Taking a few minutes to contribute to Cisco’s Online Support Community has exponential effects on network professionals around the world. These are people who leverage the knowledge found on this and similar online communities to do their jobs better. Tagging is a simple yet critical task that enables online communities of practice to multiply their impact. Take a few minutes out of your day to TAG a discussion, document, video, or blog, and Cisco will donate $1 to Teachers Without Borders. Read More »

Tags: and Haiti, brazil, China, Cisco, ciscocsr, communitiesofpractice, corporatesocialresponsibility, CSR, education, global, impactmultiplied, mexico, onlinecommunities, social investment, society, sub-saharan africa, teacherswithoutborders, twb

The second day of the 2012 Education World Forum (EWF) was a busy one, with a full schedule of talks and events.

In the morning opening keynote addresses were delivered by representatives of UNESCO, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Brookings Institute, and Intel. This was followed by two plenary sessions; the first addressed research from large-scale pilot projects and initiatives and the second focused on how countries such as Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and Nigeria are improving their national education systems.

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Tags: 21st century skills, edtech, education, transforming education

Though it’s wonderful to read about recent positive trends, there’s no question that the jobless rate has caused concern for some time now. Did you know, however, that in some sectors there are consistently more job openings than there are qualified candidates?

According to a U.S. News blog post by Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, a New Jersey-based charter school founder, fields including computer science, environmental science, medicine, and engineering all need trained professionals. The problem, Bonilla-Santiago says, is that America’s schools don’t provide adequate training in the STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—so there aren’t enough prepared people for the available jobs.

Part of the issue, Bonilla-Santiago suggests, is that teachers do not have adequate training in the sciences to effectively teach these subjects. Congress considered solutions that would bring more qualified instructors into the classroom, including encouraging STEM professionals to transition from their industry jobs to teaching positions. But wouldn’t this shift just exacerbate the current vacancy rates in the STEM fields? Read More »

Tags: edchat, edtech, education, education reform, stem, video conferencing, videoconferencing

Hopefully everyone is back from the Christmas/New Years Holidays by now and already hit the deck running. I know we in the Manufacturing team are already off, well, most of us. I started the New Year by having cataract surgery. So I am going to combine some Healthcare with some Manufacturing in this blog. Consider yourself forewarned!

First, what to expect from us this coming year: much more on the value of mobility and the ability to collaborate across the global workforce, wherever they are (yes, that is Borderless Networks); then a lot on the vast amount of data presenting itself to the factory and from the factory to the enterprise (you will hear the term “data deluge”); also the impact of “the cloud” on the factory; also the growing prevalence of tablets and other smart devices in manufacturing operations. And we will undoubtedly have new areas of concentration throughout the year as new technologies take hold in manufacturing.

So, that is the preview of the year. But now I want to talk about my personal experience with Healthcare and how it relates to Manufacturing. Read More »

Tags: 2012, Borderless Networks, brain, cataract, cloud, collaboration, data deluge, education, eyes, healthcare, machine builders, Manufacturing, mobility, systems

This week the ATC21S consortium is in London for the 2012 Education World Forum (EWF). The EWF, held once per year, is a prestigious global summit for education ministers. This event brings government representatives, industry leaders, and major organizations from more than 60 countries together and provides a forum for rich discussion on current issues, cutting-edge advancements, and the most important needs in education at the local, national, international, and global scale.

Day one of the EWF kicked off with welcome messages from international luminaries, followed by two plenary sessions with involvement from key ATC21S members.

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Tags: 21st century skills, edreform, education, transforming education