Search

It would be extremely satisfying for career and technical educators to have plenty of students sign up for their programs. In addition, it would be a more satisfying for them if they can make money out of their programs. In this article, the author provides ideas on how teachers can get the industry involved in their programs.

New video and computer game ideas reach the stage of production by a company when they are "pitched" by game developers to game publishers. Learning how to "pitch" technology products has great educational value for technology education students. In this article, the author shares his experience with helping his students master the art of the technical product pitch. The author was responsible for creating Maryland's first high school game development and animation pilot program at Washington County Technical High School. In this program, students gain real-world experience by pitching computer game ideas to business and industry partners who serve on a pitch panel. (Contains 2 tables and 3 resources.)

It may not seem like school is the best place to crank up the bass for glass-cracking extreme energy, but subwoofers just might make better teaching and learning tools than they do music makers. Faced with the fact that electricity is invisible, electrical technology students encounter significant challenges in the classroom when abstract concepts and principles are introduced to illustrate the behavior of electricity. An electro-dynamic machine that can deliver 160 decibels of raw sound power, however, quickly captures a student's attention, and can go on to serve as a platform from which instructors can launch many lessons in electricity. The scope of instructional activities involving subwoofers is scalable and can be varied widely to bring students in contact with seemingly mysterious electrical phenomena. Depth of instruction and learner activities can be controlled to meet teacher goals and objectives by breaking the subwoofer up into its teachable parts: electrical, mechanical, and acoustical. (Contains 8 figures.)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) has significant implications for career and technical educators. Although FERPA was enacted in 1974 to oversee the privacy, discharge, and accuracy of educational records, many administrators and instructors are uncertain about how FERPA applies to their students. In this article, the author provides information which clarifies various components of FERPA and their application to situations frequently encountered by career and technical educators.

In Rover's House project, students practice planning, measurement, layout, and processing skills in building a doghouse. The project is more than a doghouse--it is a learning activity that helps students develop and enhance their ability to work with reinforced concrete, steel and wood studs, trusses, roofing materials and a variety of construction processes. Students work in groups of three or four to build Rover's House. Each group will serve as a building crew and will have a group spokesperson or foreman. Each group will give their group a company name. The crew will safely use approved construction processes and materials to build a structure that meets certain specifications. Materials, objectives, limitations/requirements, and procedure of the project are presented. (Contains 12 photos, 7 figures, and 6 resources.)

Educators must know their students' backgrounds to effectively increase their knowledge and skills. In determining the best delivery approach, educators must also understand the "market" in which their students will likely work after their formal education. While many students from developing countries attend universities in developed countries, which offer a wealth of knowledge and skills training in a variety of fields, it is important to be informed about education "within" the environment of developing countries. In this article, the author examines the education of industrial technology educators in Kenya. He brings to light some of the challenges faced by career and technical education (CTE) departments in developing countries. He hopes that his fellow professional technical educators can use his study to understand challenges in developing countries--and perhaps devise ways to assist and support their colleagues in other nations.

One often hears about the need to prepare American technical education students to compete in the burgeoning global manufacturing community. In addition, one hears experts say that learning certain programs and techniques can put the youth first in line for jobs where beating the offshore competition depends on production speed, product quality, and innovative process concepts. Regarding these concerns, Americans are not alone. This article looks at the experience of the Tehniski Solski Center Nova Gorica--the Technical School Center in Nova Gorica (TSCNG) in the Republic of Slovenia. Nova Gorica lies by the Italian border, between the Alps and the sea. A town grown from the ruins of World War II, Nova Gorica's economic development targets restructuring industry and the promotion of small businesses, particularly via the introduction of new environment-friendly technology, exploiting its border location, and ensuring the flow of capital. Secondary school technology teacher Branko Jerie, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, is determined to prepare his students to fill the need for skilled technicians in their own country. By doing so, he will prepare them to compete for jobs in other manufacturing centers of Europe, pitting their skills against the world market. Jerie's work has broken new ground for the expansion of CAD/CAM/CNC curricula in Slovenia and concentrically in Central Europe. [This article was written with Branko Jerie.] (Contains 6 photos.)

