Students Demand Recession-Proof Technical Training
Posted by admin - 02/02/09 at 07:02:11 pmWith the economy being what it is in the U.S., unprecedented numbers are going to school — either for the first time, or to fill in career training gaps they may have missed the first time. One interesting thing of note is that, more than ever, these returning students are seeking technical training with skills they can apply to real-world situations.
“A lot of people are getting laid off and needing to re-invent themselves,” said Mike Engels, Career Guidance Services, Saddleback College.
With bills to pay, and oftentimes a family to support, time is of the essence. Some already have a degree compiled with years of experience, but they need to polish job skills, or turn to technical training in a completely different subject area, looking to the more than 75 various subjects covered in Saddleback’s Certificate Program.
Unfortunately, some have noted that this demand is often paired with a need to get that education as soon as possible, sometimes at the expense of a quality education.
“The problem is that people are only interested in short-term training,” said Engels. Saddleback’s top-rated nursing program has been generating quite a bit of interest, but many of the potential students have immediate cash flow needs and cannot commit to the time required to complete the courses.
“I’m seeing so many people just desperate for a job,” said Alizadeh, who reports a hike in the number of appointments from California’s Employment Development Department. EDD is a publicly funded department that assists job seekers in developing career paths.
In cases like this, perhaps students would do well to look into an online education, where they can find temporary work during the day and study for their dream career at night? For some, it could be the perfect option.
Entrepreneur Pays Forward the Gift of Technical Skills
Posted by admin - 02/02/09 at 07:02:03 pmInside Bay Area has a fascinating article today about Meryl Natchez, a woman who took control of her life and has more recently used her experience to inspire that take-charge attitude in others. While once a young wife and mother getting by on welfare checks, she got it together to go back to school and build a successful technical writing company of her own. With that clout, she decided to give back to the community in the form of a non-profit organization that teaches technical skills to people in need to help them get a leg up in their career just like Natchez once did.
Natchez channeled that experience in 1998 when she was named the Technology Taskforce Chair for the Contra Costa Council advocacy group, deciding to take on a project to help the underemployed attain the technical skills that were increasingly in demand.
The result: Opportunity Junction, an Antioch nonprofit agency that connects economically disadvantaged and unemployed people with intensive job training, job placement, mentoring, computer lessons and income tax classes.
Opportunity Junction doesn’t just give people the technical skills they need to get jobs, though — it also teaches them the social skills they need to keep those jobs once they have them.
Opportunity Junction, however, is more than just a technology training ground. It connects clients with long-term counseling and mentoring that helps support the transition from unemployment and welfare dependence to self-reliance.
“People needed more than just skills training,” Natchez said, pointing out that many Opportunity Junction clients are breaking the habit of quitting low-paying jobs when obstacles — a sick child or a flat tire, for example — arise.
“If you came from a background without much support, you could be out of work the next day for being unreliable,” Natchez said.
In January, Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover awarded Opportunity Junction one of two Chair of the Board Awards recognizing the organization’s role in improving the quality of life in Glover’s district (the second award went to Pittsburg’s STS Academy).
“It has gotten to the point where East County employers are now seeking graduates of Opportunity Junction because they know that they will have the skills and work ethic to be a valued employee,” Glover said.
Though it runs a tight ship with a tight budget, Opportunity Junction was able to help over 700 families and individuals in its tenure, and the numbers are ever rising. If you’re in the area and feel that this could give you the help you need, check out Opportunity Junction for yourself!
TEVTA to Build Technical Training Centers in Seminaries
Posted by admin - 02/02/09 at 06:02:42 pmThe Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA), an organization funded by Pakistan’s Ministry of Education, has released a statement with the intent to phase in and integrate technical training centers into several religious schools in the Punjab area. According to TEVTA Chairman Mohsin Syed, this plan will give students of religion more varied and applicable skills to use in the workforce after graduation.
He said that under a pilot project three technical training centres were set up in the Al-Khalil Quran Complex, Markazi Madrisa Darul Tajveed-o-Hifiz-ul-Quraan, DAV College Road, Rawalpindi, Jamia Islamia Trust, Kamoki, and Madrissa Jamia Ghosia Mehria, Lodhran. After getting successful results, the TEVTA has set up 23 technical training centers at selected religious schools in Punjab.
