Education
Can GitHub help you get a job?
By: Shane Calder, 132 ENG
Why GitHub?
If you are new to writing code or wonder what GitHub is. GitHub is a code hosting platform for collaboration and version control.
GitHub lets you (and others) work together on projects. By the numbers 2.1 million organizations use it, 31 million developers are actively using GitHub. It’s a good chance if you are actively looking for a job, potential employers might use the service.
Here is when it matters.
If you are:
- A New Grad
- Experienced but want to transition into a new role
- You are changing careers and have upgraded your skills
- Self Taught or a Boot Camp Junky
A repository can give you a platform to show off your skills, what you love to work on and an idea of what skills you have.
I have completed a few Nano Degrees at Udacity and they offer some great courses to get you started for free with GitHub. Udacity free courses can be found here.
There are 4 courses that are geared to help someone develop a repository. Udacity does this to help students build a portfolio. Github can also be used for free- here is a link to the service.
When it doesn’t matter.
If you are a known developer and have experience it is less important when hiring managers. Even if you don’t use this service hiring managers will take you through white board interviews to get a feel on how you write code, how you think and interact.
Open Source Projects
Are you big on social impact or just love to code? There are millions of open source projects to work on. Open source projects are a great place to gain some real world experience if you are just starting out.
If you have years of experience it’s a great way to give back. You can look for great projects at GitHub Open Source.
GitHub can help you through the screening and interview process, but having said that not all employers look at your code. So have fun with the platform, work on projects you enjoy and be part of a larger community. Who knows, it might lead you to a wonderful career!
Contact: Shane Calder, Principal- [email protected]
132 ENG is an exclusive Engineering and Technical Services Company, providing placement and recruiting services.
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Education
Solar eclipse school closures underscore impact of learning loss
From the Fraser Institute
Instead of making every effort to protect instructional time and ensure that schools remain open, students are being sent home for ever more dubious reasons.
Schools are closed out of an “abundance of caution.” No doubt you’ve heard this phrase many times over the last few years. It was commonly used during the pandemic when provincial governments closed schools for months on end—even after it was widely known that COVID-19 posed little risk to most children.
Ontario schools were closed for 135 days during the pandemic, more than any other province. Parents and teachers are still trying to recover from this enormous learning loss. Clearly, this was one situation where an abundance of caution caused more harm than it prevented.
Sadly, it appears that provincial officials and school board administrators haven’t learned from their mistakes. Instead of making every effort to protect instructional time and ensure that schools remain open, students are being sent home for ever more dubious reasons.
For example, school boards across Ontario cancelled classes on April 8, the day of the solar eclipse. Apparently administrators felt there was too great a risk that students might look at the sun during the eclipse and damage their eyes. No doubt more than a few of them glanced at the sun while sitting at home that day. However, there was no need for the school closures to be as total as the eclipse. If they were really that concerned, school officials could have kept students indoors or simply altered the dismissal times.
Initially, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) took a common sense approach by stating that schools would remain open and teachers would use the eclipse as a learning opportunity for students. Then, only days before the eclipse, the WRDSB suddenly reversed itself and said their schools would indeed close on April 8, and students would have the opportunity to engage in “asynchronous remote learning” instead.
This decision sent the unfortunate message that WRDSB trustees are incapable of standing up to pressure from people who think that schools must close at the slightest sign of real or presumed danger. As for the notion that remote learning was an adequate substitute, our experience during the pandemic showed that for most parents and students, remote learning was thin gruel indeed.
As a further sign of how far paranoia has crept into the education system, some teacher unions demanded they too should be able to work from home during the eclipse. For example, Jeff Sorensen, president of the Hamilton local teacher union, said, “If it’s not safe for children [to be at school], then it’s not safe for adults.”
The union representing Toronto’s Catholic teachers made a similar request. In a memo to its members, local union president Deborah Karam said the union was “intensifying our efforts” to ensure that teachers be allowed to complete their professional development activities at home that day. Surprisingly, no union leader has yet explained why teachers would be less likely to look at the sun while at home than at school.
Of course, school boards must focus on education while also looking out for the wellbeing of students. But there’s more to student wellbeing than simply shielding them from all perceived risks. Extended school closures cause considerable harm to students because they lead to significant learning loss.
By normalizing the practise of closing schools at the slightest sign of danger, real or perceived, we risk raising a generation of young people who lack the ability to do a proper risk assessment. Life itself comes with risk and if we all took the same approach to driving a car that school boards take to school closures, would never set foot in a vehicle again.
Ontario students had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a solar eclipse in an educational environment, guided by their teachers. While some parents no doubt taught their children about the eclipse, many others had to be at work.
By closing schools out of an “abundance of caution,” school boards sent the message that school is not a place where unique educational events can be experienced together. Students should be in school during events such as the eclipse, not sitting at home.
If we’re going to exercise an abundance of caution, let’s be a lot more cautious about the risks of closing schools at the drop of a hat.
Author:
Education
Red Deer Public Schools facing million dollar deficit due to inflation and carbon tax
Draft Three Year Education Plan
While the full Division Three-Year Education Plan will be presented to the Board next month, in order to facilitate strategic planning at both the school and Division levels, the Board was presented with the
proposed Strategies and Performance Measures that will set the strategic direction for Red Deer Public Schools in the coming years.
The highest priority for the Division is the success of every student. For the upcoming school year we have organized our strategic work around the following Alberta Education Assurance Domains:
- Student Growth & Achievement
- Teaching and Leading
- Learning Supports
- Governance
The fifth Alberta Education Assurance Domain, Local and Societal Context, encompasses all of the
aforementioned areas. Ten proposed strategies, which will be used to guide Red Deer Public‘s work, as well as 14 proposed performance measures, were also presented. PLAN
Budget Review and Schedule
Red Deer Public Schools is in the process of reviewing its budget for the 2024/2025 school year.
The Division’s budget totals $131 million. With a current projected deficit of $1 million, the state of the Division’s reserves will be about $2.8 million as of Aug. 31, 2024 year end.
Projected student enrolment is also similar for the 2024/2025 school year at about 10,800 FTE students. One challenge this year is that there has not been additional funding provided for inflationary cost increases such as benefit costs, carbon tax, supplies and materials and utilities.
The Board is expected to approve the 2024/2025 budget on May 8, with submission to Alberta Education on May 31. BUDGET
Field Studies Approved
The Board of Trustees approved two Field Studies for students at Hunting Hills High School and Gateway Christian School.
Hunting Hills students enroled in the Chinese Language and Culture courses will travel to China in April 2025. Students will be immersed in the Chinese language and learn to appreciate Chinese culture.
As well, in April 2025, students part of the Co-Impact Team from Gateway Christian School will travel to the Dominican Republic to take part in a number of service activities.
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