Technology & Learning - October 2007 - (Page 23)

totally erased, according to experts like Gregory Kane. Connecticut’s Supervisor for Technology Education, Engineering, and Agricultural Education, Kane says, integrating “trades” education into the comprehensive high school is no longer viable. With the rise of the service- and information-based economy, brought on by the digital age, there has been a diminishing call for those kinds of jobs. “The market is just not there anymore,” he says. “And those jobs that were once straightforward and manual labor–based have become much more complex, requiring advanced skills that can’t be taught in the 50-minute, once-a-week class.” That is not news to executives at San Rafael, California–based Autodesk, which created Computer Assisted Design software that revolutionized the drafting industry back in the early 1980s. Autodesk’s Senior Director of Formed in 1996, Project Lead the Way has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of middle and high school students who’ve gained problem- and project-based experience in digital electronics, computer integrated manufacturing, aerospace engineering, civil engineering, and architecture. Worldwide Education Programs Paul Mailhot explains how technology and global issues have affected engineering training: “Engineers are solving very different problems than they were 50 years ago. Now they’re working with 3D digital models for space planning and structural analysis, and dealing with complicated heating and cooling systems. There’s also a need for buildings to be more green and sustainable than buildings of old.” Today, voc ed has morphed into Career and Technology Education and has shifted from high schools to community colleges and regional Vocational Training Centers, which can provide the in-depth focus and the expensive, high-tech manufacturing equipment necessary to train students for the more demanding 21st-century workforce. And these academies incorporate creative “school” models, including flexible and part-time schedules, after-school programs, internships, and full-time enrollment at magnet schools or vocational centers. The proliferation of these programs, centers, and academies is no accident. It is in response to a nearly two-decades-long cry for help from employers unable to find enough qualified U.S. graduates to staff their businesses. In fact, despite a burgeoning focus on career training, statistics continue to paint a dire picture. The 2006 “Workforce Readiness Report Card,” by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, surveyed 400 of the Fortune 500 companies, with Technology & Learning October 2007 | 23

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technology & Learning - October 2007

Technology & Learning - October 2007 Editor’s Desk News & Trends Product Guide Reviews How Fast Is Fast Enough? Cover Story: Career Education in the Digital Age Getting It Wrong Higher Ed Point of View How To Bottom Line What’s New Emerging Tech

Technology & Learning - October 2007

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