New from CIMC: Career Focus STEM Careers

Career Focus STEM Careers Edition is a new career exploration and preparation guide created by CIMC. This full-color magazine combines essential career guidance with web activities and “skill builder” opportunities to help prepare students for college and career opportunities.

Articles include:

• Identifying Possible STEM Careers
• Highest Pay in STEM
• STEM Careers You Might Not Have Thought About
• Individual Career Plans, Career Clusters and Pathways
• Online Tools for Career Planning and Preparation
• Getting Ready for College
• Finding Job Opportunities
• Managing Your Digital Dirt
• Strategies for Networking
• Career Myths and Realities
• CareerTech Champions in Science
• Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

 About CIMC:

CIMC develops quality, competency-based instructional products and services for career and technology education. High school programs, area technology centers, junior and community colleges, proprietary schools, and government agencies are users of CIMC products. Business and industry customers are also learning of the training and cost advantages of using CIMC instructional systems. Several industry groups and trade associations have participated in the development of their products and services.

 

You can reach CIMC to order online, by phone, or by fax:

 

• http://www.okcareertech.org/educators/cimc

 

• 800.654.4502

 

• 405.743.5154 (fax)

Leap Motion: Changing the Way We Interact with Computers?

I wanted to share a new gesture-controlled system that I read about called Leap Motion.

I believe the creators have designed something that could change our interaction with computers on many educational and occupational levels. Here are a few statements from their website:

• For the first time, you can control your computer in three dimensions using just your hand and finger movements and Leap Motion enabled software.
• The possibilities are endless, really. Art. Healthcare. Engineering. Gaming.
• Set down that stylus. The Leap Motion controller lets you create onscreen artwork, including 3D images, without any other devices.
• Interacting with 3D modeling software has never been easier or more intuitive.
• Whether you're on a Mac or PC, now you can click, grab, scroll and pinch, using only your hands.
• Sign on the dotted line without ink or paper. Just point your pen and sign your name in the air.
• Gaming addiction? With the Leap Motion controller, now you can crush the enemy with your bare hands.
• Surgeons, leave your gloves on. The Leap Motion controller lets you control 3D medical data onscreen with a wave of your hand.
• The Leap Motion works on Windows Vista/7/8 and Mac OS X, with Linux being on the agenda.

I also believe that Leap Motion can have a significant impact on any student or individual that needs assistance with the development of fine motor skills.

Please watch the video below to find out more about Leap Motion or click HERE:

iTeach-CareerTech: A Wiki for Sharing Resources and Best Practices in CTE

A wiki is a website that allows anyone to add, delete, or revise content by using a web browser.

After hosting countless meetings over the years, I have always been amazed at the professionalism of our CareerTech instructors and their willingness to share resources and best practices when they get together.

I began thinking that it was really a shame that sharing only took place at random meetings and that it couldn't be accomplished on a daily basis.

This is when I had the thought that we should start a wiki that would allow anyone with interest in career and technical education to share resources in real time. Simply copy and paste your links or add your thoughts and then instructors won't need to wait on a "per chance" meeting to share ideas.

The more people share, the less time individual instructors will need to spend searching on their own for resources and best practices.

I hope you will join iTeach-CareerTech and help us grow the wiki into an incredible resource for CTE!

Please check out the following areas on iTeach-CareerTech and add your favorite resources!
Academic Integration
Aerospace and Aviation
Agricultural Education
Automotive and Diesel Technology
Business and Marketing Education
Career and Technology Education
Career Information and Exploration
Common Core
Construction and Building Trades
Cosmetology
Culinary Arts
Family and Consumer Sciences Education
General Education Information
Graphic Communications
Green Living
Health Careers Education
Information Technology Education
Life Skills
Manufacturing
Private Security and Law Enforcement
Skills Standards
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
Study Skills
Teaching and Advising
Tech for Teachers
Technology Education
Test Development, Administration, Interpretation, and Remediation
Testing in the News
Using Wikis
Web 2.0

Study: Tech Classes Correlate with Better Achievement

I found a great article on eSchool News written by Laura Devaney that I wanted to share with you. I think it demonstrates how career and technical education (CTE) has evolved from the industrial era "vocational education" into a more robust training that integrates academic, employability, and technical skills that are in demand in today's marketplace. Please read the following excerpt:

High school students in Florida who took at least one technology course and industry certification exam had higher attendance rates and GPAs, on average, than students with similar backgrounds who did not take such a course, a new study finds (“Student Performance in Career and Technical Education,” conducted by Grunwald Associates with support from Adobe.)

Just what this means is unclear, but the researchers who conducted the study surmise that students who take technology classes preparing them with real-world skills might be more engaged in school.

I believe "engagement" is paramount to anyone's success and CTE truly answers the "WHY are we having to learn this?" question that so many students seem to have have. Certification is the other key component to this research study as it also demonstrates to the student why they are learning certain concepts, no matter how abstract, because they are now learning to meet industry standards in a career field that they have interest in. Certification bridges the gap between learning and the workplace and I believe this is why CTE engages students and I also believe that many people fail to understand this key component that exists in career and technical education.

Please click HERE to read the article (you will have to register to read all of it or you can click on the actual study shown above).

Recognizing Academic Achievement in Career/Technical Education

SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) just released "Recognizing Academic Achievment in Career/Technical Education: Conditions for Awarding Academic Credit for Career/Technical Courses" which details the merits and challenges involved in awarding academic credit to caree/technical courses that embrace rigorous college and career-readiness standards equivalent to those found in traditional academic courses.

As SREB states in their summary:

Putting in place the right set of policies for awarding academic credit for CT courses is one way to recognize CT programs with signature features that truly advance students’ technical, academic and cognitive skills development. It is our hope that this report will assist states in their continuing efforts to develop rigorous optional pathways designed around authentic learning experiences that will result in more students graduating from high school and graduating both college and career-ready.

I hope you will take the time to read this publication and share your thoughts.

The Spangler Effect and Sick Science Videos

I was reading Richard Byrne's Free Technology for Teachers Blog this morning and was introduced to a couple of YouTube channels that I really, really like. The Spangler Effect and Sick Science are both creations of Steve Spangler Science and the primary difference is that the Spangler Effect videos are approximately fifteen minutes in length and the Sick Science videos are short (three minutes or less) science experiments.

All of the videos that I have watched are great for the classroom or at home (with parental supervision) and are great ways to pique a child's interest in science! (or an adult's interest...)

Newton's Pendulum Video on The Spangler Effect

Match Levitation on Sick Science

Please view Free Technology for Teachers for more great educational ideas!