Bryan was granted his unemployment benefits.

Thereafter, Bryan knew exactly what he was going to do. This was most likely a result of some research and thought on his end, although he didn’t admit as much. Deciding on Bellevue College in 2010, specifically for its web development program, he completed the three-quarter certificate on time. He indicated he wasn’t aware initially that he was eligible for worker retraining funding. Bryan applied for the funding for his remaining two quarters and received it. Bryan received straight “A’s”.

He said that his mastery of object-oriented programming, C#, Javascript, as well as expertise with the .Net Platform, helped him secure employment as a freelancer for a software development contract agency (contract agencies farm out contract projects to independent workers). At that point, Bryan finally set up a LinkedIn account, which he found helpful from a networking perspective. It also was a great place to showcase his achievements. When his first freelance project was done, he then worked for another contract software company. A veteran programmer and web developer mentored him while he was working on that project over the next year and a half. “He taught me a lot,” Bryan said. As well, Bryan was also committed to teaching himself anything he didn’t know outside of his contract work.

Bryan’s next project wasn’t as interesting. In fact he described it as “irritating”.  So, he quit and helped a friend who had begun an iPhone development startup. He volunteered, living off his savings, so he could learn as much about mobile application development as well as Apple’s iPhone operating system (iOS).  He said learning the iOS was “100% times harder than learning C#.”  He lasted five months as his old boss from the contract agency called him back for another contract job at a higher rate.

When asked, “Is it common for people in the IT industry when they first enter it to skip around so much? From your history thus far, it sounds like you moved from job to job.”

Bryan said if you want to work for startups, it’s common.  But if you want to work for the conventional and mature IT company, then rapidly moving from job to job is not typical.

One thing that was attention-worthy was Bryan didn’t seem risk-averse. Meaning, most people in their mid- to late-twenties, typically are thinking about finding job stability, creating a presence and a solid reputation with a single employer. Bryan seemed to move from job to job without expressing any of the concerns about where money was going to come from to buy food, housing, gas, etc.

Bryan’s rationale was he “got to work on two of the coolest projects” he had ever experienced. One was developing an interface with a time-keeping system. It efficiently tracked and edited projects through a Microsoft Project. The application was developed for billing services at the contract agency. Essentially, they wanted to track and measure work and time effort to measure efficiencies and look for ways to increase profitability with their contract worker pool.

The other project was an MVC 4 intranet application that would calculate Paid Time Off (PTO). It involved a number of complex business rules.

This contract ended on December 31, 2013, and he was again unemployed. Through LinkedIn, he connected with a company looking for someone with his skills, and he was hired by an online retailer that sells woman’s accessories. He’s in charge of the website’s online “store front.” Bryan also works on ensuring the security of the financial purchase transactions.  He works on a team of ten other IT workers.

Towards the end of the interview, Bryan was asked, “What are the top five things from all your experiences that could inform an IT student and/or graduate on how to be successful in the IT world?”

Bryan said thinking about the culture of the organization is useful in determining if a career opportunity at a specific company is right for you. For example, Co.Y had a very traditional, not especially creative, work environment. If he had known initially about the salary and career advancement limitations, as well as the actual duties, he would have made a different choice.  With the career decisions made since leaving Co.Y, Bryan said he created a wider variety of opportunities for himself. From a career development/advancement perspective, Bryan also created a substantive resume’ of in-demand IT technical knowledge and skills. He also carefully curated his online professional profile on LinkedIn to demonstrate how he would make an attractive candidate for a potential IT employer.

When asked earlier how much WWU had offered in terms of solid career counseling, he indicated their services weren’t particularly strong. In retrospect, he said he wished they had provided more guidance in terms of information about academic programs, jobs, and salaries. Essentially, WWU could have done a better job in mapping jobs to specific industries.

Bryan specifically listed the five things that an IT prospective student, current student, or graduate entering the employment landscape, should think about aligning to their current mindset about IT.

  • Be passionate about the projects you work on
  • Like challenges
  • Perseverance
  • Collaboration with others.
  • Create a healthy work/life balance

He ended by saying that what he really found compelling was you “Won’t hit a glass ceiling in IT.”

Final Words

Bryan had a chance to read this before its publication. He had these final thoughts to share:

Some things I didn’t know about software/web development when I was a student:

  • I didn’t know the demand was so much higher than other professional industries (which translates to great pay).
  • I didn’t know that this was an attainable goal for me.
  • I didn’t know I would LOVE it so much!

I think that if I had been exposed to coding in high school (or earlier), I would have figured all the above out earlier. I would have pursued the software/web development path as a teen instead of waiting until my late twenties.

Building an IT Career-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond
The Ideal IT Student, Maureen A. Majury, M.Ed.
© Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology, 2014

What Constitutes the Ideal IT Student?

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Section 5

The IT professionals were asked, based upon their own IT experiences, to take the diagram below and write down which qualities would make up the ideal IT student. They were asked to think about this in the context of their IT expertise/specialization (i.e. web, programming, gaming, etc.)

 

The Ideal IT Student Diagram

The Ideal IT Student

The Total Ideal IT StudentThe infographic above was created based upon the IT industry professional’s input for the final question. The Center director contributed additional qualities based upon IT sector research. It is the culminating product of this report.

IT faculty can think about these attributes and consider how they might embed them as part of the IT student’s classroom experience. IT students can consider how these attributes and the associated actionable qualities can become a part of the principles that guide them on their journey to their ideal IT career pathway.

Building an IT Career-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond
The Ideal IT Student, Maureen A. Majury, M.Ed.
© Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology, 2014

When you are training and/or mentoring a new IT employee, what are the main things you spend the most time on with them to improve their performance?

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Section 4

Decision Making1. Decision Making for Individuals and Teams: Team collaboration is something to emphasize and incorporate into the mindset of new IT workers.  Students tend to graduate with the mindset, “I get to work in isolation and my decisions related to a work product I created are the only decisions that count.”

Here are some effective ways to make individual or team decisions.

Individual Decisions: From Skills You Need (SkillsYouNeed), the method they offer consists of seven stages:

  1. Listing all possible solutions/options.
  2. Setting a time scale and deciding who is responsible for the decision.
  3. Information gathering.
  4. Weighing up the risks involved.
  5. Deciding on values, or in other words what is important.
  6. Weighing up the pros and cons of each course of action.
  7. Making the decision.

There is then an explanation of each of these stages.

Group/Team Decisions:

From Mind Tools, the Stepladder Technique consists of five steps:

  • Step 1: Before getting together as a group, present the task or problem to all members. Give everyone sufficient time to think about what needs to be done and to form their own opinions on how to best accomplish the task or solve the problem.
  • Step 2: Form a core group of two members.  Have them discuss as a group of three. The third member presents ideas to the first two members BEFORE hearing the ideas that have already been discussed. After all three members have laid out their solutions and ideas, they discuss their options together.
  • Step 4: Repeat the same process by adding a fourth member, and so on, to the group. Allow time for discussion after each additional member has presented his or her ideas.
  • Step 5: Reach a final decision only after all members have been brought in and presented their ideas.

Mind Tools recommends that productive teams are composed of four to seven members to optimize effectiveness. They also offer a comprehensive overview of team decision making.

Business Processes2. Business Processes: “Another area where IT students can improve upon is their understanding of business processes. IT students who enter the workplace must expect that there are steps to follow and take time to know the reasons for the process.”

A business process is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. There are three main types of business processes:

  • Management processes that govern the operation of a system. Typical management processes include corporate governance and strategic management.
  • Operational processes that constitute the core business and create the primary value stream. Typical operational processes are purchasing, manufacturing, marketing, and sales.
  • Supporting processes that support the core processes. Examples include accounting, recruitment, and technical support.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Know When to Ask for Help

3. Know How to Ask for Help: IT students, who join the workforce, should be able to assess a problem in order to determine when the right time to ask for guidance is. IT educators should help students develop an awareness that there is a critical time during a project that instead of becoming too determined in solving it by themselves, they are actually wasting time by not asking for help. Here is some advice from an IT professional

An IT student should consider asking themselves (as both a student and a future IT worker) the following:

1.      Do you understand the problem?  First of all, make sure you understand the problem. There are no stupid questions. Do you understand what your client/boss is asking you versus what they need?

2. Do you know that the problem is unsolvable (within your time/budget constraints)? This will happen. “Build me a bridge by tomorrow.”  Make sure you know for a fact that a problem is unsolvable within your constraints. Your client/boss might be flexible on the time/budget and these can be modified to give you more time/budget.

