07-30-2023 EDU - Flipbook - Page 7
The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, July 30, 2023 7
Ask Margit, from page 1
Cutting-edge technology, from page 5
spread than other major health issues
in the U.S. Our epidemic of loneliness
and isolation is a major public health
concern," as stated in "Our Epidemic
of Loneliness and Isolation."
The two reports remind us that we are all
social beings, but this essential and basic behavior
can also be detrimental to our well-being. As John
Donne’s poem states, “No man is an island entire
of itself; every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.” It’s become a mantra that
should remind us of our interdependence, that we
depend on, rely on, and need each other, whether
we like it or not.
However, social media, the catch-all term
for those applications on our mobile phones that
were originally intended to link us to each other,
to help us make healthy connections actually,
despite the appellation, cause us to be more alone,
more isolated, than ever before. It is hard enough
to navigate and manage when it happens to adults
whose brains are fully formed.
According to an online policy statement by the
American Academy of Pediatrics, “Adolescents,
ages 10 to 19, are undergoing a highly sensitive
period of brain development. This is a period
when risk-taking behaviors reach their peak,
when well-being experiences the greatest fluctuations, and when mental health challenges such as
depression typically emerge.”
In other words, kids don’t have a strong
sense of right and wrong or know how to protect
themselves in difficult situations. This is the same
period when young people form their sense of
self-worth. And if their parents are not a strong
influence, providing sufficient positive reinforcement, young people flounder, often caving to peer
pressure.
Tirana Clark’s 16-year-old son is a true anomaly. “He doesn’t have a cell phone,” Clark states
firmly. “He has access to the internet at home but,
for now, a phone is off-limits. It’s better for him
to make friends face-to-face, not virtually, and he
does. I’m very proud of him.”
Approximately 95% of young people, ages
13-17, report using social media. The recommendation is a maximum of three hours a day, a scary
amount of time when you think about it. Now
think about this: A third of those between 13 and
17 say they are online “almost constantly.”
In light of this information, is Clark’s decision
over the top? Maybe, maybe not.
you are: parents, researchers, children and adolescents, and caregivers. What follows are among the
suggestions for parents.
• First, create a family media plan: balanced
time, realistic boundaries and protecting
personal information. Visit www.healthychildren.org/MediaUsePlan for additional
information on how to do this.
• Create “tech free” zones. Take a page from
Clark and encourage in-person relationships. Work with other parents to make this
happen. Visit the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) for guidelines for media
use.
• Model good behavior. As adults, your
actions speak louder than your words. If
you say something like “mealtimes are tech
free zones” and then answer your phone or
respond to a text, your message will never
get through. Once they are grown, they can
choose for themselves, but, meanwhile, do
what you can to prevent overuse.
• Teach your children about technology.
Keep your discussions age appropriate,
especially when discussing how to protect
themselves and their personal information. Learn more from the AAP and the
American Psychological Association (APA)
about social media and mental health.
• Report cyberbullying and online abuse.
“Cyberbullying is another factor felt most
strongly by young females and sexual
minority youth, causing widespread depression. Talk to your child about their reporting options, and provide support, without
judgment, if he or she tells or shows you that
they (a) are being harassed through email,
text message, online games, or social media
or (b) have been contacted by an adult seeking private images or asking them to perform intimate or sexual acts.” https://www.
missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline
There is more, a lot, more. Take time to
download and read the reports yourself. Talk with
others to come up with your own solutions. These
are difficult times we live in.
While talking with a friend, I asked how his
children were doing. “They’re good,” he replied.
Then I mentioned this advisory. There was silence
on the other end.
“Could you do a half-hour once a week, one
on one, with each of your kids?” I asked. “Yeah,”
he answered. It’s a good start.
Fighting Back
The advisory does have recommendations on
ways to protect young people depending on who
Towson University recently opened its center for interdisciplinary and innovative cybersecurity.
the graduate program are applicable to those
seeking positions as an intelligence analyst or
for people who work conduct national security
work.
“What sets the program apart is not a focus
on policy but on the things that are useful for
those working in the field,” he says. “Policy is
useful for people who are senior, but the average
analyst doesn’t influence policy.”
Allen Boyd noted that many of the instructors, like himself, have a background working
in the intelligence field, either through the
military or one of the governmental agencies.
“We have some amazing faculty who do
some really cool stuff outside of their teaching
duties,” he says.
At Towson University, the school’s new center for interdisciplinary and innovative cybersecurity aims to develop novel solutions to
current and future cybersecurity research and
education challenges. The new program, which
opened in August 2022, builds on Towson’s
long history in the cyber field, says Blair Taylor,
director of the center.
The motto for the new center is “Cyber 4
All,” reflecting the importance of this discipline
in a changing world, and the multiple positions
the field offers.
“In cyber there’s something for everybody.
There’s a broad appeal, and people can find
multiple points of interest,” Taylor says. She
notes that when teaching cyber classes, she will
notice students perk up when she covers different talking points.
Towson’s cyber program was the first designated program in the state of Maryland,
Taylor says. Additionally, the National Security
Agency and the Department of Homeland
Security has designated Towson University as
a National Center of Academic Excellence in
Cyber Defense Education since 2002.
Towson’s new center is housed in a former three-story Marriott hotel, which provides
ample space for classrooms, conferences and
cyber defense. Taylor says the program allows
Towson students to refine their skills in cyber
so they can excel in the workforce. The university center, which played host to the cyber warfare conference, has become a global leader in
cybersecurity education, research and innovation. The facility also hosts an NSA-sponsored
cyber conference for K-12 students and educators called Be More Secure, which provides
cybersecurity education.
