Introduction to Computer Science: Prepares faculty to teach their students ... Enterprise Business Applications: Provide
Oracle’s Commitment to STEM Education in the US
Oracle Corporation June 2011
Oracle’s Commitment to STEM Education in the US Oracle has advanced STEM education in the US for over a decade and is committed to helping students develop the skills needed for life and work in the 21st century. Our state-of-the art technology programs, the Oracle Academy and the Oracle Education Foundation’s ThinkQuest, support over 2.2 million students in 101 countries annually at an in-kind grant value of over $2 billion USD. We work closely with private and public sector stakeholders to create supports for 21st century skilldevelopment and STEM proficiency, including: •
State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA);
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National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc);
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Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE);
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Consortium for School Networking (CoSN);
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Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC);
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International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE); and
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Tapping America’s Potential 2015.
We support legislation to improve the nation's STEM education system and work to educate lawmakers about STEM’s importance to our future. Specifically, we: •
signed the American Innovation Proclamation, which encouraged Congress to renew America’s commitment to leadership in mathematics and science;
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support the America COMPETES Act, which aims to improve American competitiveness; and
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belong to Change the Equation, which aligns corporate STEM education efforts to ensure they produce real, measurable impacts for students.
Having experienced rapid uptake of our education programs, with 41 percent growth globally over the past year, we would welcome further engagement at the district and state level to explore more ways to raise STEM proficiency nationwide through the Oracle Academy and ThinkQuest.
Programs Oracle Academy The Oracle Academy provides a complete portfolio of software, curriculum, hosted technology, faculty training, support, and certification resources to K–12, vocational, and higher education institutions for teaching use. Faculty can flexibly insert these resources into computer science and business programs, ensuring that students gain industry-relevant skills prior to entering the workforce. Institutions may elect to participate in any of the three program options: •
Introduction to Computer Science: Prepares faculty to teach their students database, programming, and business skills. Offered free of charge.
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Advanced Computer Science: Provides students with hands-on access to Oracle database and middleware software.
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Enterprise Business Applications: Provides students with hands-on access to Oracle applications software used in industries such as finance, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing.
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Annual participation • •
US: 124,700 students in 807 institutions in 47 states and the District of Columbia Global: 1,586,000 students in 5,600 institutions in 95 countries
ThinkQuest The Oracle Education Foundation (OEF), a nonprofit organization funded by Oracle, helps students develop the skills needed for success in the 21st century through ThinkQuest, a program that is free of charge to K-12 schools and includes the following: • • • •
ThinkQuest Projects: An online platform for teachers and students to create web-based projects and collaborate with peers. ThinkQuest Competition: An international competition that challenges students to solve real-world problems by applying their critical thinking, communication, and technology skills. ThinkQuest Library: An award-winning repository of student-developed learning projects visited by millions. ThinkQuest Professional Development: A comprehensive training offering to help educators integrate project learning and technology into their curricula.
Annual participation • •
US: 43,000 students in 2,100 institutions in all 50 states Global: 622,000 students in 14,300 institutions in 69 countries
Preparing Students for 21st Century Careers As the world’s most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems company, we are often asked how students studying IT-related disciplines can prepare themselves for employment, especially in a tough job market. In response, in January 2011, the Oracle Academy embarked on a threemonth tour of secondary and post-secondary institutions in the United States to discuss how students can acquire the skills necessary to become job-ready. Visiting more than 140 institutions in 37 states and the District of Columbia, we reached over 7,600 students and faculty. We plan to continue and expand this outreach to help even more students to compete successfully in the 21st century workplace. Below are examples of how the Oracle Academy and ThinkQuest promote job-readiness: •
The Oracle Academy offers an industry-relevant solution to address the demand for IT talent in local economies. To that end, the City of Albuquerque developed a program that offers two internships per year to students enrolled in the Central New Mexico Community College Oracle Academy program.
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Students who complete the Oracle Academy are eligible for Oracle certification, a distinction that provides a competitive edge in the job market. To help meet their industry certification goal, the Chicago Public Schools Career and Technical Education division offers the Oracle Academy at 29 high schools.
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Oracle Academy students follow a seamless pathway from high school to advanced IT study in college. For example, in school districts in Maryland, New Mexico, and North Carolina, high school students who are enrolled in the Introduction option earn concurrent credit at local colleges.
