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A Call for More Engineers in Education

15 points by rafaelc 16y ago

fleitz 16y ago
Pay them more, how do you think the finance industry attracts engineers? You're either saving the whales or running a business.
tseabrooks 16y ago
So, it seems the author isn't making a case for engineers as teachers, in that case we'd all just say, "Pay them more".. but rather engineers involved in education by building educational tools and technology. I don't think that question has the same answer as the first. As a libertarian I'll be the first to point out some serious issues in the way schools are using funding but maybe spending it on innovative tech would be a good idea. The primary problem I see with that is that, by and large, the 'bureaucracy cost' of selling / getting that technology into place is just too high and far more than they can afford. One of the great things about the education startup incubator (Imagine K12) featured on HN recently is that these guys already have lots of connections to help you sell the technology to schools. I think trying to sell your tech to a school is a very daunting task for an entrepreneur and the private consumer is a much easier customer to sell to and deal with. Of course, I think ultimately we'll see these tech innovations (Through such things as ImagineK12) make it into Charter / Private schools because they don't have the same bureaucratic problems of public state run schools... Eventually making state run schools obsolete (We can dream).
Apocryphon 16y ago
What I really don't understand is how the finance industry can draw in so many engineers. Aren't there only a few financial powerhouse regions in the U.S. on the coasts? How many firms are there, anyways? And just how many quants do these firms need?
noahl 16y ago
I think they would get a lot more people if they made it easy to work on this part-time. I, personally, would love to help teach a class in a high school or even a lower level, but I don't want that to be all I do. If I could come in for an hour or so a week, I would do it. (Actually I'm in college right now, but I would like to start doing that next year.) Similarly, I would be happy to help out with educational technology, but I might not want to do that full-time (I might, but there are many factors that go into choosing a job - location, working conditions, and pay, to name three). I didn't know until I read this article that there are open-source projects that are used in schools that I could contribute to.
- mvalle 16y ago
  In business school, my law teacher worked as a lawyer and only came in to teach us a few hours a week. He also was a really great teacher.

15 points by rafaelc 16y ago

Pay them more, how do you think the finance industry attracts engineers? You're either saving the whales or running a business.

tseabrooks 16y ago

So, it seems the author isn't making a case for engineers as teachers, in that case we'd all just say, "Pay them more".. but rather engineers involved in education by building educational tools and technology. I don't think that question has the same answer as the first. As a libertarian I'll be the first to point out some serious issues in the way schools are using funding but maybe spending it on innovative tech would be a good idea. The primary problem I see with that is that, by and large, the 'bureaucracy cost' of selling / getting that technology into place is just too high and far more than they can afford. One of the great things about the education startup incubator (Imagine K12) featured on HN recently is that these guys already have lots of connections to help you sell the technology to schools. I think trying to sell your tech to a school is a very daunting task for an entrepreneur and the private consumer is a much easier customer to sell to and deal with. Of course, I think ultimately we'll see these tech innovations (Through such things as ImagineK12) make it into Charter / Private schools because they don't have the same bureaucratic problems of public state run schools... Eventually making state run schools obsolete (We can dream).

Apocryphon 16y ago

What I really don't understand is how the finance industry can draw in so many engineers. Aren't there only a few financial powerhouse regions in the U.S. on the coasts? How many firms are there, anyways? And just how many quants do these firms need?

noahl 16y ago

I think they would get a lot more people if they made it easy to work on this part-time. I, personally, would love to help teach a class in a high school or even a lower level, but I don't want that to be all I do. If I could come in for an hour or so a week, I would do it. (Actually I'm in college right now, but I would like to start doing that next year.) Similarly, I would be happy to help out with educational technology, but I might not want to do that full-time (I might, but there are many factors that go into choosing a job - location, working conditions, and pay, to name three). I didn't know until I read this article that there are open-source projects that are used in schools that I could contribute to.

mvalle 16y ago
In business school, my law teacher worked as a lawyer and only came in to teach us a few hours a week. He also was a really great teacher.