BizVoice November/December 2017

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November/December 2017 – BizVoice/Indiana Chamber 95
Providing educators with the opportunity
to gain firsthand business experience that they
can take back to their classrooms is growing
in popularity. Add a computer science focus
to the mix.
Nextech’s Educator Externship program
in June was a five-day immersive experience
for 18 teachers (primarily high school with a
few from the middle school level) at eight
Indiana employers. While they came to the
program with an average of 11 years of
teaching experience, only one and a half
years, on average, was spent teaching
computer science and only three of the 18
possessed relevant industry experience.
Nextech President Karen Jung says that
last figure is significant.
“The majority of these educators had
zero previous industry experience, so they
don’t really understand the full context of the
material they are teaching and how that
applies to the real world. One of the big
outcomes,” she continues, “was to provide
that context. So we were doing a session on
big data to better understand how Finish Line
thinks of data in terms of inventory or
e-commerce. Another element was to ensure
the teachers walked away with lesson plans.
“Take those two elements, plus the
content already provided, and it builds a
sense of confidence. The teachers feel more
prepared to go into the classroom and teach
computer science.”
That was certainly the case for these
two, among those that provided feedback.
“Holy cow! Thanks for a great week!
This has been one of the coolest, most
insightful professional development
opportunities I’ve done in nine years of
teaching.”
And the second respondent: “My
number one takeaway is a new appreciation
for the cutting-edge opportunities that exist
in tech right here in Indiana … that we had
the chance to not just observe, but to also
engaged in deeper discussion with executives
and high-level decision makers was an
opportunity that would have otherwise been
beyond my reach.”
Jung reports more than a few “aha”
moments in activities that included these
topics and more: demystifying the cloud, the
product development lifecycle, agile
development and designer/developer
collaboration. “A general realization was how
many different careers there are inside tech –
it’s not just coding.”
The effort is far from a one-shot deal.
Educators and the business leaders they
teamed with are now part of a community
that will come together for additional events
and experiences. Nextech also hopes to grow
the numbers of participants and company
partners in future years.
Jung terms it a “good outlet for
companies and individuals to give back,” but
also practical for them to look long term.
“We’re faced with a talent gap now and
that gap is projected to grow exponentially.
You can either look at as I’ve got to fill the
100 jobs I’ve got right here in front of me the
next two years … but if I want to grow my
workforce for years to come, I’ve got to
think about getting more students interested
in jumping into that pipeline.”
By Tom Schuman
Developing Educator Connections
RESOURCE: Karen Jung, Nextech, at
Educators participate in a session at the Nimblejack offices in downtown Indianapolis.
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