Career and technical education (CTE) offers a major solution for many problems in the nation's education system. CTE also has a profound impact in saving the youth that even No Child Left Behind (NCLB) leaves behind. Each year, tens of thousands of kids, feeling disconnected and disenfranchised, drop out of school. In its present state of arbitrary demands, lacking the necessary funding and support for already strapped school districts, NCLB has the potential to crush any glimmer of hope left for kids who opt to drop out. In this article, the author describes how Pekin Community High School has attained success for its students through its strengthened CTE programs, which offer a wide spectrum of experiences that serve both college-bound students and those planning to enter the work world directly after high school.

Offers a step-by-step guide for helping technical students with job search preparation, interviewing, and obtaining employment in their fields. Includes a description of a nine-session workshop. (JOW)

Combining English and math skills and career research with technical course content reinforces for students the value of all kinds of learning. A strong tie between theory and technical application creates an incentive for students to retain academic instruction. (JOW)

Students enrolled in the author's commercial arts program design and publish the school's yearbook. For the 2010-2011 school year, the students applied Quick Response (QR) code technology to include links to events that occurred after the yearbook's print deadline, including graduation. The technology has many applications in the school setting, and the author offers this article as an inspiration for technology and engineering and career and technical educators.

The author spent many years in the classroom as a traditional technical education teacher. He was always attracted to emerging technologies, and visual technologies in particular interested him. In this article, he shares some of his experiences with setting up and running a very successful TV/video technology program.

This article describes how to build and operate a LED gauge. Having this handy gauge makes checking the alignment on a variety of tools--table saw, band saw, jointer, miter saw--a snap. A parts list is included in this article. (Contains 1 figure and 8 photos.)

This article describes the Hill-Climb project of a second level Computer-Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) class. The author primarily designed the activity to increase student understanding of the assembly drawing process and its components. The emphasis on problem solving adds a dimension that can aid students in their other classes as well. By working within the constraints of the design brief, students are always seeking creative and unique ways to reach their goals. The activity also benefits students in requiring them to assess and solve problems scientifically at a higher level as described in Bloom's Taxonomy. After learning the basic terminology and concepts behind the project, students quickly move into situations involving application and analysis. As the project develops, they work with synthesis and evaluation activities. This project allows students to work at these higher levels of learning and be challenged without feeling overwhelmed. (Contains 4 photos and 1 figure.)

Wages of entry-level carpenters have been driven down along with those of many other non-professional occupations in recent years. If carpenters stay in the field, they typically advance slowly over the years until they reach the level of master craftsman, perhaps by the time they reach the age of 40. However, technology is having a major impact on the carpentry field. Computerized numerical control (CNC) machines now provide the ability for people with computer skills and far fewer years of carpentry experience to produce complicated parts faster and to a higher level of accuracy than the most skilled craftsmen. The Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, Canfield, Ohio, is riding this wave by providing a program that teaches students carpentry skills as wells as how to program and operate CNC machines. In this article, the author describes the development of the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center's two-year carpentry and cabinetmaking program, which focuses on two major areas: residential/commercial carpentry and cabinetmaking. On successful completion of both phases of the program, students can apply for apprenticeship positions in the building trades or directly enter the building trades field.

A damp basement can be a nightmare, especially after mildew creates its eye-watering, nose-offending stench. There are two enemies to overcome: damp air condensing on interior walls and ground water penetrating the exterior. One can address condensation by drying or heating the air in a basement to raise it above the dew point. The simple way to do both is with dehumidifiers. However, they are expensive to operate. In this article, the author presents and explains a construction solution to the wet basement problem. (Contains 3 figures and 2 photos.)

