

A Call for More Engineers in Education - rafaelc
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/04/a-call-for-more-engineers-in-education/

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tseabrooks
So, it seems the author isn't making a case for engineers as teachers, in that
case we'd all just say, "Pay them more".. but rather engineers involved in
education by building educational tools and technology.

I don't think that question has the same answer as the first. As a libertarian
I'll be the first to point out some serious issues in the way schools are
using funding but maybe spending it on innovative tech would be a good idea.
The primary problem I see with that is that, by and large, the 'bureaucracy
cost' of selling / getting that technology into place is just too high and far
more than they can afford.

One of the great things about the education startup incubator (Imagine K12)
featured on HN recently is that these guys already have lots of connections to
help you sell the technology to schools. I think trying to sell your tech to a
school is a very daunting task for an entrepreneur and the private consumer is
a much easier customer to sell to and deal with.

Of course, I think ultimately we'll see these tech innovations (Through such
things as ImagineK12) make it into Charter / Private schools because they
don't have the same bureaucratic problems of public state run schools...
Eventually making state run schools obsolete (We can dream).

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noahl
I think they would get a lot more people if they made it easy to work on this
part-time.

I, personally, would love to help teach a class in a high school or even a
lower level, but I don't want that to be all I do. If I could come in for an
hour or so a week, I would do it. (Actually I'm in college right now, but I
would like to start doing that next year.)

Similarly, I would be happy to help out with educational technology, but I
might not want to do that full-time (I might, but there are many factors that
go into choosing a job - location, working conditions, and pay, to name
three). I didn't know until I read this article that there are open-source
projects that are used in schools that I could contribute to.

~~~
mvalle
In business school, my law teacher worked as a lawyer and only came in to
teach us a few hours a week. He also was a really great teacher.

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fleitz
Pay them more, how do you think the finance industry attracts engineers?

You're either saving the whales or running a business.

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Apocryphon
What I really don't understand is how the finance industry can draw in so many
engineers. Aren't there only a few financial powerhouse regions in the U.S. on
the coasts? How many firms are there, anyways? And just how many quants do
these firms need?

