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Teens' interest in gadgets is at an all time high. Cell phones, once a privilege for the few, are now as frequent in a young person's life as school books. Game players are common, and most teens know how to use a computer.
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A recent Pew Internet Research study found 75 percent of children aged 12-17 own a cell phone. Six years ago in it was 45 percent. The same Pew study found the average teen sends 50 text messages per day.
Yet despite heavy use of technology, a majority of teens are less likely to pursue a career in the fields that allow for its existence. Youth interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- the "STEM" fields -- has suffered a major decline since the tech boom (and subsequent bust) of the late 1990s.
This is especially the case in the U.S., where enrollment in computer science related courses at major universities only recently started rising after bottoming out in 2007. Studies from the Computer Research Association and the University of California, Los Angeles, showed double digit declines in computer science enrollment. In 2008, enrollment began to rise again, but only slightly and not reaching the levels of previous years.
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Several organizations, both public and private, have made it their business to ensure this interest keeps growing, and doesn't sputter out like it did 10 years ago.
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Rob Hughes, president of TopCoder, is one of those who wants to encourage more kids to study the sciences. TopCoder is a networking site for independent software developers to showcase their work and compete in various contests to design the best software applications.
Hughes says it is important to develop talent at home. "We're graduating fewer and fewer in those related disciplines and there's an economic result of that. More and more innovation and new product development is coming from overseas," he said.
As a result, the company has teamed up with Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an internet platform for middle school and high school students interested in the S.T.E.M. fields. The platform will feature contests, activities and web-based entertainment shows designed to get students engaged.
"Our domestic students have a strong background in consumption. They use handheld devices everyday of their lives to connect with their parents and peer groups. They expect to have technology available. We want to get them to understand early on those devices come from engineering disciplines so they can be proficient when they get to college," Hughes said.
The idea of student engagement fueling interest is at the forefront of Project Lead the Way, an organization committed to preparing students to be innovators in S.T.E.M. fields. PLTW has done this by turning away from traditional textbooks and teachers to focus on actual experiments.
"The worst thing you can hear in education is, 'I'm bored,'" said John Lock, PLTW's president and chief executive officer. "The number one problem in getting students interested in science and related fields is engagement, unfortunately." Lock says the traditional methods of teaching, such as testing, won't foster innovation. "How can we imagine a society of innovators who challenge the status quo when we're telling them to do the status quo?"
It was this frustration that led to the creation of PLTW. It started 20 years ago with one school and 15 students. Today, there are 4,000 programs with 400,000 participants. Lock credits the expansion to PLTW's interactive style of learning.
"If you walk into a PLTW class, it's very unstructured. There's a lot of computer work stations, CAD and other design software being run, 3-D modeling. There are a lot of groups of kids working together. There's not really a teacher, but rather a mentor or a learning coach, who talks about principles and sets up problems. It's noisy, chaotic and there are huge amounts of collaboration," Lock said. He added that it is deliberately similar to the atmosphere in a professional engineering design room.
"The growth has been contagious. People walk by a classroom and see kids making electric cars and they say, 'I want to be in that class. We have a big demand inside schools,'" he said. PLTW is looking to expand its access to kids through programs at summer camps and after-school community centers.