The Engineering Technology Academy (ETA) program at Stafford Technical Center in Rutland, Vermont, offers benefits beyond the conventional high school learning experience. In September, at the beginning of the program, students learn the traditional skills of using tools, line weights and lettering. Once they develop these basic skills, students acquire a working knowledge of architectural CAD through the use of AUTOCAD 2004 software. Later in the school year, they move through a curriculum that deals with preconstruction issues that include American Institute of Architects (AIA) contracts, building codes and understanding owner-contractor standard agreements. Finally, in April, they put their skills to the test by participating in a design competition for a home that their peers in other Stafford programs will eventually build. According to Terry White, a Rutland-based construction management consultant, the Stafford ETA program offers benefits beyond the conventional high school learning experience. "Stafford students get much earlier exposure to hands-on activities including CAD design and construction of an actual residence. This practical experience is a definite advantage when students start college and is invaluable when they graduate and are ready to begin learning in our industry."

Discusses what happens to a program when a teacher retires or leaves. Suggests that planning for the program's future must include academic preparation and skill development as well as considerations of its inherent purposes and what developing and maintaining its success requires. (JOW)

Discusses technology and technical education in Japan, and stresses the commitment to education by all levels of government. (JOW)

This article describes the process of producing "Snow Soup"--the 2009 Adobe Flash animation produced by the Computer Game Development and Animation seniors of Washington County Technical High School in Hagerstown, Maryland, for libraries in their area. In addition to the Flash product, the students produced two related Game Maker games, a printed color storybook, and a PDF (Portable Document Format) version.

Fire protection is one of the most important considerations in the construction and operation of industrial plants and commercial buildings. Fire insurance rates are determined by fire probability factors, such as the type of construction, ease of transporting personnel, and the quality and quantity of fire protection equipment available. Because of all of these factors, an increasing number of well-trained fire safety technicians are being hired to prevent loss of life and property. This article discusses the careers of fire safety technicians--their wages, responsibilities, necessary skills, and career advancement.

Representatives of business, industry, and education have long perceived a gap between students' existing skills and those needed in the workplace. To address this problem, a strong movement toward adopting voluntary skill standards is now seen within career and technical education (CTE). In this article, the author discusses how addressing skill standards can help in ensuring that the country will have enough workers with the necessary competence to fill the demands of the current and future skilled workforce. The author also discusses how implementation of national industry-based skill standards can help CTE programs assess worker skills and shape relevant education reform efforts, including teacher preparation.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the requirement for automotive technicians will increase 17 percent by 2008 from the 10-year period starting in 1998. In numbers, this translates to the need for an additional 132,000 technicians over the 790,000 that existed in 1998. The nation is currently losing 10 percent of its automotive technicians per year due to retirement, career changes, and other reasons. In addition, the county needs highly qualified technicians, because today's automobile has more computer technology than the entire Apollo space program. Because of these statistics, Southeast Community College (SCC) at Milford, Nebraska, has organized an engine building contest to attract students. This article reports the details of this contest.

Students enrolled in technical programs prefer hands-on activities over reading and writing. While hands-on learning works well for conveying technical skills, most technical jobs will also require good reading, writing, and oral communication skills. Effective reading includes more than just "mouthing the words"--it calls for understanding and synthesizing material to complete an assignment or task. The author describes simple techniques to help students improve their reading performance dramatically. The first step toward successful reading calls for helping students develop a good strategy. Reading at a moderate rate suits most work and will give students good comprehension. After the complete reading, the student should review the key word list and completely answer all review questions, referring to the text as necessary. Then, student can create their own study notes, using a spiral-bound or three-ring notebook. It takes repeated experience to develop good skills at--and an enjoyment of--reading. Once technology students practice this process, they can both improve comprehension and reduce reading time. They will also likely find significant improvement in their grades and academic success. It is well worth students' time and effort--as well as the time and effort of the instructor who advise them.