What Interests High-School Students? 842
Jim Willis asks: "Our IT Division happens to be populated with some civic-minded people who are interested in making time available for local high-school students interested in science and technology. Question is, we're not sure the best way to do it. We're mulling around the idea of sponsoring a robotics competition or some sort of programming fair/competition. Unfortunately, we've been out of high-school long enough to not know what excites students about technology. Slashdot readers (esp. those of you in high-school): Where should we focus our attention and donate/volunteer our time?"
I call bullcrap (Score:3, Interesting)
This is
And you're posting saying that people WON'T be interested in something like a robotics competition? I know at my high school at least (which I'm currently attending), given the funds the entire tech lab "poplulation" would LOVE a robotics contest. Note that tech lab is roughly 40 students per period, 8 periods a day, per 2 teachers. Do the math yourself, just note that a grand MANY students would love the idea. "High technology" in the average US public school would be welcomed open-armed, imho.
A serious suggestion (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I am a high school student (Score:3, Interesting)
What I think interests HS students... (Score:3, Interesting)
Educators = bureaucrats who don't take advice well (Score:5, Interesting)
The results have been poor, the kids have had a field day loading porn and games onto the computers. The school has accused many of the kids of using the laptops to cheat. They have had to hire three full time employees to fix the laptop's OS (Yup you guessed it, Windoze). They never looked at any other operating system, and they blew off any suggestion of evaluating Open Office, though they could not tell us why they absolutely needed Microsoft Office. When I suggested desktops instead of laptops so that the image could be reloaded nightly as other schools do, I was rebuffed. They actually implied that I didn't want the kids to have computers. They assumed that every kid would have a printer that worked with the laptop (A Sony model that doesn't show up on the Sony site or Google.) Tests have had to be postponed because teacher's computer's have failed, imagine they don't have back up machines for the teachers. Once they realized that they would have to provide printers for at least some of the kids they scrambled to get a printer on the network, no luck so far. The laptops sound is software controlled so the first 15 minutes of each class is spent listening to 20 or so laptops booting up. I could go on but I think you get the point.
In short it has been one disaster after another. Tonight my wife and I will be attending yet another Board of Ed meeting. I will be announcing the formation of a committee to elect a competent Board of Ed. Maybe then you kind folks can come here and help us clean up the mess.
A high school student's response (Score:2, Interesting)
War games work basically as such:
Take 2 computers with the same operating system (Linux is preferrable due to the wide range of coding tools available), both teams are allotted time to secure their computers however they see fit (short of changing the operating system). First team to break the other's security is the victor.
If this doesn't seem appealing, just be creative. Think of something that you would find entertaining and they will more than likely agree, high school students who are interested in math/science are (in my experience) fairly mature. Don't try to think on their level, often you'll find they're thinking on yours.
Re:Metric System (Score:2, Interesting)
Basing the metric system on water was probably not the best idea. Sure it works well for cooking. But the system is fragile because it depends on water at a certain temperature and pressure so it doesn't work when exactness is required. A system based on fundamental physical constants would be better.
People always complain about America forcing its culture on others. Isn't this just a case of others trying to force their culture on us? We'll change when we're good and ready, so go mind your own business
That said, I think metric is better than what we're currently using. We'll switch eventually, it'll just take time.
Re:video games (Score:1, Interesting)
http://adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
It may be a good opportunity for students with little or no programming experience.
Re:Serious suggestion (Score:3, Interesting)
That, sadly, does not change upon graduation.
I would think doing a variety of topics to reach different people would work. My votes would go to:
Sure, it's a bit superficial, just have some "learn more" handouts or CDs so those interested can find out more on their own. Make sure to leave a business card or a number so people can call you (or a friendly assistant) with questions.
More importantly, don't bring in the tech guru from your organization. Most questions won't go beyond "Can you do that with my picture/voice/car/phone?" not "What are some of the possible future expansions for binary values in Sub-TLA IDs?" -- get someone who is good at talking, talks with excitement, and nows something about the subject they're talking about. I know its superficial but having a fat, bearded man in glasses drone on about MySQL is not going to light the fire in any student.
Re:Metric System (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Hacking 101 (Score:5, Interesting)
Give some information on (innocuous) cracking tricks, and with a stern warning "don't take this knowledge back, the school knows we taught you this so you're the first suspects", set them loose on an isolated network of Windows computers with random patches and a firewalled HTTP-only connection (so they can look up techniques). At the end of the round, you get points for the number of computers (possibly including yours) that you have either hard-disk or shell access to.
That would actually be pretty cool. I'll try to convince our computer club to host one, if we can get an isolated network of trashable machines. (You'll need to wipe the disks after the round; otherwise, you'll be using a pre-cracked computer.)
