Like any state, Arizona's Department of Education has a daunting task trying to prepare their students for the technology world. The reason the task is so difficult, is because technology reinvents itself at such a rapid pace. Red tape and regulations make it even more difficult. By the time a curriculum is approved through all proper channels, it's basically already outdated.
But Arizona has gone out of it's way to insure the most current technologies and trends are being taught to their students. By inviting local leaders in Arizona's technology sector to edit and approve all guidelines and goals, they basically put their finger right on the pulse.
I was fortunate enough to be invited this year on my company's behalf. (MCP Media, a
Phoenix SEO Company) Free cookies and lunch aside, there was no payment for participation. But it was an exhilarating experience to say the least. I met with my local competitors, put faces to names, made some friends, and hotly debated numerous topics revolving around web technology.
The resulting guidelines from our combined efforts where something to be proud of. For example, there was no need to be teaching future web developers about cobalt, or PERL. We scratched that, and replaced it with PHP. And when learning how to market their websites, it was clear that they were not going to benefit from learning about radio or print advertising as much as they would from learning about SEO, PPC, lead generation, display advertising, and social media.
I am proud to have helped guide our state towards the future by helping the institutions adopt the most current trends in online technology. Helping the students in the state of Arizona is building for the financial security of our great state. We need to compete, not just with other states, but globally for technology jobs. And there is no way we are going to be able to do that as long as we are still training our kids how to code in cobalt for mainframes.
The fruits of our efforts will not be seen for years down the road, but the pride that I have personally for helping our state define the standards for technology education can be felt right now. And it feels good.
