Preparing for Emerging Technologies
PET…..yes, yet another acronym. After eight years in the military and almost six in politics, I too have heard enough of them. As much as we have to mention initiatives and programs during negotiations, acronyms are necessary or we’d never get anything done. PET stands for Preparing for Emerging Technologies. PET is my favorite project and the one I believe can create the most positive macro change for all aspects of our society.
PET was conceived by a group of very dedicated educators and administrators from both k-12 and higher education. One fifth of this original group are from Warren County. Fortunately I have the privilege of representing this school district (among others) in the legislature. Always proactive, the leaders of the Warren County school system invited legislators to a seminar in Brentwood, TN some years ago. We were there to learn how other states were dealing with the acute need to infuse technology into every aspect of our educational system. Incorporated into this was the need to prepare our students now for what will be the norm in a few short years…..using nanotechnologies, personal computing and self motivation as key educational tools.
In only three years we have gone from being excited about a clear vision on how to get started with this initiative to actually having a subculture of students, teachers and institutions identified and laying the groundwork. Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville has been the standard bearer, putting their money where their mouth is and making things happen since day one. Two years ago the school used existing resources (it very well could have done anything with) and held their first President’s School on Emerging Technologies. Today, Governor Bredesen has embraced the plans and helped us appropriate almost $200,000 to begin a school on New and Emerging Technologies. We will take kids from all over the state with a natural propensity to accelerate in math and sciences (or any of the related fields) and offer them an intensive summer training program. Instructors are primarily those that are currently experts in these fields…but there are not enough of them. As we build our student base, we will do the same with our instructor base. We believe there are more than enough students for this part of the program already, but we want to make sure every single school age child in Tennessee is exposed to these opportunities and technologies over the span of their entire educational career.
We have an antiquated curriculum in Tennessee. Many of the things we teach are still pertinent, but how we do it is obsolete. Technologies can increase efficiencies in the classroom, parental participation and opportunities that we may think are unimaginable. The rapid transformations being brought about by quantum improvements in technology are and will forever change what my generation and generations to come can expect with regards to employment opportunities, quality of life and individual capabilities. We can either continue in earnest with this program and make it a priority with our legislature today, or we can start it 5 or 10 years down the road and wish we had the foresight to make it a priority years earlier.