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Education

Mobile apps and multi-player games coming from Ottawa’s high school halls – Grade 3 students the customers for Grades 10 to 12 developers

Classroom inspiration and industry collaboration offered as a solution to Canada’s looming 106,000-employee ICT labour gap

Ottawa – By pairing Grade 10 to 12 “software developers” with grade 3 “customers”, the Ottawa High School Technology Program is offering a solution to Canadian organizations desperately seeking to fill 106,000 new technology jobs that will open up in the next five years according to the Information Communications and Technology Council. With the help of in-classroom inspiration from industry mentors for this program, everything from cool iPhone apps to multi-player games will be on display at Earl of March Earl of March Secondary School, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. in room 226.

In a testimonial letter, Cathy Vachon, a Grade 3 teacher at St. Luke Elementary School in Nepean, said, “Initially I wondered just how much impact this experience would have on a student’s view of technology and careers in technology. My students were to be the clients, providing direction, input and interacting with Grade 10 programmers [from Ottawa’s Mother Teresa High School] in much the same way as the customer of real life computer programs. In short, it is unquestionably the most powerful learning experience they have ever experienced and will, I believe, alter the directions and choices these students will make in their academic careers.”

Now in its third year, the Ottawa High School Technology Program is led by the Ottawa Centre for Regional Innovation in cooperation with 10 local secondary and post-secondary schools from across Ottawa and Gatineau. The program’s goals include encouraging high school students to pursue ICT careers, fostering industry collaboration and in-class inspiration, and creating role models for participating elementary school students among their secondary school peers. Industry sponsors include IBM Canada Software Lab, Macadamian Software, RIM, The Ottawa Software Cluster, Algonquin College, Carleton University, University of Ottawa, Ottawa Carleton District School Board, Ottawa Catholic School Board, Ontario Centres for Excellence, and Partnering to Achieve Student Success. Adobe Systems also provides software development tools to the students.

“In my opinion, this is one of the most effective tech skills outreach programs ever conceived, because it connects elementary students to high school students to industry mentors, all working together to deliver real working education applications created by elementary students for elementary students,” said Marcellus Mindel, Head of Academic Partnerships, Centre for Advanced Studies at the IBM Canada Software Lab.

“I have been collaborating with OCRI on the Ottawa High School Technology Program from its inception,” said Frederic Boulanger, President of Macadamian Technologies. “We are now submitting a proposal for increased funding to FedDev Ontario, under the Youth STEM (Scientists, Technologists, Engineers and Mathematicians) program. It is now time to get to the next level and involve even more schools and influence more kids. I run an ICT company. I need more Canadian talent to help my business succeed, and I see the Ottawa High School Technology Program as a great way to make it happen.”