3.      Do you just not know how to solve the problem? If the problem is understandable and the constraints are within reason, and there is technology that can solve the problem, but you just don’t know enough…that’s what StackOverflow and the Internet is for. Make sure you do your research first. Try to ask explicit questions that have quantifiable answers. Ask your peers. Have a design session. Ultimately, if the above steps don’t lead to an answer, let your client/boss know you’re stuck. It will help them to adjust the deliverable deadlines before it’s too late.

4.      Is your client/boss asking for the impossible? This is a variant of answer number 2. It seems like your client/boss is asking the impossible. Do your research. Never say that the problem is unsolvable unless you know exactly why and you can clarify.

5.  Is it worth it? (ROI) ROI stands for Return on Investment. This refers to an investment in time. Your time! Is the problem important enough to solve to warrant the amount of time it will take you to research and solve the problem? Discuss this with your client/boss

6. Is it a REAL problem?  Is it a real problem? Clients, often times, understand what they want, but don’t necessarily understand what they need. Try to understand what your Client/Boss actually needs and discuss this with them.

(Source: Stack Overflow)

Deadlines and Time Management4. Deadlines and Time Management: Everyone knows what a deadline is. Something (a product, project, etc. with pre-specified elements) someone committed to do is due on a specific date to a specific person. Understanding

1) what a deadline is,

2) different types of deadlines, and,

3) what are the responsibilities as the person who has to meet a deadline or the person who is expecting a deadline to be met with a deliverable.

These are all critical concepts for an IT student and worker.

Deadlines are related to time management, and sharing time management tips with IT students will serve them will when they enter the workforce.

The Fail Date:  This is considered the “test” deadline.  If you fail to meet this type of deadline, you won’t be asked back to work on a project for the group, company, contractor, etc.  You’ll know it’s a fail date deadline because the timeline seems unrealistic, a need for frequent updates will be part of the project specifications, and you are asked if there is a possibility of completing the project early. If you think you can actually meet the deadline, then break the task down into multiple parts with hourly deadlines.  If you think it’s a fail date deadline project, then either counter with a realistic deadline for deliverables or pass on the project.

Firm, but Flexible:  This is the most common type of deadline. The deadlines are “firm,” but there is a chance they won’t be met due to unexpected issues that might arise.   Find out why there is an aura of ambiguity around some or all of the deadlines. If the project authors actually know that some of these deadlines might be missed because of the unexpected issue, what aren’t they telling you? Find out.  Is it because another part of the project has been farmed out to another person or group and you will have to wait for them to complete their part of the project? This type of deadline is something you can succeed with. It just might take a bit of perseverance and patience on your end.

Stale Date:   Stale Date deadlines are attached to a project that isn’t really expected to go anywhere. It might be a pet project of someone at the top level of management that produced a lot of initial excitement and then is forgotten about as other projects receive higher priority, or it’s a project that doesn’t have actual resources attached to it and fades away as time goes by. Deadlines for these types of projects require acknowledgement of the deadline, keep it on your horizon, but expect that eventually no one will even remember what it was about. (Source: Adapted from Gigoam.com)

11 Tips to Effective Email ManagementOther Resources to Consider:

Mind MapA Mind Map is a highly effective way of getting information in and out of your brain – it is a creative and logical means of note-taking and note-making that literally “maps out” your ideas.

The five essential characteristics of a Mind Map:

  • The main idea, subject or focus is crystallized in a central image.
  • The main themes radiate from the central image as ‘branches.’
  • The branches comprise a key image or key word drawn or printed on its associated line.
  • Topics of lesser importance are represented as ‘twigs’ of the relevant branch.
  • The branches form a connected nodal structure.

(Source:  Excerpt from Mind Mapping)

Building an IT Career-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond
The Ideal IT Student, Maureen A. Majury, M.Ed.
© Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology, 2014

Often, IT employers bemoan the lack of innovation and critical thinking in an IT graduate. Why do you think that is? What can a student do to “grow” their own capacity to innovate think critically?

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Section 3

Break the Rules1. Break the Rules:  ”Programming and related systems are very rule- centric. Spending time only with these leads to limited thinking. Also, people interested in rules-based systems are often not looking to break new boundaries, but instead feel more comfortable with the established order.”

  • “Exercises in “breaking the rules” to get people comfortable with the rules, but then finding ways to break them leads to innovations.”

There are a number of resources out there that interconnect “creative thinking” and “rule breaking.” Think about how an IT student can break rules and ways for them to discover what happens when they do. Many business and entrepreneurial experts link “rule breaking” to innovation.

Teamwork2.  Teamwork and Coding:  “It is crucial to get IT workers in teams as soon as possible, and keep them there. No programmer will ever get paid to build something on their own without feedback and reviewing requirements from others.

Consider referring IT students to:

  • the best open source and coding forums (Try Code.org or review this listof programming forums. The number of forums out there are varied and can be found for any type of concentration for IT students.)
  • provide them with examples of how/why it’s essential they understand the fundamentals o f team work, and,
  • guide them on how to work successfully as part of a team.”

Experiment

3.  Experiment:  “Instead of learning how to force data and processes into existing languages and systems, students should learn how to use existing systems as tools for crafting truly appropriate solutions for the people who need to use them.”  This is essentially the “don’t fit the square peg into the round hole” meme. IT students shouldn’t use prefabricated, easy solution technology tools if the specifications require a different outcome, or a unique approach. This relates to the aforementioned IT industry professionals’ recommendation on “learning to break rules.” Sometimes, what’s easy isn’t always the best IT solution. While IT has a wide variety of prepackaged, solution-based products that are commonly used in the CTC system to teach IT concepts, asking students to stretch boundaries and attempt to create solutions outside the confines of a vendor’s safety net might be worth the risk.

Active Listening

4. Listening – It Takes Practice:  The following are a series of ways for students to think about how they listen, ask questions, consider linguistics, and the actual meaning of both the spoken and written word in the context of academics and the workplace.

o Listening exercises that lead to proper dictation of what the speaker is really saying should be incorporated into the classroom. The Udemy Academy lists a number of listening exercises that will introduce students on how to become more effective listeners.

Example:  

  • “Participants should stand in a line, or a circle. One person begins the game by whispering a sentence to the person after them. This sentence should be prepared beforehand, by someone moderating the game, but it should only be known to the person starting the game. The person who received the messages should then whisper it to the person after them, and so on.
  • By the time it gets to the final person in the group, they should say the message aloud. The first person will read the sentence they were given, and participants can note how much the two have changed. It’s very unlikely, especially in large groups, that the message has not been altered at least a little bit…” (Source: Udemy.com)

While Udemy offers tuition-based courses, the exercises can be used in any classroom. You can also view another Ted Talk (7:47 minutes) with Julian Treasure, a sound consultant, who outlines 5 Ways to Listen Better. Treasure’s most recent Ted Talk presentation, How to Speak  So People Want to Listen runs 9:58 minutes.

o How can the IT student learn how to craft questions to get the best answer? What are good follow-up questions? The Conversation Café offers resources as well as meet-ups for students (in Washington State) who want to learn how to ask questions in the course of a general conversation.

Dan Pink’s To Sell is Human offers two worthwhile exercises:

  1. Take Five: Start a conversation with a partner (classmate, friend, casual acquaintance, family-member, etc.), and take five seconds before responding. Pink asks a few questions for the participants to ask themselves.  “Is your conversation partner actually finishing their sentences? Is your partner getting their perspective fully on the table without you interrupting? Do they have the time to take a breath before you start yapping?” (Source: To Sell is Human, Dan H. Pink, 2012, pages 199-200)\
  2. Start a conversation with a partner and decide to essentially debate an issue with two distinct and different points-of-view. One person starts, and the other person can only respond by asking questions. “These questions must also abide be three rules: 1) You cannot ask yes-no questions. 2) Your questions cannot be veiled opinions. 3) Your partner must answer each question.” (Source: To Sell is Human, Dan H. Pink, 2012, page 200)

The general 5 W’s are also a good way to think about asking questions:  Who, What, Where, When, Why (How is sometimes included). The 5 W’s can also be used to analyze a general business problem. For example, here it’s used to provide data on who makes game purchases.

Who What When Where Why

  • Present IT students with potential interview questions, and also ask them to think about not only how they would answer these questions, but how and why they would ask them of someone they were interviewing.
  • IT graduates sometimes struggle to adapt to a world where they are not given very prescriptive direction on a frequent basis. There is not always a “right” answer; instead, there is just a “best” answer.

