Microsoft Corporation has signed comedian Jerry Seinfeld as the company’s new pitchman. The first commercial debuted last night during the first NFL game of the season.

As a marketing, PR dude, my initial thoughts of the ad: cute, but ineffective. And, I’m not the only one thinking that way.

Several bloggers and reporters are taking some serious shots at the commercial today. Perhaps, Microsoft’s overall marketing strategy is that any press is good press considering Microsoft’s Internet Explorer lost nearly a full percentage point in market share during August, the browser’s biggest drop in three months, and we won’t even go into all the negativity surrounding the Vista OS.

The commercial features Seinfeld and recently retired Microsoft founder Bill Gates shoe shopping in a mall. The 90-second clip employs quick-cut editing and the kind of “humor from nothing” approach that defined Seinfeld’s TV series. It tells the story of the odd couple’s day at discount emporium Shoe Circus in the mall, where Gates buys a snappy leather number called “The Conquistador.”

As they exit, Seinfeld asks if Microsoft is working on something to make computers “moist and chewy like cakes, so we can eat them while we’re working.” Seinfeld tells Gates to adjust his underwear if the answer is yes, and the software mogul does so, much to the comic’s delight.

The commercial closes with the words “The future. Delicious.” There’s no overt sales pitch for specific Microsoft products, though the company’s logo does appear briefly.

But this ad has a strange, overall tone to it. More than likely, we are going to be seeing a lot more of these Jerry and Bill spots in the near future, so let’s hope their chemistry improves on screen.

At one point during the awkwardly long ad (typically spots are 30 or 60 seconds, but this one appeared to be about 90 seconds) Seinfeld says, “Guess what Bill, you’re a 10.” Indeed, an interesting play on words, but that saying is a bit old school.

Didn’t the writers and directors watch the Olympics? A 10 doesn’t even exist anymore in gymnastics, well technically it does, but now that would be a really bad score. I think I know what they were going for, but whoever decided to use that line needs to be reminded that this is 2008.

MG Siegler at VentureBeat pointed out that using Bill Gates’ mugshot from an arrest for a traffic violation in 1977 on his Clown Club card is kind of funny. Good job, picking up on that, my friend.

Adweek’s well-respected ad critic Barbara Lippert, a week before the commercial aired, was none too enamored of Microsoft employing Seinfeld as a pitchman: “The pick is so preposterously unhip it’s as if the company had unconsciously internalized all of Apple’s knocks against the poor, frustrated PC guy.”

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is expected to spend an estimated $300 million on the overall campaign.

I tell you what, if I was a gymnastics judge in the Olympics and was force to rate this commercial, I might give this a 10, which, if you remember, isn’t too good these days.

What do you think?

In case you missed it, watch it here for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz6amk3P-hY

 Barometers, thermometers, the occasional hygrometer, an anemometer, and a rain gauge were once all the tools a meteorologist required. Boy, have things changed.

As the Atlantic begins its annual churn-and-burn hurricane festival, I would be remiss not to say something about the advances in technology from a meteorological viewpoint.

Born and raised in Virginia Beach, Va., and a resident of the Outer Banks of North Carolina for nearly a decade, I have seen my fair share of storms over the years. As Hanna approaches the coast this week, I find myself checking websites constantly to find weather updates and the latest scoop on the storm.

Being and avid surfer, this is what I do. It drives my wife crazy, but that’s just me.

By the way, a Hurricane Watch is effect as of Thursday morning from Surf City, N.C. southwestward to north of Edisto Beach, S.C. Hanna, although a small storm by many standards, is moving northwest and expected to pick up size and speed.

As a journalist who has covered several major hurricanes in northeast North Carolina, including Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, Bertha and Isabel, I have to say, from a technology standpoint, it’s pretty dang incredible to see how far we have come in weather forecasting. Honestly, it saves lives. And, being the weather junkie that I am, it provides countless hours of information and entertainment.

For instance, in June of this year The Weather Channel launched programming from its new facility in pure High Definition format. “The Weather Channel revolutionized how weather was presented when we launched in 1982 and we are about to do that once again in 2008,” said Ray Ban, executive vice president of programming and technology at The Weather Channel.

