Is U.S. Losing Its Innovation Lead?

Well when you only teach kids the basic's that is all most will know. Schools are boring kids to death with the repeatitive class on the same material over and over as teachers are forced to teach to the test. Kids get bored and school becomes the last place they want to be. At school the live in such a restrictive enviorment they never have time to even relax from one class to the next and prepare.

Low pay has a shortage of quality teachers leaves schools with those that apply teachers.

This not to mention the religious who want to seperate themselves or make some religious state where everyone has to belive as they do.

If the Politicans and business people would get out of education and allow TReacher to Teach we would all be better off. Businessman get on the school boards with no degrees in education they get to decide what is taught and what is kept out. One local school board member said "Our school system is a drain on the cites resources". Schools are not valued because they have been used and abused by businesses and the different groups with thier agenda to the point where even good teachers hold contempt for the system.

I think we lost it about 25 years ago. Now it is a question of how to regain it...

My personal opinion is that more open immigration policies are what will maintain the edge. The United States was built by immigrants (well, some of my ancestors immigrated an estimated 13,000 years ago, but they were still immigrants). Check the citizenship status of the more innovative sectors of industry- I have seen analysis that suggest that the immigrant population in, say Silicon Valley is significant. There is something about someone willing to abandon the familiar in search of a better alternative that contributes significantly to a society's ability to change with the times....

Yeah why not... Now in at global level communications and marketing system we are already into the web of data exchange within all countries so the world are coming smaller looking at that way. Outsourcing are some of the commonly practices in use by many companies all around in a lot of places plus then you have companies closing here and opening somewhere else frequently then from state to state back and forward so I do believe the man have a point there somehow, Why Not? Probably will be the move of the future eventually... And yes a lot of things are a myth, TRUE.

Compu Time,

MC

Considering how many jobs Bill Gates has helped outsource this statement is simply putting salt on an open wound.

Orpheuse

His operating system sure doesn't help either...

Thank you!!!!!! I am so glad that I'm not alone in the world. Interesting pleas coming from a man who has installed "his" product on practically every electronic device made overseas!

Unfortunately, the quality of public education seems to have been in decline for the last century. Many recent high school graduates would find it difficult to keep up with the sixth-grade curriculum encountered by my grandparents and their peers. There is no good single solution. Make teaching a profession, appropriately compensated. Require good performance by teachers and students.

In my day, misbehavior in class was quickly terminated by a whack across the butt, or the threat thereof. These days, few educational institutions have the resources of money or time to deal with the avalanche of lawsuits that would result from such a novel approach to discipline.

Talented foreigners have greatly improved the technological and economic standing of the U.S. Names like Tesla, Zworykin, Magla, Marconi, Einstein, Teller, Fermi, and so on, show the debt this country owes to those who elected to come here, voluntarily or of necessity. As a student I roomed one year with the son of a distinguished theoretical physicist, a German refugee, who had worked on the Manhattan Project.

All H-1B employees are not extraordinarily brilliant, however. A recent study from the Center for Immigration Studies at UC Davis shows that the great majority are of merely average ability.

http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/back508.html

Unfortunately, there is no good single solution. We might well begin by thinking the problem over and researching it rather than just complaining about it.

As an X systems developer, programmer, etc I can testify that a big part of the reason H1-B's are so desired is that they work much less expensively than their American counterparts. It's amazing what the threat of revoking their work visa can have on a person.

Another little thing I would like to add, at the risk of much hate mail, is the lack of Art & Music education in American schools today. Since the development of the "Testing is ALL Things" theory of education, we have become a nation of students conditioned to give exactly the right answers to tests, so the schools don't lose their funding. None of my degrees are in Music or Art but it's those that developed the "other" side of my brain, not the open you science book to page blah blah & memorise.

Sorry, no coffee this morning.....

I am currently tutoring both my teenage sons in their high school math and science classes. As an engineer my emphasis is on being capable of accomplishing the needed material with understanding. Both my sons are in accelerated classes. I'm trying not to brag but I thought this was important to say.

In general I am impressed with the science study materials the state educators have chosen. It is full of real world examples that help make the material relevant and interesting.

The math is presented in such a way to encourage children to hate math because often the material focuses on terms and not the math concepts. At times it feels like a vocabulary lesson where memorization is the first requirement. It is true the same material is taught over and over. It appears to be progressively more depth each time. Many concepts are "touched on" where I think it would do the students more good to spend more time on individual concepts and do more examples but cover less concepts with an emphasis on full understanding of each. The time to do this would be gained because there would be less re-teaching needed.

That is my perspective from Ohio, USA.

