Teens: The Forgotten Workforce

1. Teens: The Forgotten Workforce Bram Moreinis Director, Hudson Valley Tech Scouts Principal, Game Face Web Design 845-750-6204 hvscouts.com bram@gamefacewebdesign.com

2. HIRE A TEEN! • THEY’VE GOT SKILLS. • THEY’VE GOTTIME. • THEY COST LESS. • THEY’RE HERE.

3. Business as Usual, Upstate The managers and owners of many schools and businesses are DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS over 40. • Born to a world of print, their relationship to computers can be rocky. • They are frustrated with the capacity of bad IT to disrupt operations which once ran slow but sure. • They do not feel confident in their ability to solve computer problems, and therefore do not roll up their sleeves to learn.

4. Computer Problems = Big Problems • Simple steps become huge ordeals; • Basic maintenance, like virus protection and backups, is not performed; • Automation of time-intensive, repetitive tasks ishaphazard; and • Much of the potential of computing to improve quality and efficiency is lost, and with that, economic effectiveness.

5. HELP HAS ARRIVED…

6. HAS YOUR SCHOOL NOTICED? Source: Students in Today’s Schools, US DOE, 2003

7. Boredom Hackers • Brain Drain Teens + Irrelevant Schools =

8. The Cycle of Dysfunction. • Our kids are tuning out. The availability and use of IT in our public schools does not match that of our homes, or our places of work. • Without an academic context for strong IT use at school, teens waste their skills on games. • Undereducated and uninspired teens grow up to join a lackluster IT workforce, or leave the region. • We need sustainable strategiesto help our schools meet today’s students’ needs.

9. How do we get them back? • Neo-Millennials are searching for independence and control, and the Internet gives it to them. • Neo-Millennials seek control over their experience - where they go, what they learn, what they buy, whom they talk to, and how they live their lives." Yahoo, “Born to be Wired” • Shift the balance of control between learners and the organization of school • Redefine the job description of students to be content producers as well as consumers • Redefine the job description of teachers as building learning communities instead of teaching 20 individuals in a classroom. Alan November

10. Empowerment= Self Respect • “Without Tech Scouts I would not have been able to meet as many adults in the work world. Going to the mixer introduced me to how important it is to be sociable and interesting in business. From this experience I have come out of my shell, and feel that I can do anything I put my mind to.” - Jordan, 15 • “We aren’t treated as kids—we are treated as adults—and people look up to us …. We have a say in almost everything and we take care of things. When we have a problem that we are unable to solve, we are taught new things that we use in the future.” - Christine, 14

11. Benefits for Schools: • The potential benefits of youth technology support programs for schools include: • Improving the responsiveness of the overall school technology support system. • Improving the effectiveness of technology coordinators and technicians, who can focus on higher-order technology issues. • Changing the school culture by empowering students and encouraging more robust technology use among teachers. • Saving money, particularly related to Total Cost of Ownership of school computing.

12. Benefits for Business: • The potential benefits of youth technology support programs for local businesses include: • Cost-effective training for basic operations • Cost-effective technical support, when mentored by local IT providers • Employee recruitment for entry level IT work. • Good public relations for: • Supporting our local economy • Supporting our schools. • Supporting our kids.

13. SustainableStructures • Like School Newspapers • Managed Club (“Newspaper Club”) • Credit Course (“Journalism”) • Workgroups, not Workbooks • Progressive Roles • Peer Mentoring • Extended Network

14. The Buzzwords Dropout Prevention: students are expected to maintain high standards for academics and professional behavior. Workforce Preparation: students develop leadership and technology skills that will reach far beyond classroom contexts. Community Service projects expand the impact of the program, as students offer parent workshops and technology support for community organizations. Apprenticeships and Paid Internshipscement the connection between local effort and income, and induct students into our economy.

15. Tech Scouts Sites

16. Tech Scouts: 1996-8 Cyber-Fair Merit Badges

17. Tech Scouts: 1998-2000 PHS “On behalf of Poughkeepsie Middle School, I would like to express our deep thanks for your extraordinary efforts this past week in giving PMS a new computer lab. This is a great improvement for our school, particularly because this lab will be connected to the library and the Internet. It means all 7th and 8th graders will have an opportunity to access the Internet for research projects, as well as use computers for their homework.”

18. Tech Scouts: 2000-2002 Refurb Labs School Website Curriculum Projects

19. Tech Scouts: 2003-2005

20. Tech Scouts: 2004-5 The Oldest Public School in NY Gets a NewComputer Classroom By John Mason, Hudson Valley Newspapers If town officials seem to be unaccounted for around suppertime Thursdays, blame the Tech Scouts. Clermont Town Board members, employees and other community members are gathering in the Clermont Academy from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. every Thursday school is in session at the town's computer lab for training in computer literacy, e-mail and related topics. Providing training are Town Webmaster Brain Moreinis - who is also Taconic Hills' technology curriculum coordinator - and members of the Tech Scouts, Moreinis' students or former students. The first class, Dec. 16, attracted three officials with varying degrees of computer background - Supervisor Bill Banks, Councilman Ray Tousey and Highway Superintendent Jimmy Potts. Team teaching with Moreinis was Germantown High School junior Ben Kudria, who recently transferred from Taconic Hills. Valstar Responds to the Needs of Southern Columbia County “Valstar donated DSL services and routers to The Clermont Lab, located in the Clermont Academy building and now the first public community computing lab based on the LINUX operating system.”

21. Tech Scouts: 2005-6 “The Tech Scouts provided superb input about our site, with ample guidance for how we might improve the user experience.“ - Carl Frankel, OurHudsonValley.Net “The Tech Scouts are professional, savvy, and a pleasure to work with." - Melissa EverettSustainable Hudson Valley " The Tech Scouts made hosting very easy to understand. I knew my needs would be met professionally." - Kristin St Clair, AAEO / Kamilika

23. No Need for a Digital Divide Definition: A gap between different social-economic levels in accessing Information & Communication Technologies, particularly the Internet. Solution: surplus machines + open source + community networks + community based opportunities + business + schools. Next Steps??? OECD, 2001, 5

24. Support Options Hudson Valley Tech Scouts: • Professional Development • Project Coordination Game Face Web Design: • Managed Web Hosting • Technical Support

25. Teens: The Forgotten Workforce Bram Moreinis Director, Hudson Valley Tech Scouts Principal, Game Face Web Design 845-750-6204 hvscouts.com bram@gamefacewebdesign.com