At present, more than 4,000 students have received technical education and training from these technical training centres. Boys are being offered short courses of three to six months duration, including electronic equipment repair, mobile phone repairing, certificate in computer application, electrical wiring, refrigeration and air conditioning, electrical motor winding, welder, wireman, electrician, auto mechanic, plumber, home appliances repair and painter. Courses of machine embroidery, hand embroidery, cooking and baking and domestic tailoring are also being offered at selected technical training centers for girls.
In addition, TEVTA plans to build thirty more schools in this nature and introduce even more types of classes, with the hopes that students will have a well-balanced education and a successful life after college.
Oakland Middle School Gets Technical Upgrades
Posted by admin - 30/01/09 at 06:01:36 pmNorth Oakland’s Claremont Middle School was once painfully low-tech — due to tight budgets and underfunding, the school’s equipment and education tools were, to paraphrase a parent of a student attending the school, “stuck in the 1980s.” But now, thanks to fundraising by the students and parents, Claremont has seen a massive revitalization.
Fast forward to January 2009, and 13-year-old Tyrone Dangerfield is explaining how he created a three-dimensional space shuttle using Maya animation software.
“I have a ship that I created. This ship here, it spins when it lands,” Tyrone says, pointing to the object whirling across his large iMac screen. “I custom-made these side panels here in the space station.”
Last fall, Claremont became one of the first middle schools in California, and possibly in the United States, to teach three-dimensional animation during the school day. About 80 of the school’s 400-plus students have completed one semester. Another 40 are enrolled in after-school “Tech Squad” filmmaking and Web design programs, which also are offered on two middle school campuses in East Oakland: Frick and Havenscourt.
Let down by government officials, the school’s PTA took matters into their own hands and used their own time and funding ideas to bring the revitalization into fruition. The new, more technology-driven classes, are being found to give students a more level playing field and a chance to develop relevant skills outside of the same old academic basics. With the success of Claremont, perhaps more schools will take notice and will follow suit.
Manatee County Technical School Gets $100,000
Posted by admin - 30/01/09 at 06:01:46 pmNews in brief: Manatee Technical Institute, a technical school in Bradenton, Florida, was just awarded a grant of $100,000 from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to better take part in preventative disaster programs.
Manatee Technical Institute will receive $100,000 for students in the construction programs to build and install solar carports to provide emergency power for MTI during disasters.
In addition, local youth volunteer program ManaTEENS, received two grants — one of roughly $100,000 to help train teenagers in the ways of disaster preparedness (visiting the elderly, for example, to help install safety devices like smoke alarms and fire extinguishers), and another of around $50,000 for a section of the program devoted to ecological matters and shoreline clean-ups.
Congratulations, MCT and ManaTEENS!
Technical Training: The Hands-On, Low-Cost Choice!
Posted by admin - 30/01/09 at 05:01:38 pmSometimes it seems like everyone is talking about four-year universities like they’re the only viable option after high school. Much to the contrary, however, there are as many different options out there as there are people, and what works for one person may very well be unfeasible for someone else. A very popular alternative is the technical college, and according to an article in the St. Petersburg Times, interest in technical schools is on the rise in today’s economic climate.
While there was a time when career-training programs were viewed as intellectually inferior to traditional education, times have changed. Today’s career school students are just as smart, savvy and driven as the college-bound. Most programs require a high school diploma or GED for entry, SAT/ACT scores and/or a passing score on an entrance exam.
Technical and career schools offer programs that run from two months to two years and focus on using “real world” equipment to simulate the work environment. There are plenty of advantages; hands-on instruction, career programs, job placement, a wide variety of courses, personalized degree tracks and practical schedules. These schools are also a low-cost option and can be the quickest way to get trained and certified for certain jobs.
With the growing amount of majors offered at technical schools these days, as well as their growing positive reputation, they are becoming quite the smart choice for today’s forward-thinking student.