But that’s just for entertainment value. What about the actual gadgets and gizmos meteorologists are using to provide update weather forecasts and pin-point tracking – especially now that four hurricanes are knocking on North Carolina’s door?

Data and images from remote sensing systems such as instrumented balloons, radars, and satellites are now part of the array of tools that weather watchers use; computers to process and model atmospheric processes and make predictions from the vast array of data collected by the National network of observers and observation systems; internal communications systems to bring the data to processing computers and then send the processed information in the form of forecasts, maps, and even three-dimensional models back to weather information users and researchers; and mass media interfaces to bring the weather to television, radio, and the Internet.

Follow the technology tales of the Weather Service and learn a little about how these systems evolved, what it was like to observe the weather and obtain weather information 50 or 100 years ago. The overall concept hasn’t changed, but the rate at which data is collected and processed, the quality of the data, and the rates at which critical information can be transferred to the public and private interests has increased by quantum leaps over the years.

Shoot, you can even get weather updates on Twitter now for Hanna. Is that innovation or what?

Jake Swearingen of VentureBeat wrote this review of the new web browser put out by Google this week.

Enjoy.

Add web browers to the list of things Google does well. The Mountain View-based search giant debuted its new web browser Tuesday in a public beta, and I spent most of the day poking around the web and seeing how Chrome performs.

The verdict?

While it’s still a few iterations from displacing Firefox as my browser of choice, Chrome already provides a much more pleasant web experience than Microsoft’s newest competitor Internet Explorer 8 (also in beta).

The Good

The first thing that pops out is the screen size. Because Chrome gets rid of menus and melds the search bar and URL bar into one “Omnibar,” the browser feels like it’s always running in full-screen mode. For browsing, this meant about an extra half-inch of web pages was viewable. That may not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference, particularly when, like me, you spend a great deal of your day reading from web pages.
The decision to put tabs at the top of the page also reduces clutter. Even better is that tabs are grouped together. If I click a link from one page, the resulting tab will appear directly next to the tab I’m using, and not at the end of the line. In practice, this means that my tabs stay relevant to the ones nearby them, which is helpful considering by the end of the day I can have 20 open tabs to sort through.

It’s also fast. Not, however, in loading any old web page — like Walt Mossberg, I noticed that Chrome seemed a bit pokier than Firefox. But when using web apps like Gmail or Facebook, Chrome was noticeably faster. Google Reader in particular seemed to be much more responsive, without the half-second lag I experienced in Firefox.

Also useful is Incognito, a feature that allows users to surf through web pages without dirtying up their search or browser history. You also have the option to right-click while surfing in regular mode, and open a link into Incognito mode.

Finally, Chrome’s homepage is one of those features that once you’ve used it, you’ll wonder why every other browser doesn’t do the same thing. The homepage is a window pane looking at your most visited web pages, and it quickly made itself useful after only one afternoon of use. By showing me quickly where I tend to go on the web, Chrome cuts down the time I spend sifting through bookmarks or typing in URLs, and does it in a way that feels utterly intuitive.

The Bad
The browser never crashed on me, but it did seem to have a few hiccups when dealing with Flash apps. A Flash game at popular portal Kongregate would hang up on me, and videos at Funny or Die seemed choppier than in Firefox. And Chrome’s claim to fame — that if one tab suddenly starts going haywire, the rest of them are fine — didn’t seem to work in reality for me. When Chrome choked on Flash, all tabs suffered equally.

The lack of Firefox add-ons is also sorely noticeable. Without the Greasmonkey scripts that I’d come to rely on, something felt wrong. It felt like when I try to use a Mac (I’m a PC owner), and keep trying to use the non-existent right click button. Chrome doesn’t currently allow for browser extensions, which curtails just how useful it can be — although that functionality is coming. Chrome is also currently only available for Windows, and Google isn’t rushing to say exactly when Mac and Linux ports will be coming.

While Google’s new V8 Java engine did indeed seem to speed up many applications, at least according to one Java speed test, Firefox is still a bit fleeter, and Safari is the fastest of all. IE 8 was the slowest of the pack, however, nearly two-and-a-half times slower than Safari.

