There has been an increasingly visible push toward integrating early-education curriculum with technology in an effort to empower students through computer science education at an early age. If you've been reading the news lately, the need for this is imperative on a number of levels.
And when talking about education and technology, it is impossible to leave philanthropy out of the question. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently talked about the need for a personalized learning program focused on technology.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, too, believes in the power of the computer sciences to transform educational experiences. In a blog post Sept. 16, the company announced that it would be investing $75 million in its YouthSpark initiative within the next three years.
According to the announcement, YouthSpark will distribute grants, cash donations, and other resources to a variety of nonprofit organizations across the globe, groups which pledge to increase access to computer science education for young students from under-represented and minority backgrounds.
One such effort that will benefit from this funding is Microsoft's previously established TEALS program (Technology Education and Literacy in Schools), which couples Microsoft engineers with high school teachers for training (which the teachers would then pass onto their students). The number of schools like this is expected to go from 131 in 18 states to nearly 700 schools in 33 states in the next three years.
"We don't have enough people in the country with the skills to fill the jobs that our industry is going to create," Microsoft President Brad Smith told USA Today, citing lack of diversity as a key issue. "Even more than that, we are not creating opportunities for everyone across the country. We see that most notably in the shortage of African-Americans, Latinos, girls and women entering the tech sector."
