by Hugh C.n. Miller | Oct 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
In response to a video about the first robot teacher introduced in a schoolroom in India, ORT SA’s CEO, Ariellah Rosenberg had this to say:
Technology will change education but I’m not sure in that way (with a robot teacher). Note that there is still a human teacher in the class. And the robot pretty much provides frontal teaching which is basically taking pedagogy backward, not forward. Also, as a parent,I am not sure I’d send my kids to this classroom.
When it comes to unique strengths , technology will not be able to fully replace what a human can do . Technology can only be modified so much, but it cannot fully replace a human being .
Think of it this way , a human can clean in small areas where the mop may reach whereas a robot ,may not be able to fit in those areas ..’unique strengths’
Technology helps us remove obstacles so we can be more productive and lead better, easier even healthier lives. It can teach and even motivate us but it can’t inspire! That’s why I don’t think a robot will replace teachers .
It could be a teaching tool that a teacher should use to get their students to achieve their greatest potential but the human element will and should always be there.
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnh7WCqgcz8
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Jun 19, 2019 | Uncategorized
WHAT IF OUR ANCESTORS WERE INVITED TO A TECH SHOW?
By Ariellah Rosenberg, Chief Executive Officer, ORT South Africa
If we were to organise an exhibition of current technologies and invite our ancestors and descendants from the past to attend, what would their reaction be?
Our forefathers walked in the desert for 40 years to reach their desired destination. Imagine! After all the suffering, starving and struggling in the harsh climate and tough terrain to find out that with ‘flying technologies’ they could have made the journey within an hour! Moreover, with global positioning satellite (GPS) technology, it would have been so much easier to navigate their way. And oh! How crazy they’d think we are, counting our steps, with IoT devices, and sending information to a ‘cloud’…not to ask for direction from G-d but to…monitor our health!
Imagine Florence Nightingale, known for founding the modern discipline of nursing, and a key figure in introducing new professional training standards for nursing, visiting a robot display to reveal moving machines replacing the service of human care. Japan’s aging population (30% of its population is older than 65), faces a crisis of shortage of human resource in eldercare. To resolve this predicament, robots have been placed in nursing homes. Robots that move, cry and cuddle are replacing the human work force, from lifting people from bed to entertaining them, with much success. The elderly absolutely love them!
All those involved in getting our internet to where it is today! Who would have imagined that with all the impact of the internet on our culture, commerce, communication and technology that it will also generate the biggest crime, globally? According to the latest information, cybercrime will cost the world more than six trillion dollars annually by 2021. It will be more profitable than the combined global trade of all illegal drugs!
However, if we had Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein entering some of the current classrooms, they’d most probably see no difference from their own classroom, a hundred or so years ago. They will also notice that not much has changed with teaching and assessments, using a curriculum that is mostly outdated with techniques and pedagogies that prepared children for the industrial jobs of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Companies invest in enormous amounts of research to explore the use and impact of new technologies in the global economy (McKinsey, World Economic Forum and so many other papers and reports have been published on the topic.) But what about education? Isn’t it time that we explore transforming education to keep up with the pace of change and to prepare our future generation for the world of work?
We now know more than we knew in the past on how children learn and we know that new technologies are transforming jobs as we know them. But we continue to skill our children for jobs that soon will vanish.
It is time that industries, corporations, governments and educationalists work together to transform education through updated policies, curriculum and implementation of technologies as tools to assist with the digital transformation. It is time that we start implementing the use of technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and IoT in emulating successful methodologies and incorporating them in our classrooms.
The return on our investment will be higher than any business will ever generate. And who knows, – the fruits of these investments could
be showcased one day in an exhibition featuring future technologies produced by our own future generation.
@Ariellah @ORT_SA
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Mar 20, 2019 | Uncategorized
“Last year, we promised a series of Career Guidance talks and we have actually done more than that. We have, in fact, developed the ORT SA CareerHub,” says Ariellah Rosenberg, ORT SA’s CEO, who is the visionary behind the idea.
Through a series of talks and workshops, the CareerHub will help high school students, university students, parents, teachers and even those who feel ‘stuck’ in their path, to “Explore, Expose and Experience” their way through the quagmire of choosing a career.
“The choices can be daunting ,” says Rosenberg, “You’re 18 years old, finished school and most probably, experiencing the ‘end of childhood’ as you knew it. You are faced with a life-time decision, or so you feel, about your career path. All of us have been in a similar situation… ‘the road not taken’… ‘jobs of the future’… so much pressure for relatively young souls that have being part of the schooling system for more than a decade. A system where almost everything is dictated, including your dress code, the time you wake up and the curriculum. Now, you have to decide yourself which path to take. If to learn: what to learn, where and when? “
The ORT SA CareerHub will be focused on Exploring the individual’s skills, attributes and strengths when seeking a career path, Exposing participants to the jobs of the future and giving them the Experience with practical workshops.