Overall, Chrome Kills It

These quibbles are more an effect of Chrome still being in beta, and not an indictment of the browser itself. While Chrome as it currently exists won’t take over Firefox as my daily browser, it comes very close to knocking Mozilla off that perch. Once the open-source community begins to develop for it, and a few of the kinks have been ironed out, I think Google will give Mozilla a serious run for the money.

But Google didn’t just release Chrome with the intention of taking down Mozilla. In comparison to Microsoft’s IE 8 Beta, Chrome is already much more pleasant and efficient to use.

The spare and elegant design aesthetic of most Google products carries through here beautifully in Chrome, and stands in stark contrast to the feature bloat that IE suffers from. Mozilla should be worried, but Microsoft should be absolutely terrified.

The bigger picture

Technical aspects, like Chrome’s claim to run Javascript faster than rivals, will no doubt get a lot of third parties examining and experimenting with its open source code. But any web developer will likely be affected. Chrome also lets you see differences in load times between sites (not possible in other browsers), which will make web sites accountable for their own page load times.

As developer Chris Messina summed up the news:

“Start poking around the names [of leading browser engineers] in the Google Chrome comic book and the names are there. Scott McCloud’s drawings aren’t just a useful pictorial explanation of what to expect in Chrome; it’s practically a declaration of independence from the yesteryear traditions of browser design of the past 10 years, going all the way back to Netscape’s heyday when the notion of the web was a vast collection of interlinked documents. With Chrome, the web starts to look more like a nodal grid of documents, with cloud applications running on momentary instances, being run directly and indirectly by people and their agents. This is the browser caught up.”

It’s worth noting that a large portion of web users everywhere are still on earlier versions of IE. That is partially because IE6 has been installed at businesses and other organizations over the years. Because business users have other sets of concerns to worry about, like compatibility with internal software or security updates, this stat can appear exaggerated.
People who learn about new browsers will eventually upgrade if they have a choice.

Chrome, while still in beta, sets itself apart by doing a better job of serving applications, not just pages. As it continues to improve — and as web applications become increasingly common for all users — it will set the standard for web browsing of the future.

Eric Eldon of VentureBeat also contributed to this article

Are you ready for back-to-school? Better yet, are you ready for back-to-school traffic?

I am a huge fan of ideas that make me go, “dang, why didn’t I think of that?” I found an interesting idea to battle the school commute blues.

Traffic.com might just become the next great resource for parents on the go. This online traffic solution created by Chicago-based NAVTEQ is helping parents this back-to-school season with traffic tools that make it easy to drop off the kids at school and get to work on time.

In addition to packing lunches and loading backpacks, a visit to Traffic.com provides valuable insights into roadway conditions that can impact the daily carpool and school bus pick-up.  From the shortest routes to accident and construction locations and real-time information on delays, Traffic.com may just be the top traffic-only website for online and mobile traffic information in the country.”Remember, taking one minute to check Traffic.com before you get in the car can save precious time sitting in traffic,” says Alex Wiegand, vice president, NAVTEQ.  “Plan carefully, and back-to-school driving can be quicker, easier and stress-free.”For any on-the-go parent getting kids to school, real-time traffic and traffic alerts can become a daily must-have.

Utilize these Traffic.com solutions to obtain the latest traffic information: 

1. Call 1-866-MY-TRAFC (1-866-698-7232), a free automated voice hotline  for speed dial access to roadway updates.

2. Connect to http://mobi.traffic.com, a free wireless Web site for mobile traffic hotspot reports.

3. Text your CITY CODE (NY, CHIC, PHL, LA, etc.) to TRAFC (87232) to get instant traffic updates for the worst city area delays.  Traffic.com city codes can be found at  http://help.traffic.com/city-codes-used-for-sms.

4. Download Traffic.com2GO to bring accurate, real-time traffic reporting  to your cell phone.

Local schools are back in session, so please drive accordingly. Thought this might help some of you adjusting back to school schedules this week.

A few months ago, I had a chance to catch up with national e-learning expert Dr. Kemi Jona to dive a little deeper into today’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) crisis and to discuss how today’s STEM superstars are, as Dr. Jona puts it, the real next American Idols – not singers!

