Syracuse College, AT&T, Museum of Science and Expertise (MOST) and Tech4Kidz partnered this summer season to create the Central New York area’s first free digital literacy and training summer season program designed to handle equality points in expertise training and to assist native college students impacted by the digital divide.
The AT&T ’Cuse Digital Expertise is designed to encourage extra underserved and various college students to enter the sector of expertise, an business that has lengthy confronted a pervasive range hole. This system offered greater than 120 underrepresented college students from the Syracuse Metropolis College District in fourth by way of eighth grades a chance to achieve crucial digital literacy and readiness expertise by way of distinctive expertise targeted immersive experiences, whereas encouraging them to discover a STEM and expertise instructional and profession paths
Over the course of this system, the scholars discovered an unlimited array of digital literacy expertise, together with cybersecurity, optimistic social media makes use of, analyzing search engine outcomes, pc coding fundamentals, keyboarding expertise, synthetic intelligence, 3D printing disciplines, digital animation, robotics, computer-based design for civil engineering and public area tasks, and expertise for locating factual information on-line.
The scholars additionally discovered how expertise can be utilized for good and group constructing by creating options and discovering inventive makes use of to handle points impacting youth of the area, corresponding to digital citizenship, whereas additionally studying the risks of cyberbullying, cyberscams and digital footprint points that damage kids’s fame later in life.
Deborah Nosky
“We’re grateful to AT&T and our collaborative companions for permitting us to introduce digital citizenship to so many native college students. Throughout our time collectively we have been capable of study extra about security and defend our private data within the digital world,” says Deborah Nosky, professor of apply within the College of Data Research. “By increasing the scholars’ understanding and use of digital applied sciences, college students have been higher capable of perceive how the talents we discovered utilized to careers they have been already acquainted with and new ones that they might want to discover.”
“Expertise innovates and transforms our world, and it creates boundless alternatives for individuals who know unlock its potential. That is why I’m so excited for the 120 Syracuse Metropolis College District college students who participated within the first AT&T ’Cuse Digital Expertise summer season program. They discovered invaluable expertise that can absolutely be the inspiration for his or her future success—and the financial prosperity of our group,” says Jennifer Tifft, director of strategic initiatives for the Metropolis of Syracuse. “I’m deeply grateful to AT&T, the Museum of Science and Expertise, Tech4Kidz and Syracuse College for providing such an impactful program to our youngsters. Partnerships like this make it potential to create extra inclusive instructional and financial alternatives for households of all backgrounds.”
Digital data has change into the brand new literacy and is the driving force of all new international expertise. With the rising demand to innovate, organizations throughout numerous industries wrestle to fill expert positions. It’s projected that there shall be 3.5 million STEM and digital jobs within the U.S. by 2025, underscoring the significance of offering the youth the instruments and expertise essential to compete on this innovation financial system.
The urgency for extra various expertise skilled workers is accentuated by the low proportion of range make-up of the expertise business. This alarming range scarcity within the tech business and the rising STEM job market emphasizes the significance of offering programing just like the AT&T ’Cuse Digital Expertise for youth of all backgrounds and financial conditions.
“It’s been a pleasure educating and studying from these energetic native college students about expertise and digital citizenry. Thanks to AT&T for making it potential,” says Laurie Ferger, educating professor within the College of Data Research.
Laurie Ferger
The free program was made potential by monetary help and programing collaboration from AT&T as a part of the corporate’s $2 billion nationwide dedication from 2021-2023 to assist bridge the digital divide and homework hole.
“It has been an honor to collaborate with the MOST, Tech4Kidz and Syracuse College to supply this progressive expertise to those college students, because it additional enhances our dedication to offering sources for digital literacy instructional programming throughoutnd builds upon our vigorous efforts to bridge the variety hole within the expertise business,” says Kevin Hanna, director of exterior affairs, AT&T. “I’m so impressed by these outstanding college students and happy with their willpower all through the summer season working arduous to achieve crucial digital literacy expertise, all of them have nice futures forward of them.”
