Just in case you are like me and still wondering how long public schools (or any school in some states) will take to catch up with restructuring their schooling system to the workforce demand, here's a resourceful website by Google on Education.
Google isn't the only one, however. Microsoft has their own resourceful website focused on One Hour of Code. Apple has Everyone can Code. For young students specifically, Apple also has an education site called Teaching Code. Even Amazon is aware of the educational crises and creating their own online schooling resource: AmazonInspire. Of course, the other tech giant Facebook has their own with Facebook Education.
Rather than wait for our government or public sector to provide the skills and education that our world demands, I think I'll take the initiative with using resources from such leading companies and encourage my family, friends, and neighbors to learn ahead. After all, home schooling is on the rise and many families are supplementing their social education via faith institutions, sport clubs, city clubs, etc.
In Addition
From this GitHub post, I can even see how hackathons boost the learning levels of students better than coursework in computer science. If students begin to take on this project-based assignment (i.e. learning skills through projects rather than test-based assignments), then students will end up not only learning more but also remembering more. This could spark a new kind of homeschooling or custom learning path. Why not just learn on your own at your own pace and then pass a universal, online high school exam for a degree? Wouldn't that be nice?!
I also posted my thoughts about education and its impact on the economies in the world where learning fundamentals of technology is essential today.
As I continue to ponder over these ideas and practices created by others on a similar to journey to upgrade how our society educates and prepares the next generation for the future of opportunities, I'm starting to significantly consider other approaches (or pathways) to learn and drive my career. In addition, I'm planning to sketch out the course (or courses) that my kids should pursue as they find their place in this fast-evolving world.
For example, if I see that my kid's gifts and passion line up with becoming an innovator, then would it be best to pursue this course?
Quickly learn the basics of math, reading, writing, science, arts, and typing (keyboarding).
Skips grades when possible to learn the next fundamentals in pursuit of obtaining the HS graduate degree.
Meanwhile, provide tech exposure to tech conferences, open source project contributions, hackathons, etc.
Next, enroll in a bootcamp like Bloc to specialize skillsets in programming while creating meaningful projects in free time.
Then, enroll in an entrepreneurship program like Drake University which sounds like it includes sponsorship by investors.
All throughout, keeping up via collaboration with trusted friends and trusted online resources (or even an online tool like Declara).
There are many other examples I could give, but the point is thinking critically and strategically about driving our lives to positively make the world a better place - and feel great about it.
Reality Check: This is a privilege thinking. However, many can achieve this place of "privilege thinking" but it may come with a HUGE sacrifice like how many immigrants come to America for opportunity uncertain of what will actually happen once they get here. Again, apply critical thinking, strategize, and be ready to adapt. Good luck!
#lifewithpurpose
References
Listen to the stories of such young, bright, hungry minds.
After watching/listening to Bill Gates answer questions from MIT Technology Review, I had to look up the world's top universities in Computer Science. After all, our world today is more globally integrated than ever. I believe it's no longer smart to only know about the top schools in one's country. If you're going to make sure that you and your family are positioned well for life, then you need to know how your career passion stacks up in the world (and not just in your own country).
As a big advocate for quality education and quality access to all, it's important to also know which countries take their public education more serious than others and to know who's implementing similar ideal policies in hope of not only providing the best educational opportunities, but also the best economic opportunities.
Without further rambling, here's the list I'm reading.
Most top universities are in the United States of America (USA). However, this year's top five universities only has two in the USA. Two are in the United Kingdom (UK) and one in Switzerland.
Other top universities outside of the USA include Singapore, Canada (Toronto), and China. The biggest surprise to me on this list is Tsinghua University (China). There's a lot to say about the increasing economy and, now, education quality that China is producing in becoming a world leader on the same level of the USA and UK.
Another surprise to me is NOT seeing a university out of Japan listed in the top 20. Germany has one university listed at rank 26 (Technical University of Munich), a Hong Kong university at rank 27, and another Singapore university 29. France has one at rank 38 (Paris Sciences et Lettres - PSL) and Japan has one at rank 40.
Years ago when I was in undergraduate school (1999), almost all of the top universities for computer science were in the USA. This is not the case anymore today.
Let's take a look at another media company ranking the world's top universities in computer science.
This is a strong difference in rankings for the top universities in the world in computer science. From US News, only two universities are in the USA and one is in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia? I'm skeptical about these results (powered by Clarivate Analytics InCites) especially since Stanford is not listed among the top ten rankings here.
Taking another review from Business Insider, the top ten rankings are more aligned with World University Rankings with having most top universities in computer science located in the USA and UK. Within its top ten, listed is one university from Switzerland and one from Singapore.
In conclusion, my initial thoughts still stand. Most top universities for computer science are still located in the USA, followed by the UK and Canada. However, many other countries are rising and the competition is ever growing among countries fighting for economic leadership. Overall, the biggest surprises are the speed of China's growing education system (along with its economy) and the lack or absence of India in the rankings among the best (considering how many Indians are competing in the USA job market for software positions). If I could rewind my age and choose my compsci program, then I would go to one of Switzerland's (like ETH Zurich) because of the additional cultural cross-over learnings and its ease of travel access.