Good for your kids. My school district is just the opposite. I have the District dictating the exact test which is often full of errors. The teachers themselves do not know the material nor can they pass the districts own test. The teachers are not being given the responsibility or the authority to do what they know needs to be done. Too much emphasis is place on standardized testing.

I have written before that it would be nice if one of the richest men in the world would spend some of his money on educated American youth on his needs rather than using cheap foreign labor. The fact that he does not do this just shows that he is interested in more money rather than improving the lot of his own country. The biggest problem in the world today and especially the US is GREED.

Mr. Gates is almost certainly right about this, and I think that the solution may require more than just throwing money at the problem. That's not to say that we don't need to spend vastly more on education because we do, or that R&D tax credits won't help, but the problem as I see it goes much deeper.

What we need if we are to continue to innovate is an education system that turns out more people who have the habit of thinking visually, and to reasoning using pictures and numbers. What we have is a society in which most of the positions of authority - teachers, politicians, journalists, lawyers, clergy, and business people tend to think verbally, and reason using lists of words. Scientists and engineers (and in rare instances mathematicians) often are skilled at using words to communicate ideas, but the ideas themselves come from thought processes that are primarily visual.

I believe that the ability to think visually comes naturally. Most of the cerebral cortex is devoted to processing visual information, only a small portion to auditory information and language (1 picture = 1,000 words). But our education system is dominated by 'word' people, who think of education mostly in terms of vocabulary and facts. Students are rewarded for learning the lingo and the list of facts. They are punished for 'day dreaming' and asking difficult questions about things that aren't on the list. Over time the natural ability to think visually is lost.

In the short term what we need are more teachers who can help students relearn this ability. These are skills that can be taught, but only by example, and only by people who already possess them. Teaching and learning these skills can be hard work. It is made all the harder in a culture dominated by people who have for one reason or another lost it themselves. And when that culture develops a system of excuses for failure to think in concrete terms such as "I'm no rocket scientist...", the job is all the more difficult. In the long term we need more teachers who are 'picture' people, and fewer 'word' people.

We stigmatize people who reason critically, who develop ideas and arguments that can be tested in the real physical world, calling them 'nerds'. We reward people who reason socially, who develop ideas and arguments that can only be tested by a show of hands, calling them 'leaders'.

We have political leaders who (with the exception of a smattering of doctors) have no real understanding of science and math. We have a teaching profession dominated by literature, social 'science', history, and educations majors. These people are often dedicated and well intentioned, but most of them have an ignorance and fear of math which they impart to their students. And to the extent that they have any grasp of science, they think of it as a list of facts to be remembered, like the dates of important historical events, or the names of famous authors.

We have a significant number of religious leaders who dismiss math and science because they think it conflicts with their religious beliefs. We have a news media dominated by people studied in the arts of word smithing and persuasion, but with limited understanding of anything else.

We have parents who tell their kids they need to study hard and get a good education to be able to compete in the job market. But they may also send out more powerful contradictory messages. Most parents are themselves victims of our failing education system, and as a result are seriously math challenged. They find it difficult to be much help with their kids homework beyond the elementary school level. This doesn't make them feel like good parents. It makes them nervous, and this discomfort is clearly felt by the child. The kids end up 'hating math'.

To do anything meaningful about this we need to fundamentally change our way of doing things and looking at things. The short term chances of any real changes are pretty slim. Right now we're still living off the fat of America's glory days. For most people while there is a growing sense of dread, there is no real sense of urgency about this, and no consensus about what path to take.

Do I want foreigners taking over US jobs? NO.

Do I care what Bill Gates thinks? NO

Oh my, an assertive comment.

What's your own idea of the education issue then?

I can't say much of my country's education though, but listening to some of the students that came over to Singapore from China to study and talk about what they studied during secondary education, I was stumped. Perhaps they are the cream of the crop from their country.

All I can say is that there is more that I can learn despite of whatever the government can give me or force all of us citizens to take. We can't push the blames if we do not want to learn ourselves.

Lots of immigrants come over here to seek for a job, and there is always people complaining about foreign "talents" competing with them. They are normally the ones who don't want to settle for a "lower" job which they assumed too low for themselves, but are inadequate to fill the "higher" job that they expect themselves to get.

Oh well.

JNJW

Well as a forgiener, my great great great well you get it came over on some boat from England, I don't mind the competition. Jobs are not like a business where we can get laws past, even thought they try, to create Barriers To Enrty. They try with all these ISO'S and other requirment that keep some in school that extra year to get those ratings.

