CAMM Recap: Current Community Sounds Off On Education Reform

During Time Warner Cable’s “Math, Science and the Future of Our Nation, a Global Online Town Hall” event on November 17, we posted a related BFD topic that drew many insightful viewpoints: Why are so many countries ahead of the US in Math and Science?

Former Vice President Al Gore prepares to host the global online town hall

Beyond our excitement over Current TV's (and former Vice President) Al Gore hosting the live stream, we were just as impressed by your feedback. Your responses touched on everything from anti-intellectualism in America to teacher salaries. For those that missed the event and BFD responses, we’ve compiled the main points raised by the community during the event, along with some behind-the-scenes photos and highlights.

Time Warner Cable and Current TV staff follow activity from the control room

For a play-by-play of what was covered during the town hall, be sure to visit Time Warner’s Untangled blog.

STEM Isn’t Cool In Popular Culture

"In China, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America, Britney Spears is Britney Spears." - #FutureOfOurNation webcam response
 
Why do many young people know the names of the Jersey Shore cast but not who pioneered the study of radioactivity? (That would be Marie Curie.) In 2010, are we STILL waiting for it to be hip to be square? Current.com community member tomoni thinks so: “It's simple, education is not valued here in the US, celebrity is.”
 
During the online town hall, Al Gore suggested that instead of idolizing The Situation, young people should aspire to “be the next Steve Jobs.”

Technicians monitor livestream activity from all over the world  

Check out the “Are Geeks Cool?” segment from the town hall -- plus more of your comments -- after the jump!
 

 
Results-Based Classroom Funding

Can students truly retain all the knowledge they receive in the classroom when the focus is on memorization? EtVoila shared her own experience:

“When I attended school in America, they didn't even try to be discreet about the fact that we were being 'educated' for the TAKS test (that is, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) and the SATs. They mention it often in class.”
 
MAssappeal feels that changing the emphasis in the classroom might be the answer: “...I think we need to restructure our education system to be similar to an extremely mathematically inclined system like that of say Japan, but speaking only from my own educational experience, we definitely need more balance than
we've got. Or maybe just more effective methods of teaching what we already

Unqualified & Underpaid Teachers

dudefromtherock asked, ”How can you retain good teachers when you pay them sh*t salaries?”
 
Good point. Why do many teachers buy their own supplies, even while struggling to pay rent?

littlwarrior doesn't feel it's fair to blame it all on the teachers -- many are committed to quality education: “Check out CDA Charter Acadamy in Idaho, they run on 75% of the funding that any other school would receive and they pay their teachers the best in the state and are never short on books. Granted they have one of the greatest accountants known to man, but still if they can do it why cannot everyone else, and trust me there is no lacking in skills of the teachers or their results.”

Classroom Schedules

Does the same break schedule from 20 years ago still make sense in an increasingly competitive world? Many of you took summer vacation to task.
 
MrMxyzptlk asked, “Why give the kids three months off in the summer? Jesus f*cking christ, what profession are you prepping them for with that kind of work ethic?”
 
Connecting STEM To Daily Life

Do you breathe air? Ever Googled yourself? Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math are a part of daily life, but this reality often goes unnoticed. Many of you suggested that appreciating and incorporating STEM into daily rituals could help increase retained knowledge of those subjects.
 
On Twitter, @Holly_SA tweeted that “Comparing math to real-life scenarios helps the girls at the Young Women's Leadership Academy in #SATX learn better. #FutureOfOurNation.”
 
Perhaps it's meeting young people where they're at -- recognizing what they focus their attention on and creating relate-able experiences that incorporate STEM. @cjmoeller feels technology itself might be the answer:
 
“Kids can learn complex video games, can we teach complex subjects in a game format? #futureofournation #STEM”

Conclusion & A Challenge

Time Warner Cable's CAMM online event resulted in #FutureOfOurNation momentarily becoming a trending topic, but then was quickly buried under the news of the day. How can we keep STEM on our nation's radar?
 
What can we do in our own communities to improve education, one step at a time?

Thank you for participating in our STEM discussion and continue to share your thoughts. Current TV will continue to make this topic a priority -- we have some exciting projects and collaborations in the works, so stay tuned!
 
About Connect A Million Minds

In November 2009, Time Warner Cable launched Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) a philanthropic commitment of $100 million cash and in-kind donations. This five-year program was designed to inspire students to pursue learning opportunities and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Current TV has partnered with Time Warner Cable on this initiative. Join the STEM group on Current.com to follow and participate.
 
For more information on CAMM, visit www.connectamillionminds.com, follow @ConnectMinds on Twitter, and get updates on Facebook.