Sunday, January 22, 2006

In many jurisdictions particularly within Canada there is a dis-joint between education at all levels and addressing the needs of an information society. As one gets closer to the actual information technology sector and addressing their needs the gap widens even further.

Who is responsible? If you ask K-12 education they will tell you their job is much greater than to just prepare people for work. How could we disagree? Yet would anyone argue that when all is said and done after 12 years of K-12 schooling we should be on a solid literacy footing to move forward and take our place in modern society. Along with the literacy base we should, by the time we/ve obtained a grade 12 certificate, be made aware of career opporunities which exist in a modern society and the qualifications it will take to participate in this arena.

What exposures should our students receive while passing through the K-12 system? Should it be a combination of technology immersion with career insight? Is learning how to use technology enough? Do we also need to know how to apply it to real world situations? What responsibilites does the K-12 system have on behalf of our youth to prepare them for a society that is driven by technology and where some of the greatest career opportunities lies within the technology sector itself?