Innovation5. Innovation: IT employers often talk about the need for innovation in their employees and the trouble they have in finding employees who can actually innovate.

One of the IT professionals responded to this section’s question with this, “Mainly because ‘innovation’ is a buzzword: to innovate, you need creativity, divergent thinking, and the ability to sell ideas.”

Again, Ted Talks (Ideas Worth Spreading) provide a variety of presentations on innovation. Ted Talks is a valuable resource as it provides snapshots and bite-sized, easily digestible, pieces information that get to the point and provide an overview of somewhat complex issues or questions. Nizah Shaer of High Start Group curated the top ten Ted Talks here. Take a look at Stephen B. Johnson’s 17 minute presentation.

Both IT educators and students can review the third part of a series from Scott Anthony, author of TheLittleBlack Book of Innovation.

  • Questioning: Asking probing questions that impose or remove constraints. Example: What if we were legally prohibited from selling to our current customer?
  • Networking: Interacting with people from different backgrounds who provide access to new ways of thinking.
  • Observing: Watching the world around them for surprising stimuli.
  • Experimenting: Consciously complicating their lives by trying new things or going to new places.

“To grow, explore and engage in exercises that expand divergent thinking – public speaking, persuasion, take on puzzles, and (examine critiquing skills and experimentation).”

Inspect the following from Dr. Daniel Raviv, Florida Atlantic University, ENCOURAGING  DIVERGENT THINKING, for a series of exercises created to encourage divergent thinking or, as Dr. Raviv names it, “ideation.” (Source: ASEE)

Pattern Breaking

Demonstrating IT Competencies6. Our IT Professionals Offer the Following Ways IT Students Can Demonstrate IT Competencies:

  • Online Portfolios:  There are a variety of free online project portfolios out there.

However, the majority are geared towards graphic artists, photographers, designers, etc.  That doesn’t mean that they can’t be used to host an IT student’s project work. Alternatively, there are online portfolios that charge a user fee of $8 to $15 per month. Another option is to use LinkedIn, as they have recently added a portfolio option for your profile where links can be added and project files can be uploaded.

  • IT Students should seek out IT competitions. Big companies and organizations like Intel, Android, and IEEE Computer Society are worth checking in on as they host annual IT competitions. Below are examples of IT competitions (Note: While some of these competitions are over, they are typically held annually, so either check back or sign up to receive information on the next competition):
  • Encourage IT students to develop a business plan and/or start their own business, even if it’s just during summer break when a student might not be attending class. The Small Business Administration (USA government) has a number of resources to help students figure out what a business plan entails.
  • Logic puzzles
  • Think about ways IT students can “Understand how to be a ‘renaissance’ person of IT (you need to know more than just one thing in IT). You need to know and do a lot of ‘things’ and know them well.”

Building an IT Career-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond
The Ideal IT Student, Maureen A. Majury, M.Ed.
© Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology, 2014

What new technology competencies should the IT graduate be anticipating and searching out to master either in college, a training program, opportunities provided online, or by self-mastery (reading a book, or IT content-specific website)?

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Section 2

Our IT professionals offered a wide array of thoughts on new technology trends and the associated competencies needed to both familiarize and begin the mastery process. Below these insights are enclosed in quotes. The names of the IT professionals are not associated with the quotes; however, all of these professionals serve on the Center of Excellence’s IT Industry Professional Advisory Board.

Comparative ProgrammingComparative Programming: “Programmers need to be prepared to use several languages over their careers. Too many programmers are stuck in a belief that one language is superior to all others. The different languages should be viewed as a set of different tools for different jobs.

  • Understanding how to program is key, thus, this is where adaptability can be incorporated into the two-series programming courses most CTC IT programs require in their IT or CS degrees.”

Comparative Programming Language Analysis: “Comparative programming language analysis seeks to classify programming languages into different types based on their characteristics; broad categories of programming languages are often known as programming paradigms.” (Source: Wikipedia)

It’s critical to note that while comparative programming is recommended, this should happen after an IT student has mastered programming concepts using one language.

Data Integration“Integration with Outside Technical Systems: The future will be defined by data and interactions flowing in new and unexplored ways between seemingly disparate groups of people.”  Changes occurring around data integration are moving quickly. A good overview of this is given here, by Datmeer.com. Data Integration Ecosystem of the Future, March 25, 2013, provides a comprehensive overview of what it’s about and where it’s going. This is a preview of Joe Nicholson’s analysis of data integration and its exponential growth creating new occupations and technology solutions, “New types of data, rapidly evolving data sources and high volumes of data make traditional data integration obsolete. Big data discovery differs significantly from traditional BI in that it looks to iteratively reveal unknown patterns, relationships and insights across all available data rather than focus on a simple question and answer paradigm.”

Data integration involves combining data residing in different sources and providing users with a unified view of these data. This process becomes significant in a variety of situations, which include both commercial (when two similar companies need to merge their databases) and scientific (combining research results from different bioinformatics repositories, for example) domains. Data integration appears with increasing frequency as the volume and the need to share existing data explodes. It has become the focus of extensive theoretical work, and numerous open problems remain unsolved. In management circles, people frequently refer to data integration as “Enterprise Information Integration” (EII). (Source: Wikipedia)

IT Skills“Too many IT workers are always chasing ‘new’, which leads them to learn a lot of things that never get used.

That time would be better spent getting deeper skills on more widely used and marketable technologies.”

The following were listed as marketable technologies:

  • Big Data (searching, mining)
  • Cloud Computing and Models
  • Configuration Management (Puppet, Saltstack, Cfengine, Chef, Systems Center)
  • Data Analytics & Reporting
  • Mobile Computing (Devices and Remote Access)
  • Security (Tools and Administration)
  • Security + Compliance
  • Server Automation/Management (a comprehensive management of hardware, operating systems, and applications to ensure data center management efficiency.)
  • Software Tools for Website Applications
  • Software Defined Networking (SDN)
  • Virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V, XEN)

Seek out learning opportunities - self-study“Try to learn a series of languages and frameworks through website tutorials, personal projects, internships.” IT is often viewed as a commitment to lifelong learning. Every IT professional either asserts, or agrees with this statement.

 

 

Find Real-Life Opportunites”Get as much real-world experience in things that interest you.” Look up ways to create IT projects through everyday experiences, hobbies, or group activities, etc.

Just doing a web search, the above image will take an IT student to Dream in Code (Dreamincode.net) where one can find a comprehensive list of coding projects to tackle.

 

Building an IT Career-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond
The Ideal IT Student, Maureen A. Majury, M.Ed.
© Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology, 2014


Building an IT Career Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond: Introduction

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The Ideal IT Student

Ideal IT Graduate High Level

Introduction: In considering what transforms someone who has even a mild curiosity about pursuing an academic and career pathway in IT, one of the primary questions is, what are the critical components that can produce an ideal IT

  • student,
  • graduate,
  • job candidate, and finally,
  • worker?

Is there a formula to this composition? What are the essential elements that might be distilled into a general guideline that informs IT educators and students when building and refining an IT Program of Study? Can an actionable plan and series of steps build something concrete that better prepares the IT student? Questions were developed for a team of IT professionals to extract a list of ingredients for IT educators and students to reflect upon as they start their next academic year.

This report, Building an IT-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond, outlines the in-demand technical skills and knowledge, including employability skills, IT students should become familiar with.  All of these skills, in some combination, are required qualifications for the majority of IT employers. The information, resources, and expansion on what these technical knowledge and skills are, and why they are important, increases the probability the IT student will be prepared to meet their future employer’s job requirements and responsibilities. This report also showcases and details a compilation of standards for IT students and educators that create clearer expectations of what an IT program should be offering in terms of curricular content. Essentially, these highly desirable attributes, as identified by a team of IT professionals, should have been absorbed into the student’s lexicon upon graduation.

This report’s intention is to act as a resource guide which IT educators can use to transform their IT students into an IT ideal graduate and future worker. Throughout, IT educators can evaluate the information and consider alignment of the ideal IT student attributes in their classrooms, curriculum, project-, and work-based learning assignments.

The Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology, hosted at Bellevue College, asked a team IT professionals’ five questions. These professionals provided a large amount of information for the Center to study, research, and expand upon. The team of professionals was selected as their jobs cover IT occupations in networking, systems design and administration, programming, big data and mining analytics, web design and development, and game development and design. The assembled team was comprised of the following:

  • Jonny Chambers, Microsoft
  • Lisa Edwards, Boeing
  • Valerie Goulds, Microsoft
  • Rich James, F5 Networks
  • Ski Kacoroski, Northshore School District
  • Katie Metcalf, Microsoft
  • Chris Orth, Well Played Games
  • Juan Ulloa, EagleView Technologies

The questions they answered were:

  1. If you had advice for an IT graduate (irrespective of whether they earned a 2- or 4- year degree), who is about to enter the workforce…What are the top five IT courses (and subsequent IT concepts/competencies) they should have mastered? (For example, networking, programming, database design/development, etc.)
  2. What new technology competencies should the IT graduate be anticipating and searching out to master either in college, a training program, opportunities provided online, or by self-mastery (reading a book, or IT content-specific website)?
  3. Often, IT employers bemoan the lack of innovation and critical thinking in an IT graduate. Why do you think that is? What could the student do to “grow” their own capacity to innovate and think critically?
  4. When you are training and/or mentoring a new IT employee, what three things do you spend the most time on with them to improve their performance?
  5. In this diagram we have the outline of the ideal IT graduate/job candidate (refer to handout). Attach adjectives, descriptors, specific things that quantify and define this “ideal” under the headings head, heart, touch, movement/motion (skills, knowledge, intangible and concrete qualities, personality traits, characteristic, etc. – a few examples have been given). Note: Please use this in the context of your IT expertise/specialization (i.e. web, programming, gaming, etc.).

 Ideal IT Student

The Center compiled the IT professional’s answers, and then organized the responses, and performed the following:

  • Curated the results to ensure consistency and clarity
  • Refined their responses and the information provided through research in order to concretely defining and creating context
  • Mined data from a variety of sources to create a wide array of resources for both IT educators and students

Finally, the Center interviewed a web application developer, a former Bellevue College student, to find out about the challenges and opportunities he experienced as an IT student and worker. Bryan Stevenson’s story offers a different perspective for consideration, as well as alignment to

the advice and direction provided by the team of IT professionals. You can read Bryan Stevenson Talks about Challenges and Opportunities of Creating the Ideal IT Career Pathway in the sixth section of this report.

 

Building an IT Career-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond
The Ideal IT Student by Maureen A. Majury  M.Ed.
© Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology, 2014

For an IT graduate (whether a 2- or 4-year degree) about to enter the workforce, we asked our IT Professionals what are the top five IT courses and subsequent IT concepts/competencies they should have mastered? For example, networking, programming, database design/development, etc.

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Section 1

1.    IT and Computer Science (CS) Competencies

Database Design & IntegrationDatabase Design/Integration: Data is big right now. IT students, whatever the concentration they elect to focus on, need to understand how to build a database, as well as produce database models. Data is driving business decisions and it has become increasingly visual. Data visualization is essentially descriptive statistics which result in a visual representation of data. It’s often described as telling a story using data.  One of the courses IT professionals consistently recommend is statistics. It can never be overstated how important statistics is for a student who wants to create an understanding of logic and applied mathematics to build upon for more advanced IT coursework.

IT students are typically introduced to database basics by Microsoft’s Excel and Access. Here is a list of the most popular and widely used database software systems, including SQL (one of the most widely used open source database).  NoSQL (relational database management system – RDMS) is new to the game of database design and management.

InteractiveInteractive Design is a “user-oriented field of study that focuses on meaningful communication of media through cyclical and collaborative processes between people and technology. Successful interactive designs have simple, clearly defined goals, a strong purpose and intuitive screen interface.” (Source: Wikipedia)

 

Mobile Operating SystemsMobile Operating Systems (OS) and Platforms:  There are a number of operating systems that support mobile devices, smartphones, tablets, etc. The most common OS’s are Android (Google), Blackberry, iOS (Apple), Windows (Microsoft), and all others (Ubuntu, Firefox, etc.) Look here for the Mobile Platforms to watch for the second half of 2014. Find out how a non-profit in Queen’s New York taught people to create iPhone apps — and their incomes jumped from $15k to $72k.

Networking FundamentalsNetworking Fundamentals: “A computer network or data network is a telecommunications network that allows computers to exchange data. In computer networks, networked computing devices pass data to each other along data connections. The connections (network links) between nodes are established using either cable media or wireless media. The best-known computer network is the Internet.” (Source: Wikipedia)

Operating SystemsOperating Systems (OS): In Garner’s chart the following percentage increases/decreases could be used to anticipate which languages might be increase/decrease in popularity in the future.

Overall, the total device shipments by OS looks to increase by almost 6% between now and 2015, but it’s actually a smaller increase than between 2013 and 2014 at 8%.

Worldwide Device Shipments

Projected increase/decrease for the six OSs is as follows:

  • Android              4%

Android runs the Linux kernel (similar to the Unix OS) and its user interface works with direct manipulation (for the touch screen’s mobile devices, as well as tablets use). Linux uses free, open source software for its OS software development. Android’s programming languages are C, C++, and Java.

  • Windows            17.5%

Microsoft’s Windows OS did not begin as a full operating system as it extends MS-DOS. However, it’s gone through multiple iterations to become a fully integrated operating system.  It’s written in Assembly, C, C#, C++. The C programming languages (including, C++) has both open source and proprietary implementations that share an open standard.

  • iOS/Mac OS     -14%

This is a surprising projected decrease. iOS runs on a Unix-like OS, and uses C languages, Objective C, and Swift. Swift is the Apple-created compiled programming language that’s been developed to replace Objective C.

  • RIM      -31%

RIM is Blackberry’s operating system. It’s a closed source and written in C++. The decrease isn’t surprising given the problems Blackberry’s been experiencing over the last few years.

  • Chrome              67%

Google’s Chrome’s OS is similar to Android’s in that it runs the Linux kernel. It uses the C and C++ programming languages. It was built using an open source project, Chromium OS. The projected increase is large.

  • Others              8%

Take Aways: While there is always talk of overtaking the C-family of programming languages, looking at the commonality of all these operating systems, it appears the C program language fuels 100% of the OSs listed above (not including “Others” which was not defined by Gartner).

Programming & ScriptingProgramming and Scripting:  This is for our IT educators, and it’s an important point to consider. There are no shortcuts in teaching someone how to program, as it still requires educators to teach students how to program.  Perseverance, on the part of students, studying programming is requisite. Here’s why.

“For the past 50 years, programmers have tried to make it easy for people to learn programming, and for 50 years they’ve succeeded — but only at teaching the most basic tasks. Ninety-five percent of the world may be able to figure out if-then-else structures, but that’s not the same thing as being a programmer.” (Source: InfoWorld)

SecuritySecurity: Data loss”, “data breach”, “abuse of cloud services”… It all sounds ominous. Network security, specifically security for the cloud, is important. The Cloud Security Alliance listed the “notorious nine” threats. This is a well-organized and succinct overview of the nine security threats to the cloud. Anyone can quickly assess what the threats are just by reviewing the table of contents.  However, as it’s only 19 pages, it might be worth reading.

System AnalysisSystems Analysis: “The system development life cycle (SDLC) is the traditional system development method that organizations use for large-scale IT Projects. The SDLC is a structured framework that consists of sequential processes by which information systems are developed.

  1. System Investigation
  2. System Analysis
  3. System Design
  4. Programming and Testing
  5. Implementation
  6. Operation and Maintenance”

(Source: Wikepdia)

2. Employability Skills 

Employability Skills

Courtesy of: The University of Kent

What are employability skills, and why are they so important?  “A group of essential abilities that involve the development of a knowledge base, expertise level and mindset that is increasingly necessary for success in the modern workplace. Employability skills are typically considered essential qualifications for many job positions and hence have become necessary for an individual’s employment success at just about any level within a business environment.”

(Source: Business Dictionary)

Employability skills are a key factor when an employer looks at a resume, and then invites you to an in-person or group interview.  It plays a major part in their decision to hire the IT graduate/job seeker. Employers indicate that over 50% of their decision to hire an IT worker is because they have the employability skills they’re looking for. Even though this Exeter UK chart of employability skills aligns to secondary activities, where evidence and demonstration of that skill can be found in a student’s lesson outcome, it’s still a good representation of how these skill might be integrated into a course.

