By Danny Arati, Education Manager Europe, Intel
We have just concluded the tenth Intel Education Summit in Warsaw. This annual event brought together a diverse range of speakers on the topic of education and entrepreneurship, facilitating discussions into best practice surrounding the education of young people and the skills needed to build a workforce that is equipped for the future.
It’s a pressing issue. In the last month, a survey from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has revealed that 20 per cent of the EU working age population has low literacy and numeracy skills, while 25 per cent lack the digital skills needed to effectively use information and communication technologies (ICT). Despite the fact that there is a real demand for skilled workers, education and entrepreneurial training is not keeping pace. The Summit unearthed a real sense that now is the time for action.
The event gathered over two hundred professionals from across the EMEA region including professors, teachers, consultants, education ministers and policy makers and last but not least industry partners joined the discussion. This plethora of expertise provided fascinating insights on a wide variety of topics from practical and interactive methods of learning with the help of technology, to pedagogy, policy and trends.
There were experts on hand to offer practical business advice. Stuart Morris, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Fellow, Henley Business School, talked about the importance of failure in entrepreneurship. He discussed how, especially in this tough economic climate, resilience is vital and demonstrates strength of character to potential employers.
Shelly Esque, Intel Director Corporate Affairs and President of the Intel Foundation stressed in her keynote again the critical role of teachers for entrepreneurship education and education in general. She took the opportunity to discuss a most recent study from the International Center for Research on Women, which has found that that Intel Teach cultivates greater knowledge, skills and self-confidence among female educators to use technology in their personal lives and strengthen opportunities to enhance their careers.
On top of discussions and presentations, hands-on demonstrations of technology for the classroom were exhibited. The recently introduced Galileo board was showcased: a tool for quickly prototyping simple, interactive designs such as LED light displays that respond to social media, or for tackling more complex projects, from automating home appliances to building life-size robots controlled by a smartphone. Interactive technology like this should not only be seen as a teaching aid, but also has real potential to inspire children to pursue the exciting possibilities of a career in STEM.
Overall, a resounding message was the need for investment in initiatives and programmes to engage young people. At Intel, this is something that we are committed to on a long term basis through competitions and programmes such as Intel ISEF, the largest global science competition or the Global Business Challenge– which take students out of their comfort zone, offering them an intense entrepreneurship training experience.
The summit has been a great success, and we’d like to thank everyone who attended and took part. It is important that the lessons learned at events like this are taken beyond the confines of the conference centre and used to inspire the next generation of innovators, scientists, engineers and technologists – that our economy so desperately needs.
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For more information on the study about Intel Teach and its impact on girls pls. see: Changing the paradigm of classrooms by Renee Wittemyer