By Scott Campbell

Digital fluency has become so ingrained in our everyday lives that, frankly, it’s even hard to imagine doing anything or going anywhere without technology helping us get there. And the more familiar and comfortable we are using tech, the more opportunities will open.  

Today’s middle school students are already starting to contemplate and make important decisions about their future, so it’s vitally important for schools to start teaching about the possibilities and pathways that technology opens today—and for tomorrow.

Getting middle school students excited about and engaged with using technology can help them envision pathways to not only possible tech careers but also to an understanding of how tech is an important tool to be successful in any career. To get there, it’s important to get the right curriculum into the hands of teachers to demonstrate to students how technology can be used in real-life situations and—not from a textbook—and to help close a critical education gap, according to Henry Mann, senior director of product development at CompTIA Spark. After all, middle school teachers are uniquely positioned to have a meaningful and lasting impact on the lives of students.

Providing the knowledge and skills to successfully use tech is a primary mission for CompTIA Spark and its curriculum for middle school students. To further explain, we asked Mann why technology education is so important and how it can be successfully implemented in schools. Here’s what he had to say:

Why is tech education in middle schools so important?

Mann: “Middle school is a critical time for students because they’re starting to identify what choices they want to make and what they want to do in high school: What high schools to apply to, what programs to pursue. This makes it a critical time to provide tech education. We believe that tech as a career can be a very rewarding path—very well paid and many jobs only require certifications (not degrees). Unfortunately, only a small percentage of students currently are choosing that path. That’s why it’s critical that we reach students, especially diverse students, when they are starting to make decisions about their future.

We also believe tech is not just about a certain set of careers, but about all careers. Tech is a part of every job, everything from agriculture and mechanics to more traditional jobs like medical or engineering. It’s quite pervasive. So, whether a student sees a future for themselves in the tech industry or not, it’s important that we start to expose them to technology as early as possible. For example, our Tech Exploration collection of units (Lunar Cruise Lines, 3D School Store and Beat Builders) focus on developing skills around market research, video production, accounting, marketing and more.”

Is all tech education created the same?

Mann: “I’m not here to judge all tech-ed programs but I believe our perspective and knowledge of both the tech industry and the workforce can provide unique insights. CompTIA Spark sees middle-school tech education not as a silo but as a pathway. The goal of tech education at this level should be to inspire a desire to follow that path—not to impart information or memorize content. It’s about getting students to want to learn more about tech as they leave middle school. Unfortunately, in my experience, many tech education programs don’t think that way.

As the global trade association for the tech industry, we are also in a unique position to understand what skills the tech industry will need in the future. This perspective and industry relationship allows us to bring those insights to the middle-school level through the curriculum we create.”

Do students have to be "techies" to study tech education?

Mann: “I can’t answer this question with a more emphatic NO! There continues to be a shortage of diverse representation in the tech industry, and we believe this problem starts in middle school. Many girls and minority students continue to be turned off by technology education, likely due to this exact idea—that you have be a “techie” to be on a tech pathway. We design our program to be engaging and relevant to all students regardless of their gender, race, zip code, ability, and prior tech interest. This approach is fundamental to closing the confidence and skills gap that plagues the tech industry.”

What types of skills are important for a tech career? 

Mann: “There are tech careers, but we believe that every career is actually a tech career. Certainly there are traditional tech skills that are needed to pursue a traditional IT career pathway, but there are also technology skills that everyone—regardless of what career they end up with—will need in order to be successful. What’s true in both cases though is that we don’t actually know what technology that sixth graders today will be using once they get into the workforce. Look at artificial intelligence innovations just in the last couple years. Imagine what it will be like in six to 10 years. Those kinds of innovative technologies, including Cybersecurity, AI and Smart Home Technology, have been core to our Emerging Tech collection of curriculum units. So today, it’s about learning how to learn and how to be flexible in using technology. We call these durable and 21^st Century skills.”

What's the best way to keep students interested in technology?

Mann: “At the middle school level, the first thing to keep in mind is that you need to show students how tech can be used in interesting ways. It’s not just ‘read this article to learn about tech. You have to give students access to tech and give them the space to actually use the tech for real applications. We build our curriculum to use common creativity and productivity applications to create real projects that are real world but still relevant and engaging.”