The CareerHub is launching on 2 April 2019 with ORT SA’s IT Ambassador, the internationally renowned writer, analyst and technology commentator, Arthur Goldstuck and ORT SA IT Ambassador, speaking about ‘jobs of the future’.
Booking essential: ora@ortsa.org.za
The next in the series will be on 16th April 2019 at 6pm: Lorraine Silverman on Career Assessments.
by Hugh C.n. Miller | Nov 17, 2016 | Uncategorized
With the construction of the ORT SA IT Academy completed, ORT SA will in 2017 start teaching IT bridging programmes for those who are completely unfamiliar with anything IT – related but want to equip themselves to move into today’s working world.
Chris van Well, ORT SA’s Computer and Information Systems Manager talks about ORT SA ‘Owning the Technology Revolution’:
In May of 2016 the Career Junction Index, an analysis of online job market trends, indicated that Information Communication and Technology (ICT) is the top employment sector in South Africa. This has been the case for a number of years now, and with the continued growth of the ICT sector locally and abroad, this is a trend that will most likely remain for the coming years.
Moreover, with the next wave of technology promising a new digital revolution, there are certain new specialisations in ICT that will be particularly high in demand in the near future:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics Specialists
According to Pew Research Center report, robotics and artificial intelligence “will permeate wide segments of daily life by 2025, with huge implications for a range of industries such as healthcare, transportation and logistics”.
While this advancement in technology will invariably make certain jobs redundant (as automation takes over), it will also create new jobs and industries. Computer programmers and engineers will be needed in the fields of robotics, machine-learning, artificial intelligence, and neural networking, to build and integrate these new technologies.
Flexible App Developers
When we hear the word “App” our minds automatically take us to mobile devices. But this is changing rapidly with major tech companies (Microsoft, Apple and Google) adding “App Stores” to all their PC and gaming products, leaving the confines of mobile devices and using apps to give the tech world a unified experience. Infiltrating every other aspect of our lives—from our home to our car to our daily finances and even into the gaming world, app developers are currently some of the most sought after professionals in ICT. In time, where apps integrate with different platforms throughout our lives, flexible app developers are going to be in even higher demand, according to Mary K Pratt of Computer World.
Cloud Computing Specialists
According to a study done by CompTIA in 2014, 90% of US companies use some form of cloud computing in their daily operations. With digital technology increasingly migrating to ‘the cloud’ and companies like Microsoft moving the most popular software applications worldwide into the cloud, Office 365 is fully accessible in the cloud, bringing email and office tools to the user from a browser. With G Suite (formally known as Google Apps) been fully cloud – based and giving business an alternative to Office 365. This is making more and more companies shift their data infrastructures to private and public cloud servers, making specialists in cloud computing increase in demand. IT leaders report that the growth of cloud-based services is generating a myriad of cloud-related jobs, such as cloud computing programmers, capacity managers, and security managers. Cloud security will be a field of special importance, as data shifting between private and public cloud servers poses a unique security risk for corporations.
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs, for instance, has issued a detailed list of technical jobs needed. This list points to a need for nearly 3,000 software and application programmers, nearly 3,000 project and other managers, and 1,600 information and communications technology support technicians.
Schools in South Africa
In a technology-driven world, learning the language of computers is becoming a critical skill for children. Whether they want to become programmers or not, computational thinking is an essential skill needed to flourish in the 21st century. Especially in a time where the future is now and in a couple of months the world of tech may look different. We need to look at equipping our children with the skills to cope with a fast changing environment, in order to ensure that what we have taught them is not redundant when they move into a working environment.
Primary Schools all over the world are incorporating IT into their curriculum to equip children for a digital future. Unfortunately, in South Africa we are being left behind with our schooling system struggling just to keep up with the current curriculum in Mathematics and Science. With no inclusion of any IT programmes within the public primary schooling curriculum, we have a generation of children growing up without easy access to technology, many of whom have never used a keyboard and mouse, but will need the skills once they leave school and start seeking a job.
Early grades are a critical age to develop interest in STEM and computer programming areas, especially for girls. Research suggests that some of the strongest influences to attract girls to computing fields are early exposure as a required part of the curriculum and computing connections to broader areas of society.
“Before I started C-STEM class I thought it was only my older brother who was tech savvy, and I didn’t even want to try programming! But later I learned how to do it and it was easy! It was also fun, I want to learn if there are even bounds to what you can do with a computer.” Grade 6 girl Source
Here is where we step in as ORT SA to brindge the divide between complete unfamiliarity of anything IT – related and wanting to equip oneself to move into the working world.
Watch out for our courses for 2017.
