State of the Union 2011 Emphasizes Education and Jobs

Last weeks State of the Union address highlighted the need to support and encourage education and innovation in order to create jobs and prepare the workforce of the future. For an in-depth look at what the President said and what it means to students and adult learners read the following articles from U.S. News University Directory. 

Where Will the Jobs Come From in the Next 10 Years
Promoting private sector job growth and restoring American competitiveness were at the centerpiece of President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address on Jan. 25.

Making College Education Accessible and Affordable
In his 2011 State of the Union address, President Obama stressed the importance of increasing the quality and availability of education.

"We Do Big Things"
In his State of the Union 2011 address, the President spoke plainly about what America must do to compete in the 21st Century.

How to Know if You’d Be a Good Special Education Teacher

Thanks to medical advances and better awareness, children with disabilities are being diagnosed earlier and placed in educational programs that can maximize their potential. This has led to a greater demand for special needs teachers; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects employment in the field to grow by 17% through 2018.

But how do you know if special education is the career for you? Here a five characteristics shared by almost all teachers who are successful in this field:

1. Certification. All 50 states and the District of Columbia require teaching certificates – attained by earning a bachelor’s degree in education and successfully passing the state’s teaching exam – to enter the field of special education. Most also insist on additional training geared toward instructing special needs children. Exactly what type of advanced education is necessary for licensure varies from state to state; some require certificate courses that take less than a year to complete, while others insist on a master's in special education that can take over two.

2. Patience. Many special needs children can learn at a normal pace – some even faster. However, those with certain disabilities can have a much harder time, taking weeks or months to master even simple tasks. Other special needs students have emotional problems that make learning difficult not only for themselves, but for others around them as well. Vast patience is essential for special education teachers when working with such students.

3. Stress management. Long workdays, near-constant administrative duties and students who can be extremely difficult on a daily basis make special education a challenging career. In order to be successful at it, you must be able to handle high stress levels and find ways to manage the personal and professional struggles that come with working in this field.

4. Commitment. Obviously, being a special needs teacher is not an easy job. And unfortunately, many positions in this field don’t pay as well as they should. In order to find lasting success in special education, you must be committed to the profession. Helping special needs children learn should be a reward for you in and of itself. If not, the financial compensation alone can seem insufficient considering the stress and difficulty inherent to the career.

5. Interpersonal skills. Special needs children often have a wide range of people working on their behalf. These can include parents, foster parents, other relatives or caregivers, state agencies, doctors, psychologists, social workers and more. You should be able to establish positive relationships with all such individuals and work closely with them to maximize your student’s learning potential.

3 Information Technology Degrees That Will Still Be Critical in 2018

Over the past 20 years, computers and the Internet have grown to become a huge part of almost every major industry in America.  In fact, the field of information technology (IT) is now an industry unto itself – one that generates hundreds of billions of dollars a year.  But the IT world changes rapidly; computer programming degrees held immense value 10 years ago, but now they are largely considered obsolete.

So if you’re looking to go into this field, how do you know what kind of IT degree to pursue?  Well, no one can say with 100% accuracy what the job market will look like in the future.  But based on current trends and growth, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is confident that three types of IT degrees will still be critical to the industry through 2018:

1. Network technology and network security.  The growth of the IT industry brought linked computer systems called networks to millions of businesses, government offices and other organizations.  Network technology professionals maintain such computer systems, while network security professionals protect them from computer viruses, hacking attempts and other threats.  The two fields often overlap, and small organizations typically employ one person to handle both jobs.

IT degrees that can lead you to a network technology or network security job include an AAS in IT Security, a BS in Network Technology and an MBA in Network and Communications Management.  The BLS estimates much faster than average job growth in this part of the IT field through 2018.

2. Software engineering.  Over the past decade, software engineering has slowly replaced computer programming as the preferred IT development skill set.  Software engineers create, test, maintain and update the software that allows computers to perform their functions. However, software engineers do more than code in a computer language; they are often responsible for all phases of software design and development.

IT degrees that can help you enter the software engineering field include an AA in Information Systems, a BS in Software Architecture and an MS in Software Engineering.  The BLS predicts that there will be much faster than average job growth in this part of the IT field through 2018.

3. Web development.  Web developers – sometime called web designers – create websites for businesses, individuals, news organizations and anyone else who wants a presence on the Internet. There are hundreds of millions of active websites today, and that number is only growing.  HTML skills are essential for web developers, and knowledge of other markup languages and applications (such as XML and XHTML) can be important as well.

IT degrees that can help you secure a web development position include an AAS in Web Development, a BS in Information Systems – Web Development and an MA in Web Design.  As with network technology and software engineering, the BLS estimates that there will be much faster than average job growth in this part of the IT field through 2018.