BATEC Industry Summit: Curriculum Connections

This semi-annual event brings together industry experts with faculty from K-12 and higher education to share best practices in industry and education and to arrive at mutual understandings and models for effective collaboration fortified with practical strategies and implementation plans. During this working summit, participants analyzed the knowledge, skills and abilities industry representatives value and seek in employees and the specific knowledge, skills and abilities students are developing in classrooms. Events such as this help BATEC fulfill its goal of developing curricula that are regionally connected, advanced in content and pedagogy and industry-linked.

Sample Agenda

8:30 Registration and Breakfast
9:00 Welcome, Review of Last Year's Results and Overview of the Day
9:20 Keynote - The New Division of Labor: How Computers are Creating the Next Job Market
        Dr. Raegen T. Miller, Harvard Grad. School of Education
10:30 Breakout Sessions:
          1. How to Measure and Rate Employee Performances
          2. Developing Good Problem Solvers
          3. Industry Partnerships that Work: Case Studies in Classrooms
          4. High Performing Teams by Design
12:15 Lunch and Networking
1:15 Breakout Sessions by Content Area
          A. Web Development and Services
          B. Office Technologies and IT Essentials
          C. Networking and Security
          D. Programming (including gaming and other applications)
3:00 Final Breakout Reports
3:30 Adjourn

In feedback from these events, educators note common themes from industry representatives who speak on a range of perspectives and interests from large established corporations to small bootstrapped startups. Insights gleaned from  group discussions are recorded and groups summarize and highlight action items during a final discussion and larger-group presentation. In their evaluations of the program, education participants have rated very highly the opportunity to hear from their peers in other institutions and to hear first-hand from industry.  Industry representatives also valued the exchange.