Maine Technical School Proposal on Hold
Posted by admin - 30/01/09 at 05:01:02 pmProponents of Samford’s “Great Works Career and Technical School” proposal had expected it to pass at the Maine Board of Education’s January 14th meeting. Unfortunately for those constituents, the proposal for the new education model was withheld from the agenda despite receiving high marks for excellence in concept.
Sanford’s proposal earned 141 points, of a possible 200 for a “perfect score,” Superintendent of Schools Betsy St. Cyr said. In second place — with just five fewer points — was a proposal from MSAD 5 and MSAD 50 in the midcoast area, “Many Flags, One Campus,” which, like the Sanford proposal, has been in discussion for several years.
At the state board’s January business meeting, however, Maine Assistant Attorney General Sarah Foster, who accompanied Gendron to the afternoon session, asked that the item concerning the innovative school project be removed from the agenda. Foster said the MDOE had failed to establish a “Request for Administrative Review” process in connection with the initiative. Foster said that if the Board did not grant a period of Administrative Review, applicants could force an action in Superior Court, which could delay the selection process indefinitely.
The school board remanded the original deadline and allowed for review applications until a January 20th deadline, but it seems that there was misunderstanding over whether the Administrative Review process was to be used generally or as an appeal for a higher points score. From here, officials must figure out how to proceed and keep things orderly as they attempt to sort out the situation.
Technical Schools Attempt to Balance Budget Cuts With Higher Admissions
Posted by admin - 29/01/09 at 08:01:46 pmTechnical schools all over the country are seeing a huge influx of applications as the unemployment rate climbs. People looking for a second chance at a new career tend to seek out schools that can teach them immediate and applicable real-world skills, and technical schools meet those expectations with flying colors.
“Studies have shown as the economy declines, people start to look to technical colleges to get new skills,” said Kelly Steinhilper, communications director for the S.C. Technical College System.
Enrollment for the spring semester increased 6% at S.C. technical schools, including a record-setting increase at Trident Technical College.
“We’re up around 9% over last spring,” said Trident Tech president Mary Thornley. That means the student head count was at 12,499 as of press time. “That’s the largest spring enrollment we’ve ever had in the history of the college.”
To meet the demands of students looking for a quality education, schools have to find creative ways to meet their budget requirements while still satisfying their students. The biggest change so far? Many schools are finding that the best solution is an increase in courses available online.
Madison Area Technical College Makes Plans to Upgrade
Posted by admin - 29/01/09 at 07:01:42 pmMadison Area Technical College (MATC) has some big plans for the next decade: plans that include a new campus and some upgrades which, officials hope, will give the schools some much needed personality.
The 10-year plan would attempt to create identities for each of the campuses — including one proposed for either the Southwest Side or the Highway 18-151 corridor — based around programming, establishing Truax, on the North Side, as the flagship campus and its Downtown location as an applied and fine arts campus.
It’s a big deal, as it is the first “facilities master plan” MATC has proposed since 1973, and the plans school officials are putting forward are just a sketchy draft of what may come — more concrete plans (with cost estimates) aren’t expected to be ready until a subsequent meeting in February. That said, the plans as they are will be presented to the college board this coming Wednesday.
Space Technology in a Johnson County Classroom
Posted by admin - 28/01/09 at 07:01:34 pmThere’s nothing like getting a brand new crop of fresh faces interested in technology, and that’s exactly what happened in classrooms all over Johnson County when Richard Watson, a NASA space suit engineer at Johnson Space Center in Houston, came to visit. Giving eighteen interactive Q&A presentations at several grade schools, he introduced many grade-schoolers to the wonder and excitement of space travel.
Watson, who grew up in McPherson, Kan., visited three schools last week. Besides Sunrise Point in Overland Park, he met with high school students at Olathe Northwest and students in Silver Lake, Kan.
Although the three-day tour was exhausting, Watson had a blast.
“I love using this suit in presentations because it’s hands-on,” he said. “It allows the kids to connect with the human aspect of space.”
Watson noted how excited he was to see the enthusiasm of the young children, and the presentations will not be stopping any time soon.