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course participants course announcements about this wiki questionnaires and assignments slides of presentations course schedule related resources Gerhard Fischer Hal Eden Mohammad Al-Mutawa Ashok Basawapatna Lee Becker Jinho Daniel Choi Guy Cobb Holger Dick Nwanua Elumeze Soumya Ghosh Rhonda Hoenigman elided#1 Dan Knights Kyu Han Koh elided#2 Yu-Li Liang Paul David Marshall Keith Maull Jane Kathryn Meyers John Michalakes Michael Wilson Otte Deleted Page Joel Pfeiffer Caleb Timothy Phillips Dola Saha deleted  |
I am not concerned about the future of computing as a viable field of study. However, I am concerned that too many students will concern themselves with doing enough to "get by" rather than taking the time to actually learn during their years of education. I think the typical mind-set of people in developed nations is that they are entitled to a job - a job of their choosing none the less. As off shoring continues to grow this could be a rude awakening for many people. I agree with the report's statement that standardized jobs are most easily moved offshore. It is these types of jobs that other nations will first be able to take advantage of and perform at reduced costs (as they have already). As developing nations are able to improve their own infrastructures and educational systems the types and amount of jobs that they are able to perform will continue to grow. I disagree with the urgency that the report seems to convey about off shoring. Though it is constantly occurring, and will continue to increase, I do not believe that the U.S., in particular, is so ill-suited to handle it that we will lose a huge majority of tech-related jobs in the near future. Though our education system and economy have their faults they are particularly adept at handling change. I don't believe a single action can tackle such large issues, nor do I believe that these can or only should be dealt with at the University level. These are issues that should be dealt with on all levels of the education system. However, I believe that institutions, and in particular, Computer Science departments can address this issue by educating students rather than training them. As the report suggests, countries should "adopt policies that foster innovation." Training students to do a particular kind of work does not foster innovation. Students must truly understand the world around them (to the best of their ability) and be able to adapt to it. If I had a particular suggestion for CU it would be to continue to hire the best faculty - however, not just the best faculty at their own research, but faculty also extremely capable of educating students, working with students, and helping students mature into competent Computer Scientists. Last modified 21 October 2007 at 10:50 pm by paul.marshall |