View the Cyber Careers grant application abstracts
View a descriptive PowerPoint Presentation on Cyber Careers

The NWCET and the Educational Activities Department of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) are collaborating on the development of a video on IT careers.

This video will provide outreach to middle and high school students. The main purpose of the NWCET/IEEE collaborative video is to inform students about the wide diversity of IT careers and to attract underrepresented populations to the IT profession. The video will also focus on the dual goals of emphasizing the appeal of the profession in the view of younger students (middle and high school) and projecting a positive image of IT professionals.

In March 1999, the NWCET and IEEE jointly conducted a set of nation-wide focus groups to determine how middle and high school students receive and apply information about careers and career options with the purpose of enhancing student awareness about and interest in the quickly emerging field of IT. The research, conducted by a Senior Consultant at Marts and Lundy, Inc., consisted of focus groups with 142 students, 30 teachers and counselors, as well as parents, and IT professionals. The focus groups covered a broad range of socio-economic and ethnic groups and took place in Seattle, WA, Piscataway, NJ, and El Paso, TX.

Our discoveries from the data generated in the research phase of this grant indicated that there exists a critical need for products which build both students' and teachers' awareness of new careers, career paths, and the skills students need to succeed in the IT workplace. We also gathered valuable information about format, length of presentation, and the types of media that attract students and hold their attention.

In September 1999, we received a second grant from the National Science Foundation to fund the development of pre-service and in-service teacher training materials, a website for quick training, and workshops. This second, companion component of the CyberCareers project will give teachers and counselors the tools they need to quickly educate themselves about emerging IT careers and then pass on that information to their students using the student materials we develop.

The NWCET and IEEE are now developing two products one for students and one for pre-service and in-service teachers and counselors. The video, website, and accompanying materials are currently in production.

• An instructional designer is currently developing both student and teacher materials and resources.
• Two student interns are currently creating the accompanying website (www.cybercareers.org).
• The NWCET and its partners have secured filming sites at companies nation-wide where IT professionals and technicians will be profiled.
• Filming of the video will begin in April-May 2000 at cutting edge IT companies including Microsoft, IBM, REI, Expedia Inc., and Loudeye Technologies.
• Workshops offered as part of the NWCET's Educator-to Educator Institute in Summer 2000 will introduce educators to the website and teaching resources.
• A pilot of the video is scheduled for distribution in Fall 2000.

The project has received partial funding from National Science Foundation, the IEEE Foundation, the IEEE Computer Society, and the Technology Access Foundation.

For more information on this project, please email [email protected].