Job Shadowing (Score:2, Interesting)
Frankly, most of the options open to us were lame. I ended up sorting papers in a county clerk's office for seven hours. If you were willing to do such a thing and could actually show the participants something nifty, it might help a few decide on IT. It's important, though, that the program last more than a day. One day is not enough for anything interesting to take place. This might also be an excellent opportunity to latch onto some young talent; grab yourself some summer interns.
By the time I got to university, I didn't have a clue as to how a full-fledged IT shop was run. Last year, I landed the job of systems administrator for the Math & Computer Science department. Learning everything from scratch has been an adventure. Some hands-on experience would have been useful for helping me find something I love earlier.
Re:Don't ask us, ask them. (Score:3, Interesting)
A better approach (Score:3, Interesting)
Maybe "off the wall" projects might be like the following:
Re:video games (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Don't forget about girls (Score:2, Interesting)
One of the biggest challenges is, as the parent poster says, overcoming the stereotypes surrounding Computer Science/Engineering/Math/Science. The other big challenge, IMO, is answering the "Why?" question--as in "Why should I care about CSC/Engineering/etc.?".
To encourage girls to enter the sciences, the best way is to show them how it applies to their lives on a day-to-day basis. This approach will like work with boys, too.
I recommend reading "Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing" by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher (or at least skimming it) for an idea of the subtle ways that women are discouraged from taking math and science. Many people, including educators, are unaware how much impact even the slightest discouragement has on girls.
Of course, there are the obvious things: make sure that none of the material can be possibly viewed as sexist, check to make sure that girls can relate to the examples, and actively encourage them to participate. Studies have shown that not only are girls more sensitive to subtle discouragement, they are also more sensitive than boys to a lack of encouragement. Again, the book I mentioned above has a much better overview of all these points, and there is lots of material on the Internet regarding women in CSC/Engineering/the Sciences.
Lastly, from our experiences with high school presentations, you may want to think about involving younger (middle school age) children, if appropriate, as they are often less entrenched in the stereotypes and hence, more open to new experiences.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A serious suggestion (Score:3, Interesting)
I know here in Illinois, there is a math league math league organized by the ICTM (I think - Illinois Council of Mathematics). You might want to sponsor a regional competition for something like this (ask around at local high schools to see if they have programs in place). This would probably be easier than sponsoring a competition from scratch.
Additionally, at least where I come from, there is a significant push to "close the minority achievement gap." Considerable efforts are made to get kids involved in science at an early age (one such program is called Project Excite [k12.il.us].) You might want to get involved with one of these programs, too.
On a smaller scale, it would be cool just to see how an IT department is run - to get a sort of tour of your facilities, with an explanation of how they work, and how everything is run. Or, even better, you could invite high school kids to come try and break your security, as a sort of free security test. (Obviously, make sure they're not in a posistion to do any damage if they do get somewhere. Good luck!
What about FIRST? (Score:3, Interesting)
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an exciting, multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. The program is a life-changing, career-molding experience--and a lot of fun. In 2004 the competition will reach more than 20,000 students on over 900 teams in 27 competitions.
Yes, you will spend 6 weeks out of the year without sleep, spending all night in the shop getting the robot ready, but it's a blast!
For more information, see http://www.usfirst.org [usfirst.org]
I can vouch (Score:3, Interesting)
each other (Score:3, Interesting)
High school students are interested in each other. You'll notice that having a nice phone and sending little text messages is cool. It's not the phone that's cool.
If there's some technology that allows them to monitor who's going out with whom every day you'll see kids snap it up.
Physics (Score:3, Interesting)
Um, VIDEO GAMES (Score:2, Interesting)
Robot competition == gay and (worse) boring.
I can directly attribute my interest in computers to video games. One path is:
Now the Internet, while that STARTED with video games (the whole "play against your buddies" concept), it only really started to take off with pron...which, strangely enough, also ties back to video games, e.g. Leisure Suit Larry.
LIKE THE TIMECUBE, NO ONE CAN RESIST MY LOGIC AND PROPERLY AUTHORED HTML!!!
Catapults (Score:2, Interesting)
Check out the project page [iastate.edu] or read an article (pdf) [tbp.org] about the first one.
Every high school in the state is invited to the competition. Percentage-wise we get a terrible response but do usually get a half dozen to a dozen teams. It basically boils down to there being a volunteer at the school willing to help the kids out.
The kids always seem to have a great time flinging eggs at our giant frying pan. And we hope they gain some interest in engineering through the process of building their catapult and documenting the work.
High School Tech Teacher Responds (Score:2, Interesting)
Best of Both Worlds! (Score:5, Interesting)
It was hugely popular and made hundreds of dollars for the club's coffers.
Here's a Random Idea (Score:2, Interesting)
post binary, hexadecimal, or other random mathematical/computer stuff around the halls. Something easy enough to solve, but cryptic enough to get attention.
It's an easy way to weed out the curious ones who will most likely be adept to learning tech from the jocks etc. who don't care in the least.
Re:IT Internships (Score:2, Interesting)