The following were considered to be essential employability skills for an IT student and graduate by our IT industry professional panel:

Accounting Fundamentals (how to manage a budget, cost something out, etc.): While accounting is typically housed in a professional and technical program or used for business-transfer students, accounting principles are highly applicable for IT students. Some of the key components of IT include explaining the return on an investment (ROI).  “If we decide to go with this software package systems-wide, how much will it cost? Will this investment ultimately increase performance, productivity, and save us money?” is a question that may sound like one only the management-level professional would have to answer.  They typically will ask for the opinions of their team. “We have to spec out this project. Can you tell me how many hours it will take you, given your current hourly salary, plus benefits?  Be sure to factor in a markup of 20%?” could be a question sent by the project-lead, via email, to a group of IT workers.  Would an IT graduate from your college’s IT program be able to answer these questions? One of the employability skills connected to accounting fundamentals is project management. It’s another one of those skills employers are looking for.

Covering even a few accounting basics within the IT courses taught, as well as embedding a few principles as learner outcomes in a project, could make a difference in an IT student’s workplace success.

Looking at this high-level financial process planning, the link between IT, financial analysis, and project projections has relevant implications for IT graduates and workers.

Accounting Principles

Career Planning: When you have read the profile of Bryan Stevenson (Section 6), you will see that one of the overlooked areas for many IT students is aligning career goals with academic choices. Students should know how to create opportunities that translate into being seen as a desirable prospective employee. Students need resources as well as guidance in figuring out the * different IT jobs out there, * what they require in terms of technical knowledge and skills, * what the work will actually be like, and, * how much the job will pay.

Your Future in IT LogoAn excellent resource for IT students is the website YourFuturein.IT. It’s the IT Resource for Students in Washington State with academic planning guides, career tips, a search-engine for all the IT degrees/certificates in Washington State, as well as an IT interest quiz, and detailed information about different IT occupations (including duties, pay, etc.)

CommunicationCommunication: Look at any IT job posting and see the following requirements listed:

  • “Possess excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to interface with senior managers”
  • “…this is complemented by outstanding listening skills as well as excellent written and verbal communication skills”
  • “Strong presentation and communication skills”

Communication is included in 1,054, or 47% of all of the IT jobs posted on Dice.com (for Washington State). And, for the 43% of jobs that didn’t include it, the employer will still expect it. They are probably assuming a college graduate, and now prospective employee, would understand how important effective communication skills are.Communication Skills

IT educators can use this resource to weave within the hands-on and applied technology concepts they are teaching, the different communication skills IT employers are looking for.

Critical Thinking: Everyone always talks about how important critical thinking skills are. However, there is something vague about this term, as there are a myriad of definitions out there.

Critical ThinkingWhat does it really mean? And, can it be taught?  The following definition seems to capture the essence of critical thinking.

“Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following:

  • understand the logical connections between ideas
  • identify, construct and evaluate arguments
  • detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning
  • solve problems systematically
  • identify the relevance and importance of ideas
  • reflect on the justification of one’s own beliefs and values”

(Source:  Critical Thinking)

Critical Thinking Skills

The following resource and Critical Thinking Planning Guide (above) can be used by both IT educators and students to use in IT courses in order to build a critical thinking improvement plan. (Source: Educational Technology and Mobile Learning)

FlexibilityFlexibility: Think of flexibility as in opposition to the following verb, rigid. In researching “flexibility” and “employability skills,” it is worth noting the United Kingdom (UK) has spent sizeable time and effort creating a wide body of employability skills resources. Washington State could benefit from reviewing and implementing the UK’s body of research and work in this area.

According to Tony Allesandra, author of The Platinum Rule, “High flexibility is characterized by these five attributes: confidence, tolerance, empathy, positivity, and respect for others.” Ms. Allesandra also gives examples of the flip side of flexibility:

  • Rigidity—“It’s my way or the highway”
  • Competition with Others—“I’m smarter, prettier, etc., than you”
  • Discontent—“No, I don’t like it this way. Why can’t we…”
  • Unapproachable—“Don’t bother me unless it’s worth my time and you agree with me”
  • Difficulty with Ambiguity—“Let’s nail this down right now”

Given how the IT industry’s mindset is “rapid change drives innovation”, it’s vital faculty help students understand that this is part of working in the technology industry. Students need to be prepared to embrace flexibility.

Meeting BasicsMeeting Basics (What should be on the agenda? Who is the lead? Why have a meeting? Is it informational or a working meeting? What are the outcomes? etc.): Meetings are an inevitable part of the employee experience. They are also an effective way to create a cohesive vision on how to move things forward. In IT, especially, meetings happen using a myriad of different platforms: 1on1 or group meetings can take place in-person, on the phone, web(inars). And, one of the elements of a meeting, making a decision(s), in many instances been offloaded through the poll and survey tools, email, etc.

Things to consider when either attending or heading a meeting are succinctly summed up by Neal Hartman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who contributed this piece to Forbes.com’s, Leadership Forum. He writes,

  1. Make your objective clear
  2. Consider who is invited
  3. Stick to your schedule
  4. Take no hostages
  5. Start on time, end on time
  6. Ban technology
  7. Follow up

Note: These elements should also be considered from the viewpoint of the meeting attendee. And, while number 6, “Ban technology” sounds counterintuitive, at least consider the rationale.

Vision Mission ValuesThe Modern Workplace Culture: When reading Bryan Stevenson ’s interview, consider his thoughts on why it’s imperative to pay attention to the culture of the organization when applying for a job. IT students, and subsequent graduates, need to do their homework. They should research any and all pertinent information about the company. It’s always advisable for students, when doing their research about a prospective employer, to understand what the company’s vision, mission, and values are.  Try keyword searches for elements of a work environment tied to the company’s name and see what pops up.  Use LinkedIn to see who works at the prospective employer’s company to find out if there are any indicators about their satisfaction with company’s workplace culture. Increasingly, IT students should also be aware the IT industry has moved towards meeting its employment needs with the contract worker. IT students would be well advised to read about Bryan Stevenson’s experience as an IT contract worker.

Something else for IT faculty to disclose to their students is stress is part of the IT employment landscape, just as it’s part of any job. It’s a key attribute our IT professionals identified.  IT workers either are comfortable with, or adapt to, the sometimes ambiguous nature of technology and the associated stress.

IT Careers Stressful but SatisfyingAs recent as June 6, 2014, Baseline.Com, reported out on IT workers experience as an IT employee:

  • Fair Trade-Off: 58% have at least considered taking a new job that would pay less in order to escape their current stress level.
  • Stressful Aspects of Being an IT Pro: Keeping up with requests/workload: 31%, Keeping up with technology: 28%, Impact on work-life balance: 23%
  • Total Access: 36% said they’re expected to be available 24/7 during a work week, and 23% are expected to provide the same availability while on vacation.
  • Thumbs Up: 40% of these IT pros said their current work is the most satisfying of their career.
  • Professional Pride: 60% said they’re proud they chose IT as a career and are also proud of their current role, assignments and responsibilities.
  • Groundhog Day: 77% of these professionals said that even if they could start over, they’d still choose IT as a career.

(Source: Baseline.com)

PresentationsPresentations: Presentations have become common place in the IT world. And, IT students need to be prepared. Succinct public speaking and being comfortable with it, both extemporaneously and as part of a formal/informal presentation, is requisite for the IT employee. So, encouraging students to start making presentations (whether persuasive, factual, informative, etc.) during their college experience is essential.

One resource for both faculty and IT students is Ted Talks.  Amy Cuddy, a renowned social psychologist, gives an insightful presentation on body language that takes twenty-minutes to watch; it’s worthwhile viewing.  Watch how she moves around the stage, and realize with most successful presentations, they take time, practice, and require comfort with the subject matter.

pechakuchaAnother recommended resource, and this comes from Dan Pink’s book, To Sell is Human, (this book is an important one to read to build presentation skills), IT students can improve their PowerPoint (PPT) presentations after they have reviewed, pecha-kucha. It’s an international PPT movement that has given new life to the often dreaded PPT presentations. The formula is 20X20 (20 slides X 20 seconds of speaking=6 minutes and 40 seconds).

LinkedInProfessional Networking (LinkedIn.Com): Besides opening a LinkedIn account (LinkedIn is the most widely used professional networking site out there, and has over 150 million users), IT students should consider how networking increases their job prospects. When a student (who must be 18 or over) joins LinkedIn, there is a wide array of groups (like android developers, network security specialists, etc.), they can participate in. These groups can offer insights on job postings and provide opportunities to connect with recruiters. And, internships as well other job openings, are posted on LinkedIn.

IT students who are about to look for a job or, other work-based learning opportunities should ensure they are knowledgeable about the latest developments in the tech world. Ways to do this include looking through Dice.com’s Tech Blog, which has excellent daily reports on a variety of IT topics. ComputerWorld and InfoWorld are also good online resources.

