Advanced Technological Education ·

Welcome to the ATE Central Connection! Published the first Monday of each month, the ATE Central Connection is meant to disseminate information to and about ATE centers and projects, providing you with up-to-date ATE news, events, reminders, as well as highlighting new centers, projects, and resources. In addition, we will also highlight an educational topic with complementary resources found within ATE Central to help illustrate how ATE resources can be used in the classroom.

We want the ATE Central Connection to be a valuable tool; please e-mail info@atecentral.net with any suggestions about how to make the ATE Central Connection more useful for you or to suggest any information you would like to see in an upcoming issue.

In This Issue

Featured Resources in Convergence Technology

From Convergence Technology Center (CTC):

Convergence Technology Overview

http://www.connectedtech.org/students/convergence_technology.html

This very helpful page from the Convergence Technology Center provides a great deal of information about the growing field of convergence technology as well as useful information for students or faculty. Degrees that will prepare students for this field are listed, such as Information Technology and Computer Networking. Additionally, career outlook and salary outlook information are included from a variety of sources.

From Institute for Convergence of Optical and Network Systems (ICONS):

Convergence of Optical and Network Systems

http://www.ccsf.edu/Resources/ICONS/convergence.htm

The Institute for Convergence of Optical and Network Systems (ICONS) at City College of San Francisco has created this overview of converging technologies of voice, data, and video networks. The site here is divided into five sections: Telephone Networks, Data Networks, Cable Television Networks, Wireless, and Convergence. Each section briefly discusses the purpose and application of each technology area and how these once separate specializations now work together. It's a useful overview for any information technology classroom.

From Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC):

Webinar Slides: Our Nano Future

http://www.matecnetworks.org/webinars/pdf/webinar_OurNanoFuture_slides_101212.pdf

These slides were presented as part of a NetWorks webinar recorded on October 12, 2012. Nanotechnology is about controlling and understanding matter at the scale of atoms and molecules and will impact every technology-based field and industry. In fact, it already is. Today's integrated circuits are an example of nanomanufacturing, and the next generations of devices and systems will be even "smarter" thanks to nanotechnology. In this webinar, Dr. Merzbacher discusses emerging and converging advances in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology, along with some novel applications and potential implications for policymakers and society. The ability to translate these advances into real-world benefits depends on a pipeline of students with knowledge in every STEM field.

Community Connection

Social Media Billboard

ATE Social Media and Technology Survey

In 2012, ATE Central joined forces with EvaluATE and the American Association of Community Colleges to conduct a survey in order to better understand how members of the ATE community use social media. With responses from almost 250 participants, the survey revealed that many ATE PIs and staff feel that social media technologies are useful but underutilized or not used strategically to support outreach and other programmatic efforts.

As a result of this research, ATE Central proposed that the ATE community collectively examine how our own audiences use social media and technology. We got a chance to speak with many of you at the PI meeting about this new undertaking - the ATE Social Media and Technology Survey – and many of you expressed interest in being involved. This survey (conducted by ATE Central and EvaluATE in the spring of 2015) will provide data that will help all of us do a better job reaching our audiences and disseminating our project and center news, promoting activities, and creating community. We're excited to get more ATE projects and centers involved and would love to set up a time to talk with you and your project or center staff about it if we haven’t already. Participating projects and centers will send us their mailing lists, the lists will be coded and integrated, and a survey will be sent out asking questions about how your audiences use tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and whether they are using laptops, phones, or other mobile devices to access those tools and the web. Survey data for your project’s or center's users will be sent back to you and you will also have access to the aggregate data so you can see how your audience’s usage compares to others in the community. For those interested in learning more, please contact techsurvey@atecentral.net. We look forward to working with you!

Additionally, if you’d like to read more about the benefits of social media, the Pew Research Center has recently released the report Social Media Update 2014, and a full overview of the report can be found on the ATE@20 blog.

Audience

ATE Success Tips: Social Media

Quality over Quantity

When using social media, a quality over quantity approach to posting can actually be the most beneficial for growing your project or center’s audience. The best way to build and maintain a following is to post creative, unique, and interesting content on a consistent basis. This way, the most important content you produce can be exposed and shared on the social media platforms of your choice, increasing your followers by appealing to readers who have recognized your posts as trustworthy, important, and relevant to ATE. In addition to quality material, be sure to encourage your audience to engage by asking questions, encouraging comments, and promoting the usability of your content.

Did You Know?

According to the Pew Research Center, Hispanics make up a rapidly growing share of the nation’s nearly 7 million community college students. In 2013, 22% of all enrolled public two-year college students were Hispanic – rising from 14% in 2000. Over the same time period, the share of African American students in public community colleges also increased (from 12% to 15%), while the share of white and Asian/Pacific Islander students declined.

ATE Events

Upcoming Events
– Mfg Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration (CIEC) Palm Springs, CA
Gen Project Access Workshop in Sebring, FL Sebring, FL
Gen Writing in the Disciplines Workshop in Sebring, FL Sebring, FL
Ag/Env SAE 2015 Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technologies Symposium Los Angeles, CA
Gen AAAS Pre-conference workshop on Community College Innovations San Jose, CA
Gen Project Access Workshop in Miami Lakes, FL Miami Lakes, FL
Gen Writing in the Disciplines in Miami Lakes, FL Miami Lakes, FL
Gen Project Access Workshop in Gainesville, FL Gainesville, FL
Gen Writing in the Disciplines in Gainesville, FL Gainesville, FL
– Gen The League for Innovation in the Community College Innovations Conference 2015 Boston, MA
– Bio/Chem Genomic Approaches in BioSciences Workshop San Francisco, CA
– Gen Preparing students for rewarding careers San Francisco, CA
Gen Project Access in West Palm Beach West Palm Beach, FL

For more events, please visit the ATE Central Events page or, if you have any upcoming events that you would like posted on ATE Central or in the ATE Central Connection, please submit them online.

To add a continuously-updated list of ATE and STEM education events to your website, use the ATE Event Widget.

News & Reminders

Is your project/center on Facebook, Twitter, or another social media site?

If so, please make sure we've found that site and added it to the ATE Social Media Directory. Having your social media presence linked through the directory will help ensure that interested parties can find you online. In addition, if you currently publish a newsletter, please let us know, as we will be adding links to newsletters to the information available on ATE Central.

Follow ATE Central on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with all things new at ATE Central and in the ATE Community as well as in the world of STEM Education


Can CWIS software help support your project goals?

CWIS is open source software, created with NSF funding, that can help your project or center showcase resources online. It's free and very easy to use. The latest version (CWIS 3.1.1) was released on and is available for download on the Scout site. Please email cwis@scout.wisc.edu if you have any questions or would like a quick tour of its features!

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