Connect with colleagues and update your knowledge and skills at HI-TEC this year!

HI-TEC is a national conference on advanced technological education where secondary and postsecondary educators, counselors, industry professionals, trade organizations, and technicians can update their knowledge and skills. Charged with preparing America’s skilled technical workforce, the event focuses on the preparation needed by the existing and future workforce for companies in the high-tech sectors that drive our nation’s economy.

The annual conference is perfect for: 

• Community College and University Educators
• High School Educators
• Workforce Development Advocates
• Trade Organizations
• Industry Professionals
• Technicians

This year's conference will be held at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center, July 24–27. Pre-conference events will be held July 24–25. Read more and register on the HI-TEC website! 

Join CAST for a free webinar with experts on implementing UDL! 

Learn how to support all of your students, including those who are not performing up to their potential. As the founders of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), CAST is world renowned for its innovative professional development. Let us help your teachers build the pedagogical skills they need to support their under-performing students and help you to build school- and district-wide systems that will support your teachers!

This informative webinar about CAST’s Professional Learning model could start your school or district on its journey to improved teaching and learning.

The webinar is Wednesday, March 22, 2023 from 4:00PM – 5:00PM ET. Register here!

A unique and amazing partnership between four centers led to the development of this brief on connecting Implementation, Equity Inquiries, Universal Design for Learning, and Multi-Tiered System of Support. This brief explains how four important system design initiatives frequently promoted by state and local education agencies for school improvement can be implemented through an intentional systematic approach for a powerful, positive impact on student outcomes.

The brief, titled Increasing Equity in Education through Stage-based Implementation of Universal Design for Learning in a Multi-Tiered System of Support, comes from the SWIFT Schools, Great Lakes Equity/MAP Center, National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), and State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices Center (SISEP). 

Read or download. the full brief on the SISEP website!

The world's fleet of electric vehicles grew to over 6 million units last year. Within a decade, there will be enough electric cars on the road for every person in California, as global electric vehicle ownership is estimated to reach 20 million units by 2025. Learn more about electric cars at the Electric Vehicles Battery Tech USA 2023 Exhibition and Conference, March 6-7 in at the Hyatt Regency Orange County, California. 

A new report from the Managing the Future of Work Project at the Harvard Business School found that many people training and applying for jobs remain ill-equipped to enter the workforce. Report co-author, Manjari Raman, said to NPR: 

"Businesses thought it's enough to sit in advisory councils at the local community college. Very often the people on those councils are retired small business owners. You're not really seeing engagement from large employers … going to a community college and saying, ‘Look, I need about 50 or 60 or maybe 500 people to come and work for me. Here is the kind of workforce readiness I need. This is what I need in the curriculum.'"

The report says that communication is lacking between employers and community colleges. The report states that critical middle-skills positions are unfilled resulting in revenues are lost, and customers are dissatisfied. At the same time, some students come out of the community college system only to find that they are unemployable in their field of study or at a living wage. Employers do not find them “workforce ready” and capable of carrying out the more sophisticated technology-promoted tasks associated with middle-skills...

The Community College Presidents' Initiative in STEM (CCPI-STEM), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is designed to further engage community college leadership in the support of regional STEM education and workforce development through NSF ATE grants.  There is a national clarion call for a diverse workforce with STEM backgrounds for the millions of employment opportunities that remain unfilled.  

Join us on January 30, 2023 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm ET for the first of a series of Webcasts that will highlight the vision and mission of the grant with a focus on the 2-year sector. 

Participants will hear about the various opportunities to participate in regional dialogue and collaboration, receive support to learn more about the NSF's Advanced Technological Education funding program, and join a growing Community College network designed to address STEM education and workforce needs.

Please use this link to Register by January 28, 2023.

Community colleges and universities currently grapple with declining enrollments and soaring costs, among other issues. The latest item of concern is the surge of AI in educational settings, which has set off a frenzy of opinion pieces. ATE Central has round up several recent news sources regarding the use of AI in the classroom, in favor or against. 

In favor of a nuanced use of AI for the Atlantic, Ian Bogost writes that "ChatGPT isn’t a step along the path to an artificial general intelligence that understands all human knowledge and texts; it’s merely an instrument for playing with all that knowledge and all those texts... [AI apps] are surely not going to replace college or magazines or middle managers. But they do offer those and other domains a new instrument—that’s really the right word for it—with which to play with an unfathomable quantity of textual material."

An NPR article offers a look at how educators are viewing AI apps in the classroom from essays to homework. Another piece from Mind Matters expresses discontent on how easily technology makes writing work and homework now. 

Finally, the New York Times writes about the impact of AI on campuses. An op-ed from them...

Mark your calendar for the 2023 Women in Aviation International Conference on Feb. 23-25 in Long Beach, California! The conference will include inspiring keynote speakers, professional development seminars, education sessions, exhibit hall, and much more!

The Women in Aviation website states, "There's no better place to be inspired, share your enthusiasm, and connect with others who share your passion for the aviation industry. We look forward to gathering to connect, engage, and inspire with our valued members." 

This conference is aimed towards women in aviation careers, education, and all others interested. Register on the Women in Aviation website. Early registration ends January 17th!

A new report from Best Universities explores how the pandemic has changed college students from four and two year institutions. The report shows a trend that many 18-24 year old students have "began opting for alternative pathways, such as trade programs or the freedom from student loan debt provided by joining the workforce right away." The report also shows community college's impact on traditional and nontraditional students interested in alternative pathways. From the report,

"Community colleges make up the lion’s share of nontraditional student enrollment—which has been the case since at least 2015. And while enrollment since that time has nearly halved, community colleges retain nearly threefold the number of new nontraditional students each year than public four-year institutions."

Read the full report, which uses data from the National Student Clearinghouse Center, on the website for Best Universities.