Project ManagementProject Management: There are a variety of IT-specific project management (lifecycle) processes that are used in the IT world. Some common processes and products include products from Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM.  Agile and Scrum are two of the most widely used life cycle process products used during an IT project, specifically software development projects.

IT students can quickly assess their understanding of what a project manager is thinking about when they launch a project.  Even if they aren’t going to be managing a project, viewing the different components of what the expectations are as a project team members is a good starting point. Mind Tools has a project management assessment tool worth investigating, and a robust summary of the different elements of project management.

A significant consideration for an IT student, whether they are either working on a project team or managing the project itself, is that there are a number of different moving parts. In some ways it’s like trying to put together a moving jigsaw puzzle. IT students should be aware that some of the different elements include: working with team members who: have different areas of expertise, work in assorted locations (sometimes even different states or countries), possess varying work styles, are culturally diverse, and may have different goals.

Plan Collaborate Deliver

TroubleshootingTroubleshooting:  Troubleshooting is both a technical skill and an employability skill. Troubleshooting in the IT world is typically associated with hardware, networking, software, systems, etc. IT students should understand customer service often plays a large role in successful troubleshooting efforts. So, there is not only technical knowledge needed, but being able to incorporate active listening, proper documentation, patience, and clear communication are all essentials of effective customer service. There are a number of troubleshooting forums and vendor-specific resources online. Here are a simple  series of steps to consider when troubleshooting an IT problem.

 

News & Updates: Fall 2014

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CoE Logo 2

Updates & News Fall 2014

Updates & News: Fall 2014

The Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology welcomes all our IT faculty, Workforce Administrators, and student to fall quarter 2014. The Center and a number of our faculty have been hard at work working on initiatives, projects, services, and products over the summer that we would like to share with you.

IT Program Marketing Plan

IT Program Marketing Initiative: Our state’s CTC IT programs are accessible, affordable, provide excellent support, and are adaptable to new and emerging technologies. They provide a variety of options for students who want to pursue an IT career pathway ranging from certificates, to degrees (both two- and four-year) that need to be highlighted. As articulated by faculty from across our state during the IT Futures Summit (May 2014), awareness by students and parents about CTC IT program options is not where we want it to be.

Thus, the Center and a leadership team of IT faculty and administrators have created a plan to address this. The Center has developed, with the IT program marketing leadership team, an RFP to hire the services of a marketing/advertising firm to create an information and awareness IT program campaign.

The purpose is to ensure our state’s students, parents, and educators are aware of the wide variety of IT programs available to them. The rationale is to not only increase FTEs, but to increase the number of students getting a quality education in order to enter the workforce.

Please contact the Center to request a copy of the RFP to review prior to its publication late- September/mid-October.

The Ideal IT Student

Ideal IT Graduate High Level

Building an IT-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond outlines the in-demand technical skills and knowledge, including employability skills, IT students should become familiar with as they are required by prospective employees. The information, resources, and expansion on what these technical knowledge and skills are, and why they are important increases the probability the IT student will be prepared to meet their future employer’s job requirements and responsibilities.  This report showcases and details a compilation of standards for IT students and educators in creating clearer expectations of what an IT program should be offering in terms of content. Essentially, these highly desirable attributes, as identified by a team of IT professionals, should be absorbed into the student’s lexicon upon graduation. There are six sections to this report, for a total of 48 pages.

It is easy to read, easy to use, and provides you with the latest technology trends and curriculum recommendations based upon input from IT industry professionals and the latest in IT research.

Mercer Island Community & Event Center

IT Common Courses

IT faculty from around the state assembled in May 2014 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center for the Creating IT Futures Summit 2014.  They came to consensus on the six IT common courses they had been working on over the last two years.

  • Here is a list of the final six courses, including naming and numbering conventions.
  • IT faculty will continue with IT common course work with additional courses that they selected for the next round, as well as creating a statewide CTC IT program marketing plan that the Center will be funding.

In order to begin work on the next series of common IT courses, please complete this new survey by Friday, October 15, 2014.

  • You will be reviewing four new IT common courses and providing any edits/suggestions/etc.
  • Be asked to provide feedback, including proposing what the student might be able to do by the end of the course, as well as suggested prerequisites for the course.
  • Is there a fifth course that should be included?
  • The Creating IT Futures Summit is tentatively scheduled for May 14/15 at the Mercer Island Community & Event Center (Note: The Center will cover travel expenses for faculty traveling more than 75 miles), and we want you to save the date, as well as indicate if you can attend.

Off to A Future in IT

IT Applied Baccalaureate (BAS) Degrees

A resource section has been created on the Center’s website to house all things IT BAS.  Colleges who would like to share resources, curriculum, proposals, etc. are invited to submit them to the Center.  There has also been a decision made by IT faculty on the standardization of IT BAS degree titles, that the State Board will be adopting moving forward.

Look for more updates, including options for having your college’s IT program reviewed, two new summits, and information about a college consortium opportunity to participate in a MTA Microsoft certification subscription plan.

IT Program Reviews & IT-Applied Baccalaureate (AB) Degrees

The Center will again be performing IT program (degree/certificate) reviews at no charge to a college.  Two open spots remain for the free review.  If you are interested, please contact the Center of Excellence.

Additionally, if your college is either planning to, or already engaged in offering an IT-Applied Baccalaureate degree, the Center also can review, perform research, or offer consulting services towards that effort.

 

CoE Logo 2

Please contact the Center with any questions, suggestions, or to request subscription to the Center’s “News & Updates”
by contacting Maureen Majury, Director, at maureen.majury@bellevuecollege.edu.

 

 

 

 

IT Workforce Demand & Technology Trends Panel (Aligning Demand, Skills & Training with Industry Needs) September 30, 2014

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Partnering with Industry is Instrumental to a Center of Excellence's Success

The Center of Excellence assembled an IT industry panel for the “The HR Policy Foundation Workforce Development Roundtable and the Community College Workforce Consortium” on September 30, 2014. Click on the image above to view the video.

You can upload the PowerPoint Presentation here.

Partnering with Industry PPT 093014

 

 

 

The panel consisted of:

  • Jonny Chambers, Microsoft
  • Rich James, F5 Networks
  • Eden Lasatar, Bellevue College
  • Chris Orth, Game Dev. Education
  • Juan Ulloa, EagleView Technologies
  • Valerie Goulds, Microsoft

The panel focused on their experiences both with Center initiatives, activities, projects/products related to workforce demand. The panelists also discussed and expanded upon their contributions to a recent Center report, Building an IT-Ready Washington: 2015 and Beyond. The report is a practical resource for IT faculty and student. It offers sound, practical tips, tools, and resources to improve the quality of the classroom experience as well as generate more well-rounded and work- and IT-ready graduates.

Maureen Majury, M.Ed., Director for the Center facilitated the hour-long panel session.

Creating IT Futures: 2015 Summit

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Creating IT Futures

CREATING IT FUTURES: 2015 SUMMIT

You are invited…

Who:  Up to two IT CTC Faculty from each college (Note:  a $300 (maximum) per faculty stipend to offset travel costs will be allocated upon delivery of receipts totaling up to $300 for faculty from Central, Eastern, North and South Western Washington to encourage attendance and engagement at this event) and select IT industry professionals.

Faculty who attended the May 15/16, 2014 IT Futures Summit will be given the two slots to attend.  If faculty who did not attend that event register and those slots aren’t filled with the 2014 attendees, then their registration will be accepted in their place.  Be sure to coordinate with your Academic or Workforce Administrator to ensure this attendance coordination is understood.  If you want to send more than three educators from your college, please contact the Center at maureen.majury@bellevuecollege or call 425.564.4229.

What:  Will be happening?  This group will take up and complete issues that were address at the May 2014 Summit (held at the Mercer Island Community & Events Center), including:

  • the six IT common courses that have been finalized and need final adoption,
  • IT program marketing materials presentation
  • Progress on the exploratory research of state robotics/drone workforce demand, curriculum, and academic and career pathways.
  • IT BAS proposals and updates on progress,
  • Industry reporting on the state of the IT industry,and,
  • Hot topics and areas of interest for the IT faculty community.

Where:  Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, WA 98040/tel (206) 275-7609, The Mercer Room.

When:  9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Thursday, May 14, 2015 & 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Friday, May 15, 2015

Why:  Everyone has worked very hard to collaborate and create solutions that make it easier for IT faculty and students access and succeed in completing an IT program of study in the CTC system and enter the workforce prepared to meet employer needs.  We need to continue our collective work together and explore and create new innovative solutions for our system.