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The ThinkQuest International Competition challenges students to solve real-world problems by applying their critical thinking, communication and technology skills. In the Application Development event, students follow the same application development process that industry leaders
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follow to develop their world-class applications. Students can turn their competition entries into elements of a technology portfolio to share with potential employers.
Support for Online Learning Oracle has awarded two $1 million USD Oracle Commitment Grants to the Lawrence Hall of Science, the University of California at Berkeley’s public center dedicated to inspiring learning in science and math, 2009-2012. Both grants fund the KidzScience program and will support 195,000 students’ participation over the four-year grant period. These grants also funded creation of the new KidzScience website, which provides inquiry-rich, free-choice science experiences for kids, parents, and educators. For the Oracle Academy Introduction option, all software and curriculum is accessed online in an Oracle-hosted environment. Institutions do not need to install software or procure hard-copy textbooks. •
The New Mexico Public Education Department and Northern Virginia Community College offer the Oracle Academy as a distance-learning course for rural students. In New Mexico, participating high school students receive concurrent credit at Central New Mexico Community College.
ThinkQuest is a web-based platform. Members can log in from any computer with internet access, encouraging “anytime, anywhere” learning in addition to facilitating student collaboration at a district, state, or global level. •
OEF and Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) are partnering to bring ThinkQuest to more than 2,000 students in California, Colorado, Maryland and Washington over the next two years. MESA’s goal is to engage educationally disadvantaged students to excel in math and science. MESA students, led by MESA advisors, will leverage ThinkQuest to engage in online project work to hone their research and technology skills.
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OEF and The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee, Florida are partnering to launch an innovative online learning initiative for students and teachers. The Brogan Museum, a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate, will use ThinkQuest to create three online projects focused on museum exhibits. The first project launched in November 2010, and to date, has engaged more than 800 students.
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In the ThinkQuest Competition, students can develop entries in partnership with peers around the world and publish their work online for a global audience of millions. In 2010, OEF expanded the competition to allow a broader age-range of students to participate, using a wider range of technologies.
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Through partnership with the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), over 1,900 New York students recently gained access to ThinkQuest Projects and had the opportunity to enter their work in the 2011 ThinkQuest International Competition.
Investment in Professional Development for Teachers Teachers play a vital role in transforming education. Hence, professional development is a key component of our programs. The Oracle Academy offers free and discounted professional development. •
Faculty who teach the Introduction option complete the Oracle Academy Instructors’ Institute, a free professional development program that includes 10 weeks of online training and 5 days of in-class
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training. The Institute is delivered via a scalable “train-the-the trainer” model in which experienced faculty teach newcomers each year. •
The Advanced and Enterprise options provide steep discounts on Oracle training for faculty.
Oracle Academy training has been widely implemented in the US: •
In 2010, the Oracle Academy Instructors’ Institute was held in four locations to make training more accessible and cost-effective. In-class training events were held in Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. Notably, the event in Illinois was held in partnership with Chicago Public Schools Career and Technical Education division. 27 instructors took part in the training, helping 675 Chicago Public School students gain access to leading industry technology, IT skills development, and potentially Oracle certification. To date, the Oracle Academy Instructors’ Institute has trained more than 1,100 teachers in the United States.
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Going forward, we will continue to partner with institutions and districts to expand in-class training locations. In 2011, Instructors’ Institutes will again be held in four locations – Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, and North Carolina – with participating teachers from Alabama, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, as well as the host states.
ThinkQuest offers free professional development, including: •
an in-class seminar that introduces ThinkQuest to new users;
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an online, self-paced course that teaches ThinkQuest Projects fundamentals; and
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a Project Learning Institute that trains teachers to integrate technology and 21st century skilldevelopment into their curricula.
ThinkQuest training has been widely implemented in the US: •
The innovative Project Learning Institute was launched in 2007 and continues to grow, with 150 Florida teachers scheduled to attend in 2011.
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Through partnerships with NYIT, MESA and the Mary Brogan Museum, 3,300 teachers will be trained over the next two years.
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In the past four years, over 4,000 Florida teachers have received ThinkQuest training as part of the Florida Digital Educator program at the Florida Center for Instructional Technology. There are over 6,400 active ThinkQuest Projects users in Florida at present.
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Going forward, OEF will continue to partner with districts and states to reach more teachers through large-scale training events. In addition, OEF has created online training modules to facilitate access and eliminate the expense of in-service training days.
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