NEW YORK, June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata
Consultancy Services, (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading
global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization,
and Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital education
content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, announced
the launch of their Ignite My Future in School
initiative in partnership with Cornell Tech. Through this program,
New York City teachers will
receive professional development, educational resources and
year-round support to integrate computational thinking into core
subjects such as math, sciences, arts, and social studies. In turn,
students will learn foundational skills for 21st century
careers – across industries – through this pioneering approach.
"To ensure children are prepared to enter the workforce of
tomorrow we need teachers who are equipping them with the skills
and knowledge to succeed, such as computational thinking and
problem solving concepts," said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. "I applaud TCS for
bringing the Ignite My Future in School program to New York City schools, teachers and
students. As a major technology employer across the US, TCS
knows firsthand what skills are required for today's and tomorrow's
workforce and is working across the country to address the STEM and
computer science skills gap."
"Computers are no longer the future; they are here and they are
running the show," said Council Member Ben Kallos,
District 5 (UES/Roosevelt
Island). "Integrating computational thinking into math,
science, and arts curricula is the only way the current and future
generations of students will learn these skills. What TCS and
Discovery Education are doing through the Ignite My Future in
School initiative is phenomenal and will for sure have a profound,
positive impact on the lives of many teachers and students who get
to participate. I hope this becomes a model for the city and the
nation."
The newly inaugurated Tata Innovation Center at Cornell Tech
will host more than 100 educators from New York City today, beginning with three
school districts in Manhattan,
Brooklyn and Queens. Local teachers will have the chance to
apply computational thinking during the Day of Discovery,
participating in hands-on activities while accessing lesson plans
and classroom resources.
"At Cornell Tech, we are committed to broadening participation
in computing through partnerships with K-12 public schools," said
Diane Levitt, Senior Director of
K-12 Education at Cornell Tech. "We want every student to have
the content, skills, and strategies to build something digital that
has meaning to them. We're so excited about sharing Ignite My
Future in School with NYC teachers because it makes
integrating computational thinking engaging for students, with a
low barrier to entry for teachers."
The Park Slope Education Complex at MS88 in Brooklyn will serve as the program's anchor
school for this potential citywide initiative encouraging career
readiness while empowering students for 21st century
careers. Computational thinking provides a solid foundation in all
subjects especially computer science, opening up future
opportunities with innovative digital technologies like Artificial
Intelligence (AI), Blockchain and Cybersecurity. By neatly
embedding curriculums and consistently reinforcing critical
thinking, Ignite My Future in School hopes to bridge the
talent gap and develop relevant skills for the 21st
century.
"Creating pathways for students to gain skills that power
today's digital economy is essential to their success and the
future of the nation," said Balaji
Ganapathy, Head of Workforce Effectiveness, TCS. "I
applaud the early adopters from across NYC DOE schools for their
forward thinking, as well as Cornell Tech for their support in
making this a true partnership across industry, academia and
education."
These select schools have the unique opportunity of learning and
applying computational thinking through an annual free day of
professional development for educators and community night for
guardians. Additionally, TCS and Discovery Education have launched
the digital platform, IgniteMyFutureInSchool.org to provide
teachers nationwide with an exclusive, cost-free, virtual
professional development experience that includes lesson plans,
curriculum resources, eLearning courses, and webinars. These
resources are aligned to national standards, as well as the
recently launched K-12 Computer Science Framework.
On a National level, Ignite My Future in School has a
goal of engaging 20,000 teachers and one million U.S. students by
2021. As a first step towards this objective, TCS and Discovery
Education partnered with U.S. school systems in California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New
York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin as early adopters of this
transdisciplinary approach. Since September
2017, the program has engaged over 3,300 educators impacting
more than 185,000 students. In addition, educators from all 50
states and Washington D.C. have
downloaded the lesson plans and modules available on
IgniteMyFutureInSchool.org.
About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS)
Tata
Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business
solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the
world's largest businesses in their transformation journeys for the
last fifty years. TCS offers a consulting-led, Cognitive powered,
integrated portfolio of IT, Business & Technology Services, and
engineering. This is delivered through its unique Location
Independent Agile delivery model, recognized as a benchmark of
excellence in software development.
A part of the Tata group, India's largest multinational business group,
TCS has over 394,000 of the world's best-trained consultants in 46
countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US
$ 19.09 billion for year ended
March 31, 2018 and is listed on the
BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock
Exchange) in India. TCS' proactive
stance on climate change and award winning work with communities
across the world have earned it a place in leading sustainability
indices such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), MSCI
Global Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Emerging Index. For
more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.
To stay up-to-date on TCS news in North America, follow @TCS_NA. For TCS
global news, follow @TCS_News.
About Discovery Education
Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-based digital
content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning with
award-winning digital textbooks, multimedia content, professional
development, and the largest professional learning community of its
kind. Serving 4.5 million educators and over 50 million students,
Discovery Education's services are in half of U.S. classrooms, 50
percent of all primary schools in the UK, and more than 50
countries. Discovery Education partners with districts, states, and
like-minded organizations to captivate students, empower teachers,
and transform classrooms with customized solutions that increase
academic achievement. Discovery Education is powered by Discovery
Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), the number one
nonfiction media company in the world. Explore the future of
education at DiscoveryEducation.com. Stay connected with
Discovery Education on social media through Facebook, follow
us on Twitter at @DiscoveryEd, or find us
on Instagram and Pinterest.
About Cornell Tech
Cornell Tech brings together
faculty, business leaders, tech entrepreneurs and students in a
catalytic environment to produce visionary results grounded in
significant needs that will reinvent the way we live in the digital
age.
From 2012-2017, the campus was temporarily located in Google's
New York City building. In fall
2017, 30 world-class faculty and almost 300 graduate students moved
to the first phase of Cornell Tech's permanent campus on
Roosevelt Island, continuing to
conduct groundbreaking research, collaborate extensively with
tech-oriented companies and organizations and pursue their own
startups. When fully completed, the campus will include two million
square feet of state-of-the-art buildings, over two acres of open
space, and will be home to more than 2,000 graduate students and
hundreds of faculty and staff.
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SOURCE Tata Consultancy Services