Some of you may even remember that post. If not, just to refresh your memory, Dr. Jona is a Research Associate Professor of Learning Sciences and Computer Science at Northwestern University and Director of the Office of STEM Education Partnerships where he leads research and development projects in curriculum design, learning technology, online science and virtual labs, and web-based patient education and outreach.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Jona designed and oversaw the development of custom learning solutions for numerous corporate clients including GE Capital, Wal-Mart, Eaton/Cutler-Hammer, Deloitte, and Accenture. He also led a multi-year partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that produced an award-winning interactive learning system currently in use throughout the U.S.

Shall we just say, based on his resume and accomplishments, he’s the man when it comes to national e-learning initiatives.

I spoke with him via email on Wednesday after he sent an article to me entitled: Are we science-savvy enough to make informed decisions? In the story posted by USA Today, there was a survey of American adults that takes a dim view of our country’s status as a world science leader:

• 70% believe the USA is not now the world leader in science achievement.

• 35% believe the USA will be the world science leader in the next 20 years.

• 79% agree that science is not receiving the attention it deserves in schools.

In other sober news, a study released earlier this year states that there is evidence to support a new, broader concern this election year that “ordinary Americans may not know enough about science to make informed decisions on key questions.”

Seventy-six percent of Americans say presidential candidates should make improving science education a national priority, according to a national Harris Interactive survey of 1,304 adults conducted in November and December of last year and released in the spring. But, only 26 percent believe that they themselves have a good understanding of science, and 44 percent couldn’t identify a single scientist, living or dead, whom they’d consider a role model for the nation’s young people.

“These results are troubling,” Dr. Jona put in the subject line of his email. “Some important scientific questions are being debated this year. I just came back from the National Science and Technology Summit at Oak Ridge National Lab, and the keynote of the conference was the CEO of National Semiconductor and he said `even D.C. lawmakers are apathetic about the U.S. high-tech industry and maintaining its competitiveness with other countries. “’

Dr. Jona added, “His number one message was apathy – at all levels – from the public to congress. There is no Sputnik to arouse a shared sense of urgency.”

Agreed. But, how can we advance the understanding of the cause/effect scenario when it comes to broadening participation in STEM education?

Dr Jona explained that parents, employers and teachers all need to do their part in helping make students aware of the breadth of STEM careers. Then, he added, we need to make STEM education jobs as exciting as possible to close the gap between what STEM jobs look like and what STEM education looks like; that will motivate students and help them see the relevance of what they are learning to possible future career options.

“There is no bigger turnoff than having to memorize facts and formulas that aren’t made relevant to solving realistic problems. That’s not what a STEM job is about and it shouldn’t be what STEM education is about either.” Dr. Jona said.

Scientific knowledge isn’t the end-all antidote for building an informed citizenry. But, when it comes to public-policy decisions and political debates, good insight does matter. Get informed. Our next president will need to tackle this issue head on, and we must know what we’re talking about to succeed.

That’s important.

There was a wonderful story posted this week by Steve Lohr at The New York Times. In his story, he commented on an unbelievably large report just released by Gartner revealing the outlook for information technology spending worldwide for the rest of the year and the next few.

He writes, “It is a number-laden tome whose overall findings aren’t particularly surprising.”

I have to agree – both in the drastic size of the report and its results.

According to the report, Gartner projects that IT spending will grow 10 percent to $3.4 trillion this year worldwide. The softness of the U.S. economy right now will be offset by the strength in emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China. In the Middle East and Africa, Gartner expects technology spending to rise by 15 percent this year.

IT has become central to the world’s economy, based on the numbers. But, spending totals in the report are not the place to look for future predictions. That place is at the enterprise level, specifically how cloud computing will bring “dramatic growth in IT products in some areas; significant reductions in other areas.”

Basically, Gartner explains in this report that the corporate shift to cloud computing is underway and will be a disruptive force in business in the years to come. And, in case you didn’t know, Gartner just happens to be the largest technology adviser to corporations in the world.

I love how Lohr sums this up: “The pattern is similar to what happened with electricity in the early 1900s, when companies found it was less costly to buy power from the new breed of utility suppliers instead of owning and running their own electric motors.”