Requirements:
1.  After you register, you will be sent an updated IT Common Course Survey and report based on the December 2014-January 2015 survey and will be required to complete.  You will also receive an agenda for the two-day event as we come closer to the May event.
2. Register by Friday, April 17, 2015.
3. Review materials that will be sent to you before the Summit and be prepared to discuss, brainstorm, and make decisions.
4.  If possible bring your laptop or tablet.  There is wifi at the event.
Food will be provided (Thursday: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, Friday: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack).
Recommended hotel:  The Hyatt House near Bellevue College (easy access to 1-90, and then you can hop off and reach the Mercer Island Community Center very easily). However, for our out-of-town guests, with the stipend you can decide where you want to stay.  Mention my name, the Center of Excellence, and Bellevue College to get the government rate.

Find Out About the CoE for ICT from Advisory Board Member, Valerie Goulds, Microsoft

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Industry Advisory Board Shares Their Perspective on IT and Contributions to the CoE for ICT Valerie Goulds Microsoft EngineerClick on image to play.

New Podcasts Series: WaInfoTechTalks Focusing on Disruptive Technologies

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The Center of Excellence has launched a brand new podcasts series, WAInfoTechTalks.  Two have been published and three more will be loaded in April for the Center’s first season.

This podcast series focuses on disruptive technology that is, and WILL impact workforce demand in Washington State as well as IT programs (curriculum for degrees and certificates) at our CTCs.

 Rise of the Machines Atlas  rotm2  Podcast 2 Hacking with Dima Protchenko & Maureen Majury 021016  hack2
Rise of the Machines: What Does It Mean?

(Part 1)

Rise of the Machines: What Does It Mean?

(Part 2)

Hacking: What’s It Good For? Absolutely Nothing: However, It’s Good for Bad People (Part 1) Hacking: What’s It Good For? Absolutely Nothing: However, It’s Good for Bad People

(Part 2)

 

Rise of the Machines: Content Summary

Maureen Majury, director for the Center, sits down with Jonny Chambers, Director of Information Technology, University School of Dentistry (formerly at Microsoft) to explore:

  • past and future of robots:
  • how they might take over our jobs and eventually our lives (ok, maybe not)
  • the job outlook in Washington State
  • how predictive was science fiction, film, and television about how robots and automation might replace repetitive tasks and more complex occupations?

There are definitely some entertaining highlights, including the creation and future existence of robot nannies, babies, and pets.

Hacking: What’s it Good For?

Maureen sits down with Dima Protchenko, a software engineer for Healthentic, to discuss:

  • hacking and security in present day and past
  • how it’s portrayed in film.
  • learn what some of the unusual hacking terminology means, such as phishing, fuzzing and Trojan horses.
  • tiptoe into a hot topic in the news: Apple V the FBI – do we know the whole story?

Looking to the future, we have three new Podcasts coming in April for our listeners:

  • entertainment and technology’s impact right now and in the future
  • web design/development/UX
  • Data & Predictive analytics and there will be a follow-up with Dima Protchenko on Apple, ransom ware, and more…

So, follow the Center’s new podcast series, WAInfoTechTalks, to learn more about disruptive technologies impacting everything from the workforce, to IT programs, to how will it impact our everyday life.  Look for upcoming episodes focusing on: Entertainment and Technology, Web Development/Design/UX, and Data Analytics.

You’ll learn, laugh, you might cry (we hope not!)  Just Do It!  Join us as we Talk Tech.

These podcasts were produced at Bellevue College.

 


2016 IT Jeopardy Champions: The IT Futures Summit

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The IT Futures Summit had a panel on disruptive technologies, a presentation by an IBM researcher, an a presentation by Mark Nuefville of Spokane Falls College on the NAO robot, an update on the WA IT Program marketing plan/action taken, the IT Jeopardy game, and more… This was an informative, interactive, and fun event. Look for it next year in May 2017.

The IT Jeopardy game took place on the second day of the event.  In true Jeopardy fashion, the game featured 50 questions with three daily doubles and a final Jeopardy question.

Meet our IT Jeopardy Champions from left to right:

IT Jeopardy Champions 2016

To say this team dominated is an understatement. Everyone get ready for IT Jeopardy: 2017 as it will be an epic match-up!

The following are available to all WA State IT Program CTC faculty from the Summit:

“There is a catch-22 in Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics.  There is a scenario where ethicists have discussed where a robot might be forced to break one or more its laws.  Imagine two-self driving vehicles going towards each other on Highway 101.  Now imagine that the vehicles are just about to cross each other and a large object from the mountains falls right in front of one of them.

To the right of that vehicle there is a cliff, so the vehicle has only two choices: 1.  Allow the collision with the large object to happen, which would prove fatal for the passenger of the car, or 2.  swerve towards the oncoming car, which would be fatal to the passenger of the oncoming vehicle.

What do you think should happen?  Now imagine that one of the cars is transporting children.  Should it respond differently?

Since we are talking about self-driving vehicles (cars), the outcome of this accident would have been pre-determined before the accident happened.  So, ultimately, vehicles (cars) will have to have a method to decide which life is more important and it will mirror the ethics and empathy of those who programmed the vehicles.”

  • Also, don’t forget to listen to the Center’s podcast series, WAInfoTechTalks.org.  We now have 11 episodes that explore with our IT industry guests:
    • Robotics/Automation
    • Hacking/Security
    • Entertainment and Technology
    • Web Development/Design/UX
    • Big Data (Our latest episodes – Listen to the three part podcast on Big Data)

The Cassandra Prophecies

Robotics and Automation: A Retrospective and the Reality of Bot Nation

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Robotics and Automation

Click on the image above to download the PDF

Robotics: “The Fourth Industrial Revolution” Initially it appears there was never going to be a connection between artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, nanotechnology, 3D printing, biotechnology and deep machine learning. Looking ahead these fields and technological advances will experience rapid evolutions paving the way for interconnectedness and close relationships to each other. “Concurrent to this technological revolution are a set of broader socio-economic, geopolitical and demographic developments, each interacting in multiple directions and intensifying each another.”

It is projected between 2018 and 2020 the following will happen:

  • Robots will be able to see, smell, feel, move like enhanced humans, and be able to pass a Turing test.
  • It will make more sense from the perspectives of industry, government, consumers to have robots execute tasks and jobs that humans have historically performed.
  • Robotics and automation will impact jobs across all industries, but most critically in the manufacturing and service industries.
  • Cars, trucks, trains, planes, and automobiles will become partially or fully autonomous by 2020. • Because of robotic advances, a majority of our global workforce in administrative and professional services will find themselves replaced.
  • STEM jobs will continue to grow.

Manufacturing and production jobs will continue to experience loss. These type of industry job losses may stabilize by 2020. The people who will lose their jobs due to automation or robotic replacements will still have a relatively good potential for learning new technical knowledge and skills to use as work productivity will be swifter and nimbler due to technology advancements.

Source: The Future of Jobs, Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

This report has been researched and defined to enable IT program faculty across the state to consider the changes robotics and automation will bring to the workforce, as well as consider what kinds of program or curricular changes they might make to their current IT programs.

Content covers:

  • Section 1: Robotics and Automation: Historical Highlights
  • Section 2: Recent Evolution of Robotics
  • Section 3: Famous Robots, Artificial Intelligence, and Automatons (Automated Thinking Machines) in Movies
  • Section 4: Modern Robots
  • Section 5: Examples of Robot Applications in Various Industries
  • Section 6: State of the Robotics Industry
  • Section 7: Exploration into the Future of Robotics
  • Section 8: Job Demand, Trends, and Technical Knowledge and Skills Needed
  • Section 9: Technical Knowledge and Skills Needed for Robotics, AI, Automation, and More
  • Conclusions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where is the Unified Global Approach to Ethics in Robotics and AI: If We Can’t Get Along Globally, How Will Our Artificially Intelligent Off-Springs?

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Flying ShipWhere is the Unified Global Approach to Ethics in Robotics and AI:  If We Can’t Get Along Globally, How Will Our Artificially Intelligent Off-Springs?

Maureen A. Majury, M.Ed.

