University of Massachussets Boston
Boston, MA
- Provides curricula and pedagogy to ensure that information technology (IT) education meets the needs and demands of the 21st century workplace.
- Establishes articulation and transfer agreements to build a seamless educational experience.
- Educates diverse populations of students who can meet the challenges of emerging technologies.
- Facilitates partnerships that support career development, lifelong learning, and regional economic growth.
BATEC Helps Students Discover IT Opportunities
By offering a variety of career pathways and a wide array of student programs, BATEC helps students of all ages discover opportunities in information technology (IT) and IT-dependent fields.
All 147 of the Boston public high school students who have participated in BATEC’s Tech Apprentice program, which places students in technology-focused internships, have enrolled in college after graduation. Technical majors were chosen by 75% of the Tech Apprentices.
BATEC’s college recruitment strategy includes 3 levels of engagement for technology-focused high school students: a Regional High-Tech College Fair that serves sophomores and juniors; community college fairs that target juniors and seniors; and mini-tech fairs that provide interactive college visits for high school seniors. Altogether these events connect more than 1,500 students each year with higher education opportunities, admissions counseling, and career information.
BATEC’s Bridge to Community College program for adult learners combines credit-bearing technology courses with English and mathematics tutoring and workshops on college admissions, financial aid, course registration, and advising. Delivered through local community-based organizations, this program in the last 3 years has served more than 200 students who have not had any prior college experience. By fall 2010, more than 100 BATEC Bridge students had taken additional courses toward certificates and/or degrees.
BATEC Bridges Education & Industry for Student Success
BATEC’s IT Workforce Skills Study includes input from workers, hiring managers, and strategic planners across the country. The report concluded that employability skills (communication, collaboration, resourcefulness, and teamwork) and contextual skills (ability to apply skills in a real-world environment) are “every bit as important as any technical skill element an employee may possess.”
Guided by BATEC’s broad vision of IT education and with the input of BATEC’s industry partners, BATEC’s regional partner institutions have designed IT programs that are relevant, rigorous and reflective of industry needs. BATEC has transformed more than 100 courses and updated the content knowledge and pedagogical skills of more than 400 IT educators. As a result of these curricula and professional development activities, more than 12,000 students from high school through 4-year college programs have benefited from BATEC-informed courses.
When it revamps courses, BATEC works collaboratively online and in-person with faculty to share curricular materials, model teaching methods, connect them with industry partners, and update their technical skills. BATEC‘s guidance ensures that students are active participants in classrooms that mirror the world of work. Skill standards and employability skills are merged with authentic and challenging problem-solving and higher-order thinking skills. Using a modular, open-source approach to designing and sharing curricular assets, BATEC provides faculty with access to high-quality materials that can be repurposed, modified, and combined according to class size, academic rigor, student interests, and needs.