Funny thing is that I’ve been saying it for years. Like I said, I’m not surprised by the findings in this report and that Gartner predicts that “… all sorts of new uses and new companies may spring up on the back of the cloud phenomenon. And no one knows what those might be yet.”

Although there are still bunches of “what if’s” out there, corporate clouds are beginning to take shape and it will be the future. How long it takes remains to be seen.

Just remember, one day I’ll be able to look back with a grin and say, I told you so.

Inspiration. I would be remiss not to say something about Michael Phelps.

The Baltimore-native secured his name in Olympic history this weekend, winning eight gold medals to become what Internal Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacque Rogge labels, “the icon of the games.” But, what I find interesting in his epic quest to greatness is how technology played a critical role – especially in the race where he secured his seventh gold medal and tied Mark Spitz’s 1972 gold medal record.

Friday night’s race where anyone watching in the jam-packed Water Cube or on television thought Milorad Cavic of Serbia pulled off a monumental upset in the 100-metre butterfly. One one-hundredth of a second is the smallest measurement in swimming - less than the blink of an eye, impossible to see. After trailing the entire race, Phelps came roaring down the stretch, trying to catch Cavic. It didn’t look like he was going to get there; and frankly, it didn’t look like he made it.
But, when the times flashed on the scoreboard, there it stood: 50.58 for Phelps, 50.59 for Cavic. Phelps himself seemed in disbelief as he roared and smashed the water with his fist.

The eyes didn’t have it. Luckily for Phelps, technology did.

Omega provides the electronic timing system for the games, which for swimming is tested for accuracy before each race and is powered by cable and also has a backup system using a battery. Both systems recorded the same times for Phelps and Cavic. The Swiss-based timekeeper has provided timekeeping and data-handling services to the Olympic Games since 1932. In addition to Beijing 2008, their long-term contract with the IOC extends to Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.
The Serbians filed a protest after the race while FINA (swimming’s governing body) reviewed the frame-by-frame footage and timing system. FINA ruled that everything was in “perfect order” and Cavic quickly removed his protest based on the results. Large touch pads, the width of each lane and extending down into the water, stop the clock when triggered by a swimmer’s touch. In this case, Phelps’ arms crashed into the wall just before Cavic’s.

In all, Phelps defeated 239 swimmers in five individual events. With the help of his teammates he beat 45 teams in his three relay events. Along the way he became the all-time leader in Olympic gold medals with 14 and America’s most decorated Olympic athlete with 16 medals overall. The only Olympic mark still out of Phelps’ reach is the 18 medals won by gymnast Larisa Latynina from the former Soviet Union.

Friday night’s race was the closest finish in history. And, thanks to technology, controversy was avoided and Phelps was awarded his seventh gold at the time.  Way to go, Phelps, and way to go technology!

Is Web 2.0 really that important to your business? 

The internet has changed drastically since the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001. That marked a turning point for the internet and the birth of Web 2.0. Today, many businesses have adopted Web 2.0 applications in order to stay relevant and successful.  Let’s face it, social networking is now a full-fledge business occupation, carefully managed like a new relationship.

Companies are using more Web 2.0 tools and technologies than they were last year, sometimes for more complex business purposes, according to The McKinsey Quarterly’s Second Annual Global Survey on Web 2.0. Companies that are satisfied with using these tools are starting to see changes throughout the enterprise as well, according to a content brushstroke provided by the authors of the report, Jacques Bughin, James Manyika, Andy Miller, and contributor Michael Chui.

This year’s survey reveals continuing and ongoing investments by companies in Web 2.0. Companies that are deriving value from these tools are now shifting from using them experimentally to adopting them as part of a broader business practice. They are using Web 2.0 both within and outside their corporate walls – to forge tighter relationships with customers and suppliers and to engage employees more successfully.  These companies are not only using more technologies but also leveraging them to change management practices and organizational structures.

Web 2.0 is now familiar at many companies, but the mix of tools and technologies companies use is changing. Blogs, RSS, wikis, and podcasts are becoming more common, the survey results indicate, perhaps because companies have a greater understanding of their value for business. At the same time, even more technologies are in use – the average rate of adoption is 2.5 tools per company this year versus 2.2 in 2007. Overall, companies are using an average of 3.4 technologies from an expanded list within the survey.

