courtesy King Features Syndicate, Inc.

The Next Level of Technology

For those of you who don't read the comics anymore, you missed a rather brilliant insight in the comic strip called "Zits" today. 

"Zits" sketches the life of a teenager named Jeremy, his friends, and his parents.  It chronicles Jeremy's crushes, sleep habits, prolific food consumption, apathy for household chores, and forays into driving and curfew-breaking, among other topics; its characters may be stereotypes, but they are stereotypes whose behavior rings true. 

The perspective from which "Zits" is written, although sympathetic to Jeremy's teenage travails, is really a commentary on how we grown-ups perceive teenagers today.  Which is why we at NCWIT found this exchange so resonant:

Jeremy's Dad (with his head under a desk): Well, I can't figure out why the Internet is down.  Do you have any ideas, Jeremy?

Jeremy: Why would I have any ideas?

Jeremy's Dad: You're a teenager, aren't you?

Jeremy: So? (continuing) There are teenagers who understand this stuff, and there are those of us who have moved on to the next level of technology.

Jeremy's Dad: What level is that?

Jeremy: The one where we expect other people to understand it for us.

Why do teenagers -- technology's most voracious consumers and appreciators -- expect other people to understand it for them?  Has technology become so ubiquitous that our young people take it for granted? Have we made it so easy to use technology that knowledge of how it works seems unnecessary?

As Kate Starbird and others have blogged about here, it's one of our biggest challenges to get kids to think about themselves as technology's creators, and not merely its consumers.  Together with the Image of Computing Task Force and organizations such as the ACM and WGBH, NCWIT is working to change the image of computing and IT to attract more people, especially more people who traditionally have eschewed it.

From one perspective, getting more kids interested in computing is a simple numbers game: IT jobs are growing at twice the rate of the overall workforce, according to the Department of Labor.  Yet declining interest in computing and IT as a career field has meant that our colleges and universities may not produce nearly the number of skilled IT workers the U.S. will need.

From another perspective, increasing diversity in IT is a measure of our country's ability to innovate and compete: the broader the representation of people creating technology, the broader the audience it can serve.  As other countries accelerate their production of skilled software engineers, complex IT infrastructures, and in-demand products that serve a global market, we cannot afford for our IT workforce to develop with a dearth of creativity and insight.  We live in a global economy with technology as its backbone; the economic, physical, and social well-being of the U.S. will rely on the level of technical talent and creativity we can generate. If we continue to "expect others to understand it for us", the "next level of technology" may very well leave us behind.

What do you think?  Why aren't more teenagers interested in being technology's creators, rather then just its consumers; and how can we get them interested in getting behind IT?

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Do You Know a Women-led Company Seeking Funding?

There are venture conferences, and then there’s it. As the seventh-annual conference dedicated to high-growth, women-led start-ups, you might think it is about a cause. But you’d be wrong.

it is about results:

• Over $425 million raised
• Funding success rate exceeding 60 percent
  
• 10 exits to date, including 2 IPOs

it is designed for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs who understand the value of extraordinary relationships. it connects entrepreneurs to top VC and angel investors, industry leaders, advisors, and every other player in the game.

How do over 60% of it Conference participants achieve funding?

• it connects – entrepreneurs with experienced investors, CEOs, and industry experts to forge key relationships and ensure an understanding of today’s investment market
• it is dedicated - no one works harder to put you in the know and to get you known
• it is serious - only the most qualified entrepreneurs are selected

You can’t afford to miss it! Apply to it now.

Doing it Right is a program where exceptional entrepreneurs enhance their companies' ability to attract funding and cultivate relationships. Through candid discussions led by investors and seasoned entrepreneurs, the program will increase participants’ understanding of the current state of venture capital and angel investment. Entrepreneurs will gain important skills and insight when Doing it Right - developing an effective fundraising strategy, negotiating savvy term sheets, navigating the due diligence process, and leading a successful company.

Doing it Right (September 25 through November 14):

• Advanced Track for later stage companies
• Life Science Track
• Technology Track

Application Deadline: August 13th. Get to it and apply today!

Read all about it at www.astia.org

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Advanced Computer Science for K-12

In my reading,  I have learned that many women do not take more advanced computer science classes in high school because they are not counted academically when competing for college admissions slots.  Typically computer science courses, such as programming, are labeled as elective or technical art courses, which have no or very little competitive value in the college admissions process.  Given this reality, it is not surprising that most women enter college without considering computer science as a course of study or a career, even if they have an interest in computing. 