It has always been here and will remain "IF" businesses are willing to fund it. The problem is that American business is running so lean, that if the technology isn't handed to them then nothing happens. Just think what it takes to bring a "new technology" to market, HARD WORK and lots of green stuff. No one wants the risk. Even if you bring in your "talent" it will only be as good as you funding. Private equity is much more interested in squeezing a few company's together to get to the last drop than investing in some medium to long term technology venture. Those businesses and investors that do, do well. Just ask Mr. Gates!

Remember, it takes someone, somewhere in this world to "physically" to do something for someone to make money!!! DJU

Thanks for pointing out that it takes actual physical work to make money. Far too many people, politicians, and economists seem to have lost track of this basic fact.

They make money by talking!

Why worry about off-shore talent when you are a talent yourself? Especially if you are experienced?

Well unless these off-shore talents have a different skill set from most of the local talents. And if that is what the industry thinks they need.

Every single country faces unemployment. They just have to keep the % low and stable.

Futhermore, your friend can always become a off-shore talent himself by finding a off-shore job.

Another big problem is globalisation coupled with greed. Where corporate rule dictates it's cheaper to close up shop in North America and re-establich it in China or other countries where cheap labor forces exist.

This practice further dilutes the engineering expertise and Innovation and impoverishes those who lose their jobs.

Outsourcing services to countries like India because of cheaper wages also diminishes our local services .

Yeah, companies that want to make the maximum profit will definitely move to somewhere cheaper.

Moreover, those countries will have people that are in the engineering expertise too, but willing to take a lower pay.

Yeah.. Tell me about it... I don't going argue with ya' at this one this one! I also believe that everything sometimes is about the "bottom line" unfortunatly. Someone have to do it, but in my opinion whatever the transition are should be make it out within some control in place as to plan B or C in order to sustained a balanced smooth out negotiations, instead of a surged one in crash so every body have a piece of the pie all together. Otherwise this would be made out like an a huge global level two ways alliance so all get their share little more evenly whenever any of such transfers take place. "International Globatization Trading Alliance" in other words or any other way that sounds fair for all involved, but -- (don't bring it to the bank yet) -- as 'this is just brainstorming here a little only"-- just to chilling for a while in the meantime with you folks. Alright? Check with you all later then. Don't rush into nothing anyway.

Allset-Easy Does It...

MC

I don't know about Mr. Gates' statement about losing the lead as a global innovator. I don't know why it is so important to lead. Call it niavety, but we really teach our kids the wrong thing. I like the "can't we all get along" premise and would like to see the US join in with the rest of the world to create a "Star Trekk" like existence where we can enrich our lives with more exploration, music, art and spiritual development. If we address just this premise, we probably would not be begging the govenment to spend money on education.

I wonder if Mr. Gates has contemplated Apple. I do think that the latest innovation coming from Apple Computers makes much of the global innovation pale in comparison. I picked Apple because it is also a technology innovator that is changing the face of the way we do things globally and it is US based. I don't believe that innovation should be thought of as leading or following, unless of course you cannot shake the barbaric tendencies of war that requires someone to be superior.

With respect to education, Mr. Gates could fund education of the entire United States with the dollars collected in his foundation. I'm not sure he is as committed as he says he is where he will put his money where his mouth is. He need only invest in K through 6 to get the desired result. Once the children are launched and enthusiastic, they will continue. I think the move to loosen immigration laws will allow Microsoft to essentially co-op the intellect of other countries without paying for it and the other countries are not allowing him to come to their territories and co-opt it. He should just realise that Microsoft will have competition in the future, whether it comes from foreign coutries or from within.

He might not be able to do that when I was at Chrysler they hire a Metalurgical Engineer from China who had gotten his education in Australia. the Chies Goverment made Chrysler pay for all his expenses in College (6 years of education) before they would issue a Visa.

I agree with Mr. Gates arguements regarding the loss of our leads to newly developed and cheaper manufactoring environment. I also believe that the threads of cheap labor although real, will not be the cause. As Mr. Gate has suggested our needs for addressing this matter through the legislature and helping our basic research through federal funding is a necessary need, if we are to keep our leads in near future.

Bill Gates may lose his fortune if he doesn't find somebody smart enough to "fix" the new windows OS that MS has been putting out in the last few years.

Well I see Gates as a businessman and a concerned American at the same time. He wants the government more involved in research and thank god for that. To many companies went to china and open 20 or 39 research labs where here in the USA they only had 4 or 5 before packing their bags for cheaper labor.

The need for Engineers is real in a few ways but mainly, I feel, the H1-B Visa's give companys like MS the ability to pick the best and the brightest from other nations even in their ealry years of college. Cherry pick if you will and I applaude that, if their own country does not reconize and respect homegrown talent then someone else will. Might as well be a U.S. based company.