To help bridge the gap between the need for qualified workers in software, programming, systems analysis, and other areas, and the number of available people, Microsoft is chipping in with money and volunteers. While other technology companies are also working to solve the problem by pushing for looser immigration rules, hosting summer camps for students interested in technology, and training teachers, Microsoft is putting its employees on the front line.
The company encourages employees to commit to teaching computer science in a high school for at least one year. The participating employees receive a small stipend for doing so and teach between two and five hour-long sessions each week. The program began in 2009, after engineer Kevin Wang began volunteering his services at a Seattle high school. The executives at Microsoft heard about his work and implemented financial support to get other employees into the field.
The program is now called Technology Education and Literacy in Schools, or TEALS, and includes the services of over 100 technology workers, both from Microsoft and other companies. The volunteers work in 22 different high schools around Seattle as well as in schools in Washington, California, North Dakota, and Utah. The volunteers, the tech companies, and educators hope that the growing program will spark a new enthusiasm for computer science.
Taking another tack, Microsoft is also petitioning for immigration reform. The idea is to charge technology companies a fee to access qualified foreign workers on H-1B visas. The collected fees would go towards technology education in the US. The company hopes to kill two birds with one stone by supplying companies with much-needed workers and also increasing the quality of education for American students.
Source: http://www.teachercertificationdegrees.com/articles/microsoft-tech-education-1008121/
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