September 30, 2016
 

Preface

Debate, thought, innovation, and creation of standards exist for determining the ethical behavior of robots and artificial intelligence (AI), in all its coming iterations and forms. Experts in computer science, economics, as well as other fields, speculate about, and scan data on workforce disruption, lost jobs, and robots becoming “More Human than Human.” (White Zombie, 1995)

Ethics continue to play a large part of how robots and AI roll out currently and integrate into our societies and the workplace in the near future.  How will robots make ethical decisions?  Everyone’s joining into this discussion and opining without much mutual agreement.  And, every country and professional society or association is quickly planting its stick in the ground and roundly stating, “This is what robotic and AI ethics look like and should be.”

The United Kingdom (UK) recently published the new British Standards Institution (BSI)’s Guideline.  It develops technical and quality guidelines for goods sold in the UK (BS 8611).  The cost in US dollars for this report?  $210.   But who are the noted computer scientists, economists, and great minds behind, Robot Ethics According to About 25 People in the UK?  Unless you buy it you don’t know.

Although robot and AI ethics are the document’s focus, from the free synopsis, it does not delve into a required criterion of detailed behaviors.

What’s ultimately lacking in this, and any other piece or recently formed groups founding principles, are a global agreement on what constitutes ethics and a shared belief system that would be an integrated part of any robot or AI decision-making process.

What might be missing in this discussion…

Ethics, core values, cultural beliefs, religious identification, political selection, morals are all forged not just within a distinct country, but within regions of the country itself.

Each country has its own distinct views of what forms a socially accepted grouping of ethics and values, and, thus, the decision-making process for the majority of contributing member of a distinct society (or, country).  Even if a majority accepts these values and ethics, there is most likely a minority that doesn’t agree, rightly, wrongly, or indifferently.  Also, unifying ethics and values may be in conflict within a country or between differing regions within a country, let alone within a state.

Unquestionably, robots will transition from unthinking, rote automatons into creative, analytical, and contributing members of a country, region, state, or county.

So, we come to a quandary.  Who determines the values and ethics, the moral decisions, that will drive a functioning robot/AI as action-taker or decision-maker across the globe whilst existing in a society?  While the UK has the shadow decision-makers of the British Standards group, who will only share what constitutes decision-making for a robot from the age old monotone of Asimov, “Do no harm to humans,” one must agree much larger questions loom.

Globally, conflict is based upon differing economic, religious, moral, historical memories, and political beliefs, which expand into views on ethnicity, gender, race, sex, etc.  What if every country programs robots and AI to match its majority values and opinions on things like the value of a male child over a female child, the value of a factory worker over that of a highly effective financial broker, the value of a dog versus a cat?  This presents a rather large conundrum over what constitutes the best value system of that country, let alone the globe, on who and how one should program the robot.  And, who should be looking over their shoulder.

We could look at a situation where a homeless person is asking for money. Many might wonder how the money would be used.  Some might examine the words on the homeless person’s cardboard sign.   Others might look at the physical appearance of the destitute individual.  These considerations and decisions must be decided upon when programming a robot.  Because the question we all will want an answer to is, will the robot give the homeless person money.

Other examples confront those in choosing the best value system to program a robot.  What constitutes an “ethical kill,” for example?  Does that term really even exist in the field of ethics, or is it a term created for the justification of military action.  One doesn’t know.

Or what if one country considers theft a minor crime, but in another it is considered a capital offense?   Adultery may be grounds for counseling or divorce in one country, but what if in another it’s grounds for flogging?

So, in the end, is each country going to create more indestructible, resolute, rigid robotic/AI versions of its own majority?  If we can’t agree on what constitutes a shared set of ethics and values globally, what does this foreshadow for commonality as the “Ethics Policy Monitors” (both non-profits and big tech companies) are rapidly starting to individually assemble in each country to determine what’s acceptable behavior for robots and AI-entities?

…The sadness of watching the future unfold is the remembering.

Creating IT Futures: 2017 Summit

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Creating IT Futures

CREATING IT FUTURES: 2017 SUMMIT (May 18-19, 2017 free for IT CTC faculty)

You are invited…

Who:  Up to three IT CTC Faculty from each college (Note:  a $300 (maximum) per faculty stipend to offset travel costs will be allocated upon delivery of receipts totaling up to $300 for faculty from Central, Eastern, North and South Western Washington to encourage attendance and engagement at this event) and select IT industry professionals.

Faculty who attended the May 19/20, 2016 IT Futures Summit will be given the three slots to attend.  If faculty who did not attend that event register and those slots aren’t filled with the 2016 attendees, then their registration will be accepted in their place.  Be sure to coordinate with your Academic or Workforce Administrator to ensure this attendance coordination is understood.  If you want to send more than three educators from your college, please contact the Center at maureen.majury@bellevuecollege or call 425.564.4229.

What:  Will be happening? Participants will experience presentations, network, and address any issues discussed at the the May 2016 Summit (held at the Mercer Island Community & Event Center), including:

  • Updates on CoE project and services,
  • Update on the IT statewide marketing plan,
  • Robotics and IT, IT in the Trades, and disruptive and emerging technologies,
  • An industry panel,
  • A robot presentation,
  • New topics for discussion, including SBCTC updates, new BAS degrees
  • IT Jeopardy 2017 (Who will triumph?)
  • Connections with industry professionals about the state of the IT (and, IT-enabled) industry,
  • and, more…

The draft 2017 Agenda should be ready by February 2017.

Where:  Mercer Island Community & Event Center, 8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, WA 98040/tel (206) 275-7609, The Mercer Room.

When:  10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Thursday, May 18, 2017 & 10:0 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Friday, May 19, 2017

Why:  Everyone has worked very hard to collaborate and create solutions that make it easier for IT faculty and students access and succeed in completing an IT program of study in the CTC system and enter the workforce prepared to meet employer needs.  We need to continue our collective work together and explore and create new innovative solutions for our system.

Requirements:
1.  After you register, you will be sent additional information as we near the event (with enough time if there is something to consider or work on).  You will also receive an agenda for the two-day event as we come closer to the May event.
2. Register by Friday, April 28, 2018.
3. Review materials that will be sent to you before the Summit and be prepared to discuss, brainstorm, and make decisions.
4.  If possible bring your laptop or tablet.  There is wifi at the event.

Food will be provided (Thursday: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, Friday: breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack).

Recommended hotel:  The Hyatt House near Bellevue College (easy access to 1-90, and then you can hop off and reach the Mercer Island Community Center very easily). However, for our out-of-town guests, with the stipend you can decide where you want to stay.  Mention my name, the Center of Excellence, and Bellevue College to get the government rate.

IT Futures Summit 2017: Highlights & This Year’s IT Jeopardy Champs

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Getting to Know You Futures in IT Summit 2017

IT Futures Summit: 2017

Highlights…

With registrations almost double, the Center of Excellence for Information & Computing Technologies’ IT Futures Summit took place on May 18/19, 2017 at the Mercer Island Community & Event Center. IT faculty from across the state attended for a 1.5 day experience that featured another IT industry professional panel discussing and exploring disruptive technology (focusing on robotics/AI). Small group discussions looked at college’s IT programs, challenges, strengths, and new program and degree developments. Mark Neufville of Spokane Falls Community College presented his current work with the Center’s NAO robot and did a robotic demonstration.

The Center’s director, Maureen Majury, M.Ed., discussed the curriculum development, a robotic/AI survey course, and the work-to-date with the proposed robotic/AI AA/BAS. A special guest was Mr. Albert Lewis, Vice President for Economic and Workforce Development at Bellevue College, who talked about the process of developing a regional IT committee and its work on strengthening relationships between IT programs and area IT and IT-enabled companies.

Finally, on Friday, the popular IT Jeopardy returned with a new set of 50 questions, three daily doubles and a final Jeopardy question (topic: The 1%rs: Wealthy Tech Leaders).

Meet our 2017 IT Jeopardy Champions (left to right):

IT Futures Summit 2017 IT Jeopardy Winners May 19 2017

Mark Neufville Spokane Falls Community College

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Neuvfille, Spokane Falls Community College, Computer Science & Information Systems, was also on the winning team, however, he left right before the game ended. He traveled to Bellevue College to teach a module for the Robotics/AI survey course. The students found out all about the NAO robot.

This team won by $100 in final Jeopardy. Everyone get ready for IT Jeopardy: 2018 as it will be another blowout match-up!

Greg Rehm Bellingham Technical CollegeShout out to Greg Rehm, Bellingham Technical College: The answer to “The communication process between devices and networking which enables these objects to collect/exchange data” is not “Voodoo.” It’s “What is the Internet of Things.

 

 

 

 

The following are available to all WA State IT Program CTC faculty from the Summit:

WA Info Tech Talks Let Us Entertain You MM EL 0416

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