Today my college had a keynote speaker from Google
For context, I am an ESL teacher that works with developmental and English Composition I students in a rural Florida town...
The speaker was talking about how our students are people of the 'cloud' and how we must be prepared for them. He suggested that they teach themselves instead of waiting for school, that they are technologically savvy, and that they are preparing themselves for jobs that are not yet dreamed of... (the crowd cheers).
My experience is very different. My students don't know a monitor from a computer nor how to right click.
He said the question we must ask our students is about "what problem they want to solve" versus what they want to be. He talked about his programmer son (14 years old) and his daughter who was thinking about Latino filmography... (the crowd awwwwes). He spoke of how his son designs his own shoes from a website as opposed to just buying some in a store.
My students' problem is money.
My college has cut jobs, cut programs, and generally won't hire. We have had a five-year hiring freeze and no pay increase for faculty.
How much did they spend on this one and half-hour travesty??? How much on outside consultants...