WIJITs is sponsored by the Anteo Group and Learning Tree International. Anteo is the best technology recruiter for Java/IT folks in Atlanta. Not only are they a great company to work with, they are a great place to work — or so says the Atlanta Business Chronicle. They have chosen to sponsor WIJITs to promote the career growth of women in engineering. At TZA, we see this as a part of the chain of helping hands from grade school, and on into a successful career.
WIJITs is attended by both women and men. We feature technology related topics such as Spring, Hibernate, iPhone SDK, and Google Wave. Members are encouraged to polish their public speaking skills. Carol Shepherd facilitates the group; we meet monthly. Find us on LinkedIn for the most recent meeting notices.
December 2009 – WIJITs hosted a Google Wave Party. The party featured speakers, a TwitterFall ( hash tag #WIJIT ), and a group Wave.
There’s just nothing better than volunteering in a teacher’s classroom unless it is volunteering to teach technology related subjects. This we we’ve had the great fun of volunteering in a public school educational setting twice a week. We’ve brought in upside down learning in order to introduce technology tools as something fun. Fun = learning. The kid’s privacy prevents us from posting pictures and videos. On the serious side, by helping out a teacher pioneer a technology class we can have an impact on all of the students. For instance, in this class we had to iron out a few kinks in the IT system — something the classroom teacher couldn’t do by herself. Once the class is operating smoothly — a repeatable process — other teachers can incorporate the technology into their classroom. This class is facilitated by Carol Shepherd.
December 09 – Jury duty called me away from the classroom for a week. All the kids greeted me with excitement to see me return, but one boy in particular warmed my heart. He came into the class with an attitude. I didn’t give up on him. I think he’s an auditory learner; once I gave him the job of working with a soundtrack for a movie he turned into a kid with focus. That may have helped but I think it was the dogs that made the change. I brought my dogs to school and let the kids work with them while they recorded video and still pictures. We gave him a copy of the picture of himself — with a really big grin. That was the day he forgot to be too cool to school. When I came back to class he walked up and gave me a big hug in front of everyone. Next week I’ll begin teaching them Scratch ( a kid’s programming environment).
(previous volunteer efforts)
http://mcaa.marietta-city.org/
311 Aviation Road
Marietta, GA 30060
(770) 420-0822
(previous volunteer efforts)
http://www.spsu.edu
Computer Game Design & Development
1100 South Marietta Parkway
Marietta, GA 30060-2896
678-915-SPSU (7778)
1-800-635-320