However, the use of Web 2.0 tools remains uneven among the workforce at many companies. Only about one employee in four uses Web 2.0 tools, with the exception of Web services. A higher level of usage is found at companies that encourage it by using tactics such as integrating the tools into existing workflows, launching Web 2.0 in conjunction with other strategic initiatives, and getting senior managers to act as role models for adoption. As might be expected, companies whose respondents are satisfied with the overall results of Web 2.0 employ more tactics to encourage its use.

On the flip side, I do run into a fair number of people who are skeptical about the actual business value of Web 2.0.  Many agree it’s a remarkable new movement that encourages social collaboration, two-way use of the Web, Web-based applications and services, and much more.  But can you really build and grow a successful business with these ideas?

The McKinsey report’s findings suggest that after an initial period of promise and trial, companies are coming to understand the difficulty of realizing some of Web 2.0’s benefits. Only 21 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied overall with Web 2.0 tools, while 22 percent voiced clear dissatisfaction. Some disappointed companies have stopped using certain technologies altogether.

The report also notes that there are some notable regional differences in the importance of tools: for example, a larger share of respondents in North America rated social networks as important compared to other areas of the world. Satisfaction, like importance, varies by geography. The developed countries of the Asia-Pacific region had the largest percentage of respondents expressing the highest level of overall satisfaction with Web 2.0 tools, and Latin America had the lowest. At the other extreme, a larger percentage of North American respondents indicated the lowest level of overall satisfaction.

As we look ahead, the survey results distinguished four items that will affect Web 2.0 now and in the immediate future:

• Tougher competition. Almost 60 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with Web 2.0 initiatives and see them as a driver of competitive advantage. Expect these companies to become more aggressive in the marketplace against rivals that are slower to get on board;
• Higher investment levels. Satisfied or not, all companies plan to spend more on Web 2.0 tools, creating a valuable opportunity for software developers;
• Building Web 2.0 success. There are few differences in size, region, or even tool use between companies that are satisfied with their Web 2.0 experience and those that are not. This suggests that today’s barriers could be overcome through the adoption of managerial methods that satisfy a companies use of these tools, and
• Innovation. Successful companies already use Web 2.0 for business applications such as communicating with customers and suppliers; soon they may use it to drive innovation.

As Web 2.0 continues to gain traction and business value, it may completely transform the way companies organize and manage themselves, leading to what many have dubbed Enterprise 2.0. Sometimes the relentless democratization of content and open source atmosphere makes the Web look like everything is becoming free or inexpensive.  Or, it’s so distributed and decontrolled that there’s no place to create value.  That makes the value proposition in this brave new world seem pretty shaky indeed. 

Yet the truth could not be more different.

Participate in the exchange via email at noah@thinkngc.com or leave a comment here. We would love to hear about your Web 2.0 success stories and/or disappointments for future posts.

A successful innovator seeks to find a solution when others would throw in the towel.  This can be difficult to do.  Slow or no progress, stumbling blocks, and naysayers may test the mettle of an innovator.  It is important to distinguish between failure and opportunity.

Do you like Banana Pudding? Have you ever tried to make Banana Pudding? While celebrating the Fourth of July last week, I decided try something that I had never done before – make Banana Pudding from scratch. I found a recipe, followed the instructions (an important part of cooking), and created my delicious masterpiece just in time to surprise my wife when she arrived home from work.

Boy was she surprised! It came out great, all except for the meringue. I really messed that up badly, but overall it tasted pretty darn good. By attempting to navigate uncharted pudding waters, I found myself exhilarated by the challenge and it got me thinking about trying more new things.

Many of you may or may not know this, but I have written and produced two albums. On the second album, one of my favorite songs on it is called “If it was easy.” The hook of the song goes “If it was easy, it wouldn’t be fun.”  Out of all of the songs I have written over the years, this one is my favorites because it’s so true.  Think about it. The things you accomplish and are most proud of are the ones which you somehow overcame adversity and conquered a difficult challenge through perseverance.