Additionally, young women and men who chose to take computer science courses in high school often are discouraged from majoring in computing in college because they may not be as prepared for the rigorous study of computer science as they thought.  This may be because the instructors who teach the courses in high school do not have a computer science background, or because there's a lack of vertical articulation between computer science courses in high school and those in institutions of higher education. 

What can be done to increase the number of young women taking advanced computer science courses in high school?  How can we ensure that the courses offer a competitive edge for college admissions, and are properly aligned with the introductory computing courses in college?

What I have learned from my work as a member of the national evaluation team for NSF's Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program is that most K-12 school districts across the country will be requiring all students to take a fourth year of math and science starting in the fall of 2008 or 2009.  NSF's MSP Program is a partnership between universities and K-12 school districts to increase students' achievement levels in math and science, and better prepare students for the math and science curricula in colleges and universities.  Computer science courses are challenging and require a high level of thinking as well as mathematical and scientific skills; therefore, computer science classes should be academically competitive for college admissions purposes. 

I think it makes sense to have an advanced computer science course as an option for students to fulfill their required fourth year of math or science.  Perhaps NCWIT can work with some K-12 school districts to have advanced computer science courses count as the fourth year of math and science, or convince university administrators to recognize advanced computer science courses in the college admissions process.  We also could also work with universities and K-12 institutions to prepare a computer science curriculum that connects high school computer science courses to introductory computer science courses in college. 

If just a few K-12 institutions and universities agree to this proposal, it could make a huge difference in creating an academic trend, particularly if NCWIT makes this into a research project that yields favorable data.  These are my thoughts.  What do you think?

Dana Thompson Dorsey is Director of Research and Consulting for NCWIT Extension Services.

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Microsoft Faculty Summit

Last week I and a number of other representatives from NCWIT member organizations attended the 2008 Microsoft Faculty Summit, at the invitation of our host and NCWIT Executive Advisory Council member, Rick Rashid of Microsoft Research.  It was also great fun to see everybody, I learned a lot, and my attendance germinated some important new ideas for NCWIT.

In the opening session, Dr. Tony Hey talked about some cool new projects in the works at Microsoft Research:

• A "worldwide" telescope that lets your computer act as a virtual telescope, blending multiple sources of rich media seamless educational or scientific experience.
• Trident, a scientific workflow application that allows scientists to explore and visualize oceanographic data in real-time.
• The Connectome Project, a collaboration with Harvard, which is producing a wiring diagram of the brain

We are always asked by the press why people should want to be computer scientists?  Um, how about so that they can contribute to cool and meaningful projects like these?

Rich Rashid moderated a panel on the "cyberspace connection", which explored the impact of technology on individuals, society and research.  And here I must plug the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where I'm also Executive-in-Residence: the interscetion of technology, society, and individuals is at the core of what we do, and so I was quite interested in this session.  Dan Reed started off the session with the observation that it is international news when a heavily used web service goes offline, for even a few minutes.  Ed Felten opened with the view that where data is stored (in the cloud or in your personal device) is a huge privacy issue.  In my opinion this influences technical architecture in interesting ways, and how it's done could differentiate Internet software vendors.

Panelist Liz Lawley had some great observations:

• Our current social tools lack context: we share things with other people based on a complex web of variables, and currently most tools only let you be "in" or "out".  "People need villages but they're being forced into cities," she observed. We need different levels of social complexities and relationships.  How will technology solve this problem?
• Concerning the realtime nature of news, she marvels, "People in the past who never had a voice are sharing stories, details. We can read the real stories of people who are experiencing news events".

Later that day, Mark Guzdial spoke  on  the topic of contextualized computing. Many of you know Mark, a tireless advocate for changing the way we teach computing.  He believes that we must create introductory computing courses that work for everybody.  A lover of history, Mark took us back to the days of Alan Perlis, who argued that computer science should be part of a liberal arts education.  Computer science is the study of process or  the automated execution of processes, which changes everything.  Computer simulations allow us to try things virtually that we don't want to try out in the real world.  The world is increasingly algorithmic but most people don't understand algorithmic logic.  Mark aims to change all of that, and his talk was inspirational. 

On the summit's second day, we participated on a panel about attracting more women to computing.  NCWIT partners ABI, ACM and CRA shared the panel with NCWIT.  Microsoft announced a new scholarship program for women in computing.  We also talked about focusing more on gender in future Microsoft Faculty Summits.  I got some good input concerning our Aspirations Award and the potential for forming a "cohort" program for these young women.

Thank you, Microsoft - these are great events for sharing and learning.

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