Post by rracine on Apr 8, 2016 5:34:10 GMT
I love the fact that this topic is being discussed in the Leadership Academy as I'm very passionate about bringing innovation into Workforce Development. I think there are several innovative ways we can provide exceptional services to our participants, increase our effectiveness, and expand our reach. I firmly believe that the opportunity exists with the use of technology to enhance the services we offer. I'll share what might be considered a loftier goal; this example was inspired by a story that dates back to 2013. To make a long story short, a man named Patrick McConlogue approached a homeless man named Leo Grand in 2013 and offered him $100, or the opportunity to learn how to code. Leo chose to learn how to code and Business Insider followed their story for over 2 years (Full Story here: www.businessinsider.com/leo-the-homeless-coder-2014-5; and here: www.businessinsider.com/leo-the-homeless-coder-2015-2015-4).
Although Leo & Patrick successfully designed an app together, and the app got some buzz, Leo is still homeless today. When asked about the outcome, Leo attributed it to "Life".
When I read that story, it made me wonder how the outcome might have changed if Fedcap offered a program where clients received training similar to what Leo received. The major difference would be that the clients would also have a strong support system consisting of a Case Manager, a Job Developer, and an Instructor committed to spending a full day training them instead of just the mornings that Patrick had to offer Leo. There's obviously no guarantee that it would result in success, but I'm inclined to believe that the odds of success would be much higher. In addition, what took Patrick McConlogue 8-months to teach Leo, might be reduced to less than 4 months if the time commitment mirrored what many of our clients are required to spend at some Fedcap sites (20, 25, 30, or 35 hours per week).
This example also makes me think of the number of Fedcap sites that contain computer labs, with 25+ computers connected to the internet. What if we allowed our participants the opportunity to take advantage of free online coding courses from sites like www.Code.org or www.Codecademy.com? Each of these sites have entire introductory coding curriculums online, for free. It makes me think of how some of our participants' lives might be changed if every three months we selected 25 of our clients and gave them access to our labs for a month to devote their time to taking courses on these websites. What if we allowed our participants with only a High School Diploma the time to invest in themselves by allowing them to spend 4 weeks using our computer labs to take a free college course offered on www.coursera.com or www.edx.org? While at our site being fully engaged on the content of these courses, what else might we be able to teach them? How else might we be able to leverage their new skills to employers? I think many of these opportunities provide our clients with more value than a WEP assignment might.
Developing a program that trains our clients to fill technology related jobs could change the lives of thousands, and could also result in being awarded some significant grants, like this one: www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/03/10/president-obama-launches-techhire. I think the opportunities here are endless, and as we shift to a program that is optional for participants, these options are more likely to keep our clients engaged and interested.
Lastly, as New York aims to be the next "Silicon Valley", and tries to entice tech start-ups to set up shop in NYC (see here:
therealdeal.com/2015/12/11/cornelltechs-roosevelt-campus-chugging-along/), how might we partner with start-up entrepreneurs looking to keep their costs low, while keeping their productivity high? I believe there are several opportunities to explore here as well.
Although Leo & Patrick successfully designed an app together, and the app got some buzz, Leo is still homeless today. When asked about the outcome, Leo attributed it to "Life".
When I read that story, it made me wonder how the outcome might have changed if Fedcap offered a program where clients received training similar to what Leo received. The major difference would be that the clients would also have a strong support system consisting of a Case Manager, a Job Developer, and an Instructor committed to spending a full day training them instead of just the mornings that Patrick had to offer Leo. There's obviously no guarantee that it would result in success, but I'm inclined to believe that the odds of success would be much higher. In addition, what took Patrick McConlogue 8-months to teach Leo, might be reduced to less than 4 months if the time commitment mirrored what many of our clients are required to spend at some Fedcap sites (20, 25, 30, or 35 hours per week).
This example also makes me think of the number of Fedcap sites that contain computer labs, with 25+ computers connected to the internet. What if we allowed our participants the opportunity to take advantage of free online coding courses from sites like www.Code.org or www.Codecademy.com? Each of these sites have entire introductory coding curriculums online, for free. It makes me think of how some of our participants' lives might be changed if every three months we selected 25 of our clients and gave them access to our labs for a month to devote their time to taking courses on these websites. What if we allowed our participants with only a High School Diploma the time to invest in themselves by allowing them to spend 4 weeks using our computer labs to take a free college course offered on www.coursera.com or www.edx.org? While at our site being fully engaged on the content of these courses, what else might we be able to teach them? How else might we be able to leverage their new skills to employers? I think many of these opportunities provide our clients with more value than a WEP assignment might.
Developing a program that trains our clients to fill technology related jobs could change the lives of thousands, and could also result in being awarded some significant grants, like this one: www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/03/10/president-obama-launches-techhire. I think the opportunities here are endless, and as we shift to a program that is optional for participants, these options are more likely to keep our clients engaged and interested.
Lastly, as New York aims to be the next "Silicon Valley", and tries to entice tech start-ups to set up shop in NYC (see here:
therealdeal.com/2015/12/11/cornelltechs-roosevelt-campus-chugging-along/), how might we partner with start-up entrepreneurs looking to keep their costs low, while keeping their productivity high? I believe there are several opportunities to explore here as well.
