Education

The use of IT in education. This is not for STEM issues.

Tech, Labor Brandish Dueling Studies in Immigration Fight

Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/18/us-usa-immigration-tech-idUSBRE94H00720130518
ITIF argues that high skill immigration reform is necessary in part because the U.S. faces a shortage of STEM workers.

Regaining Our Lead in STEM Education

Roll Call
http://www.rollcall.com/news/regaining_our_lead_in_stem_education_commentary-224672-1.html
ITIF notes that from 1997 to 2009 enrollment in the Advanced Placement test for music theory grew 362 percent while enrollment in the computer science AP test grew by only 12 percent.

Companies Finance University Efforts to Improve Science Education

Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/article/Companies-Finance-University/139135/
To improve the U.S. science and innovation enterprise, ITIF calls for replacing NSF with a new entity that would focus on engineering along with basic science.

The U.S. STEM Workforce: The Real Story

WASHINGTON - (May 16, 2013) The United States faces significant workforce challenges, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and high-skill immigration is a key avenue for addressing this issue.
In the new report, "The Real Story on Guestworkers in the High-skill, U.S. Labor Market," the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) presents a detailed point-by-point rebuttal of the findings of a recent Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report which claims to show that there is no STEM worker shortage. 
The ITIF study presents a comprehensive analysis to create a more accurate picture of the high-skill labor market. ITIF's analysis shows that the EPI report's conclusions are simply not supported by the evidence.
"The EPI analysis suffers from a number of major flaws including the misinterpretation of education data, selective review of a few poorly-performing IT occupations, and a misreading of the operation of the IT labor market," states Robert Atkinson, President of ITIF. "Our report attempts to create a clearer picture of the high-skill labor market and the policy reforms that are required to address the significant innovation policy issues facing our nation."
ITIF's findings indicate the United States is not producing enough STEM workers to meet demand, STEM jobs and wages, particularly in IT occupations, are growing, and the domestic IT labor market is not depressed by the presence of high-skill guestworkers. In fact, high-skill guestworkers are filling a need given the shortage of American STEM graduates and serve as a complement, not a substitute, for American workers in technology-based industries. For example, as ITIF has previously reported, from 1997 to 2009 the number of U.S. high school students taking the advanced placement (AP) test for music theory grew by 362 percent while the numbers taking the computer science AP test grew by only 12 percent.
"STEM jobs are growing faster than non-STEM jobs, particularly in IT occupations, but there are not enough U.S. graduates to fill these slots, even though overall IT wages have grown faster than average U.S. wages," Atkinson adds. "High-skill immigration needs to be a key component of our nation's talent strategy, at least until we do a better job of producing more domestic STEM graduates."
ITIF previously announced its support of comprehensive immigration reform now being considered by Congress and, in particular, specific measures to enhance high skill immigration and help produce more domestic STEM graduates. These include an easier path to green cards for foreign recipients of STEM graduate degrees, a near doubling of the H-1B Visa cap (the temporary visa for high skill workers,) and increased visa fees dedicated to STEM education programs.
"The United States is in an increasingly robust competition with nations around the globe for the best talent and technical capacity, and America risks falling further behind if we do not attract the world's best engineers, scientists and innovators," Atkinson says.
To view the full ITIF report click here.
     

WASHINGTON - (May 16, 2013) The United States faces significant workforce challenges, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and high-skill immigration is a key avenue for addressing this issue.

In the new report, "The Real Story on Guestworkers in the High-skill, U.S. Labor Market," the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) presents a detailed point-by-point rebuttal of the findings of a recent Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report which claims to show that there is no STEM worker shortage. The ITIF study presents a comprehensive analysis to create a more accurate picture of the high-skill labor market. ITIF's analysis shows that the EPI report's conclusions are simply not supported by the evidence.

"The EPI analysis suffers from a number of major flaws including the misinterpretation of education data, selective review of a few poorly-performing IT occupations, and a misreading of the operation of the IT labor market," states Robert Atkinson, President of ITIF. "Our report attempts to create a clearer picture of the high-skill labor market and the policy reforms that are required to address the significant innovation policy issues facing our nation."

ITIF's findings indicate the United States is not producing enough STEM workers to meet demand, STEM jobs and wages, particularly in IT occupations, are growing, and the domestic IT labor market is not depressed by the presence of high-skill guestworkers. In fact, high-skill guestworkers are filling a need given the shortage of American STEM graduates and serve as a complement, not a substitute, for American workers in technology-based industries. For example, as ITIF has previously reported, from 1997 to 2009 the number of U.S. high school students taking the advanced placement (AP) test for music theory grew by 362 percent while the numbers taking the computer science AP test grew by only 12 percent.