“Towson has always been a leader in cybersecurity education, in the state and in the
nation. This center allows us to expand that
role and leverage that role and continue to be a
center of academic excellence in cyber offense,”
Taylor says.
Hamlett observes that those who work in
HIM are the “gatekeepers” who ensure the privacy and security of medical records.
Students currently take courses in the evening synchronously in seven-week sessions, but
Coppin is in the process of developing asynchronous online degree offerings that students
will be able to pursue at their own pace.
sent all departments of the university, including
accounting, finance, construction and hospitality management, to name a few,” says Derrek
Dunn, Ph.D., professor and chairperson of the
department of technology.
The fully online program will offer three
degree paths: coursework plus thesis for 30
credits, coursework plus project for 33 credits,
or coursework-only for 36 credits.
Because the program will be online, it
is suitable for both recent graduates getting
started on their careers as well as professionals
already working in the field.
“No other graduate program in the region
has such a breadth of applications as this new
degree program,” says Dunn.
Ever-changing workforce, from page 4
Adobe stock art
occupations through 2030. “With Coppin’s M.S.
in HIM plan of study, the school of allied health
within the Coppin State University college of
health professions is prepared to assist with
meeting HIM workforce needs,” says Calhoun,
adding that more than half of new HIM graduates with a master’s degree start with salaries in
the $75,000 to $100,000 range.
Calhoun notes that widespread use of electronic health records (EHRs) will continue to
create demand for managers with knowledge of
health information technology and informatics systems, and medical and health services
managers will be needed to organize, oversee
and integrate these records across areas of the
health care industry.
Launching New Program at UMES
Now taking applications for its first group of
students, the University of Maryland, Eastern
Shore (UMES) will be launching a new online
master’s program in data science in analytics
and engineering that will begin in Spring 2024.
“This interdisciplinary program will repre-
STEM, from page 1
an aircraft controller, commercial pilot or fly
smaller planes for private or corporate clients. Helicopter pilots often fly for emergency
services or police, news stations, or tourism
companies.
“We have a big veteran population,” says
Williams, adding that military benefits can
cover nearly all the costs of the program. He
also says a lot of students are training to fly
before joining the military. “It gives them an
edge when they go into pilot training with the
military.”
A Hub for Gaming: UMBC’s Video Game Design
and Production Programs
The Baltimore area is home to several bigname gaming companies, keeping the demand
for highly skilled talent high. Popular games can
require teams of dozens to hundreds of people,
but Marc Olano, director of the computer
science game development track at UMBC,
explains that artist or programmer roles are
usually the best entry-point for new grads.
Created in 2007, UMBC’s gaming program
offers two paths for aspiring game developers – game development and animation, and
interactive design.
“I had started talking to game companies
about what they are looking for in people they
hire,” explains Olano, who was instrumental in
founding the program. “A lot of schools were
offering gaming degrees that were shallow and
broad, with a little bit of programming, design,
art and production, but employers were really
looking for people who could specialize.”
Replicating the real work of game development, students in both tracks work together
to create games. They pitch the game, make a
prototype and present it to mock publishers.
Projects are developed throughout the semester, culminating in the opportunity to present to
actual gaming industry professionals.
UMBC students have also built and maintained a very active game developers club.
“Each year they put on a ‘game jam’, which is
a 24- to 48-hour event in which students build
a prototype of a game. It is a great experience
and gives them even more things to show off in
a resume – especially the ability to work as part
of a team,” Olano says.
The club also stays connected to alumni who are working in the gaming industry,
and hosts an annual Digital Entertainment
Conference, inviting game developers, alumni
and students to connect and network.
UMBC Game Developers' Club members Andrea Wozniak (left) and Khadijah Wali (right) talk during the
Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day event in 2018.
Technology and liberal arts, from page 1
UMES students attend conventions each year at no cost.
discussions on one topic or order them chronologically to see how they changed over time.
Witt has one or two interns working on
the project with him each semester. This summer he is taking four of them to the Digital
Humanities Summer Institute in Victoria,
Canada for more training. As aspiring archivists and librarians they are acquiring the necessary skillset for the 21st century.
Modern libraries are about more than just
books, and the Patricia R. Guerrieri Academic
Commons (GAC) at Salisbury University is no
exception. Besides the library unit of the building, it also houses a center for student achievement, the writing center, the math emporium,
and similar resources. It contains the instructional design and delivery support office for
faculty and the faculty lounge.
But the maker lab is a unique environment. It is open seven days a week during the
semester and staff are always available to help
students and faculty with their projects. “We
walk them through the whole process,” says
Chris Woodall, M.L.S., technology librarian.
“We find that model is good for our student
environment.”
Some students may have a particular project in mind and want to learn how to accomplish their goal, but they aren’t interested in
learning about the technology itself. Others
want to learn about the technology involved
while working on their project. In either case
they are helped on a one-on-one consultation
basis that best suits their desires and needs.
The robotics club in the computer science
department has its own 3D printer, but they
often come to the maker lab to learn more
about the process or use the higher quality
printers in the lab. Art students often come to
the lab to make scale models of something they
want to create in a larger or smaller format or to
create pieces of art on the 3D printer.
Education students come to learn how to
use the equipment as many schools now have
3D printers and they need to know how to
teach it in the classroom. Business school
entrepreneurs use it to make prototypes of
something they want to produce. The lab is
even used by faculty, from psychology to biology to liberal arts, who want to create objects
that will enhance their teaching.
“We're very responsive to patron needs,”
says Woodall. “Most of the equipment that we
have has been purchased at the request of people asking for what they need.” This flexibility
has helped the maker lab keep up with demand
and changes in technology, yet patrons pay for
printing at cost and only for what they keep.
