The program will provide students from kindergarten to 12th grade with personalized instruction and hands-on activities that will build skills that will prepare them to pursue potential careers in animation, engineering, 3D printing, mobile app development and robotics. The activities will help them master mathematical thinking through projects such as piloting drones, coding and data analysis, the announcement said.
Woz ED also will give students the background to enter the fields of artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, cybersecurity and data science.
Wozniak developed the programs to help guide students into the many tech-based jobs that are currently available and are expected to become more important in the coming years.
"If learners miss the opportunity to develop an engineering mindset and computational thinking, they are less likely to benefit from technology as a consumer and/or a contributor," said Wozniak. "We need to bridge the gap between current instructional design and the skills employers seek. It is more than providing access to computing devices. It is about teaching them to use technology to create things that will benefit them and society in the future."
Woz ED was first introduced in Western New York more than a decade ago in the Salamanca School District and maintains a field office in the region. Woz ED Pathways districts also include Falconer, Genesee Valley, Kenmore- Tonawanda, Lackawanna, Lockport, Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda and Randolph.
In her first State of the Schools address last month, Buffalo School Superintendent Tonja M. Williams said that a partnership was being formed with Woz Ed to provide the program at all grade levels in city schools.
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