"STEM jobs are growing faster than non-STEM jobs, particularly in IT occupations, but there are not enough U.S. graduates to fill these slots, even though overall IT wages have grown faster than average U.S. wages," Atkinson adds. "High-skill immigration needs to be a key component of our nation's talent strategy, at least until we do a better job of producing more domestic STEM graduates."

ITIF previously announced its support of comprehensive immigration reform now being considered by Congress and, in particular, specific measures to enhance high skill immigration and help produce more domestic STEM graduates. These include an easier path to green cards for foreign recipients of STEM graduate degrees, a near doubling of the H-1B Visa cap (the temporary visa for high skill workers,) and increased visa fees dedicated to STEM education programs.

"The United States is in an increasingly robust competition with nations around the globe for the best talent and technical capacity, and America risks falling further behind if we do not attract the world's best engineers, scientists and innovators," Atkinson says.

To view the full ITIF report click here.     

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies to advance technological innovation and productivity internationally, in Washington, and in the states. Recognizing the vital role of technology in ensuring prosperity, ITIF focuses on innovation, productivity, and digital economy issues. Learn more at www.itif.org.

Congress should offer planning grants for regions that want to create alternative types of STEM high schools or universities.

In recent years, a number of new high schools and universities with unique approaches to STEM education have opened. These institutions champion an experiential learning model and all teaching is STEM- or technology-oriented and done on an interdisciplinary basis, with students required to complete internships with companies, helping them to solve real engineering and technical problems. Public policy should support states and regions as they try to develop alternative types of STEM-oriented high schools and universities because it’s very difficult to conceptualize new approaches; coordinate a wide range of regional and state actors across industry, academia (including faculty and students), community, and government; construct new facilities; etc. Therefore, Congress should allocate $10 million for the National Science Foundation, through the existing Transforming Institution Grants program, to offer planning grants for regions looking to create new kinds of STEM high schools or universities.

The number of students who enroll in at least one course online has jumped from 3.4 million in 2007 to 6.1 million in 2010.

The number of students enrolling in at least one class online has steadily increased by thousands of students each year since 2002. This is important because the U.S. government spends an average of $800 billion on education, and online courses could be an important coast cutting measure. As technology continues to improve and become more affordable, it is predictable that education institutions in the U.S. will continue to utilize online courses to the benefit of students at all levels.

Source
The Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board, Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States, 2011.

ITIF Endorses Bipartisan Immigration Reform Package

WASHINGTON (April 16, 2013) - Following the announcement of the most substantive immigration reform plan in almost thirty years, Rob Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, releases the following statement:

"We commend the bipartisan group of Senators, known as the "Gang of Eight," for taking on this critical task and creating a comprehensive package that will address the central immigration challenges America faces, while also enhancing economic competitiveness. Read more »

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank at the cutting edge of designing innovation strategies and technology policies to create economic opportunities and improve quality of life in the United States and around the world. Founded in 2006, ITIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, non-partisan organization that documents the beneficial role technology plays in our lives and provides fact-based analysis and pragmatic ideas for improving technology-driven productivity, boosting competitiveness, and meeting today's global challenges through innovation. For additional information, visit ITIF at www.itif.org.

Phone Phreaks, STEM Freaks, and STEM Education
April 1, 2013
| Blogs & Op-eds
Robert D. Atkinson
READ ONLINE

For these phreaks phone hacking was not something they were doing to be anti-social (at least most of the time), or something easy they were dabbling in in their spare time, it was a technically complex task they were passionate about; in fact in most cases, obsessive about it. Yet, they all had pursued this passion in spite of their formal education. For the education system provided them no space to follow this passion, despite the fact that many of these individuals became self-taught highly skilled network engineers. It’s no different today, large numbers of young people are passionate — ”phreaks” if you will — about some aspect related to STEM, but like the original phone phreaks they must pursue these passions outside of formal schooling, where virtually all high schools and many colleges impose a daunting array of requirements and core curriculum based on the notion that they know best what students should learn, even if the students simply don’t care to learn it. 

The Obama Administration should create 400 new STEM-focused high schools.

To expand STEM graduates, high school is a key place to start and the best way to improve STEM high school education is to foster the creation of more STEM-focused high schools. The Obama administration should urge Congress to allocate $200 million a year for ten years to the Department of Education, to be supplemented by states and school districts and industry, with the goal of quintupling the number of STEM high schools to 500.

A Short and Long-Term Solution to America's STEM Crisis
March 11, 2013
| Blogs & Op-eds
Robert D. Atkinson
READ ONLINE

Today, jobs in STEM fields – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, go unfilled for lack of qualified workers, even in the current economy. A key reason is American students are choosing fields other than STEM. America must focus on regaining the lead in the race for global innovation advantage, which will spur the U.S. economy and create millions of good jobs. One key ingredient in that quest is to expand STEM talent. The I-Squared Act is an important step in the right direction.

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