The West Virginia Public Education Collaborative gave a presentation to the county’s ninth and 10th grade students on Wednesday about the career opportunities afforded by broadband, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. School Superintendent Donna Heston said it was the first such broadband summit held in the state and Marion County students were first in line.
“When it comes to broadband technology, there’s a lot of mystery,” Bill Bissett, chairman of the W.Va. Broadband Council and president of the West Virginia Manufacturer’s Association, said. “We use it in our daily lives. It’s all around us. Everything from health care to education to commerce. But understanding the opportunities in it is why we’re here today.
“We want to make sure these young people know you can not only have a career within broadband, but because of high-speed Internet, you can stay in West Virginia and be connected to the entire world.”
In a departure from typical school assembly norms, Heston had students pull out their phones rather than put them away. The presentation engaged directly with students, through a QR code students voted in live polls related to the presentation and submitted questions for Bissett and a panel of experts.
Bissett said while younger generations tend to be more technology savvy, that doesn’t necessarily mean they understand technology. Dell found in a survey that 56 percent of respondents between the ages of 18 and 26 said they had basic to no digital skills education. A third said their education did not provide them with the digital skills necessary to propel their careers.
While Gen-Z might be mavens at user-friendly social media apps, The Guardian reported that Gen-Z often doesn’t know how to find a Google Meet link on a calendar invite. They also struggle with office printers and computer file systems.
Bissett said the broadband field has wide job opportunities with different requirements. The deployment aspect — setting up infrastructure — needs everything from people who work on lines to electricians to engineers. Students can find a job with anything from a high school, technical college, apprenticeship to a four-year college degree.
Donna Peduto, executive director of the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative, said the purpose of the presentation was to build awareness and excitement about jobs in broadband. The Broadband Summit, as the event was known, was funded by the state office of broadband in Charleston to sponsor speakers to go into classrooms and talk about various related careers. The summit is a product of that grant.
“Today they’ve heard a lot about cybersecurity,” Peduto said. “I think they didn’t maybe realize the connection between broadband and cybersecurity, so that was really neat for them. They also heard about all the different careers you can have and the educational pathway to get there.”
Marion County Board of Education President George Boyles also emphasized the importance of broadband going into the future. He pointed out the modern marvel of being able to see a doctor from the comfort one’s own home due to high-speed Internet.
Boyles said the opportunities afforded by broadband could open the door to $100,000 paychecks, all from the comfort of home.
“You always need certain people in certain areas, whether it be doctors or lawyers or accountants,” Boyles said, “ but you need to focus on this, because a lot of these students know they want something different and something that they can touch and feel and really do a good job. And this is, this is amazing to do that and expose them to it as a sophomore in high school while they still got time to do a lot.”
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