By the looks of the U.S. economy, times are not booming right now. A few companies are doing well, a few not so much, and many are up just slightly from last year. Recently I asked some business colleagues about what they were doing now to grow their business in a time of economic softness, and I heard things like “We’re working really hard” or “We’re focusing on our main business” or “We come to work every day and work as hard as we can.”

That’s all fine and good, but what does that really mean? Sometimes the same ol’, same ol’ works, but for companies looking to make their mark in fragile economic times, trying something new may just lift your business right passed your competitors. Honestly, we as business owners and leaders would be really stupid to keep repeating antiquated formulas just because they worked before and we admired the people who carried out them out successfully.

The point here is to be effective. If a tactic isn’t working, you need to change it with new thinking.  If you don’t, you are just plain ineffective, and probably not accomplishing your goals.

A good friend and mentor gave me a gift about a year ago as I was looking to launch my new business. It was a simple paper weight with this inscription, “Don’t be afraid to stick your neck out there.” That statement continues to inspire me often as I look at it on my desk when times get a little tough.

The challenge to everyone this week is to try something new. That is completely open to interpretation. It could be anything from trying a new skill or hobby to attempting to make Banana Pudding. I’m certain that there is something you have wanted to do but didn’t have the time or the knowledge to try it.

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. This week, don’t ask why, say, “Why not?”

Please share your achievements with the Exchange.

The Innovation Exchange had a chance to catch up with national e-learning expert Dr. Kemi Jona this week to dive a little deeper into today’s science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) crisis and to discuss how today’s STEM superstars are, as Dr. Jona puts it, the real next American Idols – not singers!

Dr. Jona is a Research Associate Professor of Learning Sciences and Computer Science at Northwestern University and Director of the Office of STEM Education Partnerships where he leads research and development projects in curriculum design, learning technology, online science and virtual labs, and web-based patient education and outreach.  Over the course of his career, Dr. Jona designed and oversaw the development of custom learning solutions for numerous corporate clients including GE Capital, Wal-Mart, Eaton/Cutler-Hammer, Deloitte, and Accenture.  He also led a multi-year partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that produced an award-winning interactive learning system currently in use throughout the U.S. 

He is also President of Kemi Jona Associates (www.kemijona.com), an independent consulting practice that helps learning organizations improve the quality, competitiveness, and accessibility of their offerings, take best advantage of existing and new technologies, and reduce development expenses. It was an honor for him to take a few moments out of his busy schedule to talk with us about STEM education and outreach and to participate in the Innovation Exchange.

First of all, Dr. Jona, what is the biggest challenge(s) you see when it comes to STEM today?
There are two interrelated problems: STEM workforce and STEM education.  The need for a workforce that is skilled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics areas is closely linked to the idea of American competitiveness in the global economy – and that has really gotten a lot more traction and visibility recently.   High-tech companies have tens of thousands of jobs they can’t find qualified applicants to take.  These are really good, high-paying jobs.  Microsoft alone has something like 17,000 unfilled positions.  And, the problem is only going to get worse with the upcoming wave of retiring baby-boomers.  Add to that the sense that we have serious problems to solve in the areas of alternative energy and global warming, and I think the public is waking up to the importance of a having a well-prepared STEM workforce in order to keep America’s leadership position in innovation and in the global economy.  This is what has really driven increased awareness in addressing the STEM education issue.  You don’t magically get a STEM workforce. You have to educate today’s students in these important skills now if you want to prepare the workforce to fill these kinds of jobs.

How can STEM be better promoted and publicized in the media?
The media can play a very important role in raising the public’s awareness of the great careers that are available to people with strong STEM skills.  There is a big misconception, left over from the bursting of the internet bubble that high-tech jobs are too risky or all being outsourced.  This couldn’t be more incorrect, as the number of unfilled jobs attests.  The media can help correct this misconception and highlight the really cool jobs that are available in these fields.
 
How can we improve the retention and graduation rates of STEM students?
Retaining students in STEM fields is a tough problem and can’t be solved with a single solution.  A good start, in my opinion, would be to start developing project-based curriculums that are based on the kinds of real-world activities STEM professionals do.  This will help students see the relevance of what they are learning and get exposed to a variety of interesting career roles at the same time.  Plus, students learn best by doing, so active project-based learning is far more motivating and effective than boring lectures.  I’m also a big advocate of job shadowing, internships and summer job opportunities.  We need to be doing a better job partnering with industry to make these kinds of programs more widely available to today’s students.

How can we get more students and parents, etc., excited about STEM?
A lot of the same things that I mentioned for retaining students in STEM also are effective for getting folks excited about STEM.  For parents, I think a media campaign that encourages them to get their children into STEM learning, both in and out of school, and highlights the great STEM career opportunities available to them is a great place to start.  We need an “American Idol” for STEM superstars, not just singers.

How can we leverage the media to start paying more attention to our country’s STEM crisis?
This is tricky because the media generally doesn’t pay attention unless something is seen as an immediate crisis.  The problem right now is that we don’t have a single momentous event like Sputnik to galvanize the country’s attention around STEM education.  Skyrocketing gas prices has helped get the public’s attention with respect to fuel economy.  The problem with the emerging STEM workforce crisis is that it happens gradually.  Companies lose talent gradually.  If they can’t find people here, they will hire someone in India or China, one position at a time.  However, it isn’t like a bunch of major companies would suddenly shut off the lights here and move their buildings overseas all in one day.  Now that would definitely make the nightly news!

What changes in skills are expected for professionals in the near future, and how are these skills communicated to our students working in today’s educational system?
Most of these skills are already pretty clear and in use today:  teamwork, collaboration, strong verbal and written communication skills, information organization and critical analysis.  The problem is that almost none of these skills are part of the education system today.   Students spend most of their time working individually, not in teams.  Looking at someone else’s document in school is called cheating.  In the workplace it is called collaboration.  Much of the educational system is shaped by how well students can memorize facts and spit them back out on tests.  Barely any jobs require those particular skills.  Yet that is what we are training the current generation of students to be good at. One new set of skills that cuts across many jobs, especially in the sciences, is the use of what is called cyberinfrastructure, which uses computational tools like networks, databases, computer models, simulations, data analysis, and visualization.   Nearly every field is being reshaped this way and those students who know how to use it are going to have a big advantage.  But again, none of this is currently being taught in schools.

When referring to growing international cooperation in research and education, what are the effects STEM education will have for U.S. students now and tomorrow?
Most major new scientific research and large-scale corporate efforts involve multinational networks of partners enabled by cyberinfrastructure.  This is how Boeing designs and builds airplanes and Lenovo designs and builds laptops.  If you want to be successful in research or business in the future, you are going to need to understand how to work within this kind of networked, multinational organization.  In fact, you will probably be part of several of these real or virtual organizations at one time.  If we don’t do a better job preparing our students in STEM and in the skills needed to work in this type of environment, they will be at a significant disadvantage in the future workforce.

What are real or practical uses of new technologies (including cyberinfrastructure developments) in both education and research?
Cyberinfrastructure allows you to do work in ways that simply couldn’t be done before.  Scientists now use huge sensor networks to collect data from all over the globe and feed it into giant databases that are shared by researchers in many countries.  These “large-scale observatories” were never feasible before.  For example, I am working on a project called GLOBE Watershed Dynamics to help connect kids and teachers to these kinds of scientific databases so that a high school student can analyze the same data the scientists have.  This can really change the way that science education happens in classrooms by making it look a lot more like what real scientists do, and also teach students about how to work with cyberinfrastructure.  Once the investment is made in creating this kind of cyberinfrastructure for scientists, why not take advantage of it for education as well?

How can we advance the understanding of the cause/effect scenario when it comes to broadening participation in STEM education?
Parents, employers, teachers all need to do their part in helping make students aware of the breadth of STEM careers, and the excitement of the kinds of challenging problems you get to work on with these jobs.  Then we need to make STEM education resemble these exciting job roles as much as possible to close the gap between what STEM jobs look like and what STEM education looks like.  That will motivate students and help them see the relevance of what they are learning to possible future career options.  There is no bigger turnoff than having to memorize facts and formulas that aren’t made relevant to solving realistic problems.  That’s not what a STEM job is about and it shouldn’t be what STEM education is about either.

Thank you, Dr. Jona, for your insight and time.