Saturday, May 1, 2010

“Boy Scouts Announce Merit Badge For Video Games” plus 2 more

“Boy Scouts Announce Merit Badge For Video Games” plus 2 more

Boy Scouts Announce Merit Badge For Video Games

Posted: 30 Apr 2010 07:22 PM PDT

POSTED: 7:29 pm MDT April 30, 2010
UPDATED: 8:11 pm MDT April 30, 2010

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Boy Scouts Add Video Game Belt Loop and Academics Pin for Playing Games

Posted: 30 Apr 2010 01:35 PM PDT

Boy Scout Pin

You have to know times are changing when the premiere body of getting kids outside is now giving out belt loops and pins for doing the complete opposite. Or, perhaps they're just trying to keep the family time as high as possible. Either way, welcome the latest editions of the Boy Scouts trophy system: belt loops and academics pins that show off your ability to play video games.

Of course, there's more to it than that. It wouldn't be the Boy Scouts if it were that simple. Well, perhaps simple is a relative term here. In any case, for a Scout to get their hands on a belt loop, they need to complete three requirements: Explain why it is important for a rating system with video games; with an adult, create a schedule that includes playing video games, along with doing your chores and homework; and finally, learn to play a new video game that's been approved by your parent, guardian, or teacher.

As for the academics pin, the Scout will need to complete three of nine tasks, which include: With your parents, create a plan to buy a video game; teach an adult how to play a video game; and compare two game consoles, which includes listing reasons why you would want to buy it. We like where the Boy Scouts are going with this: it pretty much breaks down that kids are going to play video games anyway, so why not incorporate it into the Boy Scouts way of life? At least that way they learn while they're playing. Plus, they get pins and belt loops.

[via Boy Scouts]

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THE IT KIDS

Posted: 01 May 2010 02:01 AM PDT

SCI-TECH SCENE | Tech-driven curriculum powers new high school

Gabriel Villarreal, 14, of Chicago's Southwest Side, loves video games and is a veteran of figuring out how they work.

Keautishay Young, 15, of West Pilsen, is intrigued by how computers and mobile devices work.


Both are students at the new Chicago Academy for Advanced Technology, a high school whose curriculum is based on teaching young people the technical skills needed by tech and tech-related companies ranging from manufacturers to health-care providers to financial-services firms.

The school, which opened Sept. 9, 2009, at 14th and Loomis, has 140 students who have chosen to pursue an education steeped in information technology.

It's a sister institution to Austin Polytechnical Academy in Chicago, and is backed by the Center for Polytechnical Education, a not-for-profit dedicated to what is called a polytechnical model of education, as well as the Illinois Technology Foundation, the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors, the Illinois Manufacturers Association, and the Chicago Federation of Labor.

Matt Hancock, executive director of the Center for Polytechnical Education in Chicago, said the goal is to produce highly skilled students who will be critical and creative thinkers and competitive in today's knowledge-based global economy.

"Education has to be about preparing students to participate fully in society, and that includes being civically engaged, being culturally engaged by such things as enjoying great literature, theater and movies, and by participating as an employee, a manager or as an owner of a business," he said.

The school won a new supporter in March, when the educational foundation of CompTIA -- an Oakbrook Terrace-based non-profit that supports IT professionals and companies -- donated $150,000 and challenged others to support the school. CompTIA also will choose high achievers from the Chicago Academy for Advanced Technology to become summer interns, giving the kids a chance to learn side-by-side with professionals. "We wanted to get behind this effort to train the next generation of tech entrepreneurs," said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA.

Experts say technology-oriented schools can help reverse a shocking lack of American students seeking information technology careers.

Hancock said the manufacturing industry is the focus of the skills training because it supports more private-sector employment than any other. Manufacturers rely on service companies such as suppliers, designers, engineers, accounting firms and others. Illinois is home to 20,079 manufacturers employing 854,081 workers, according to 2009 data from the 2010 Illinois Manufacturing Directory.

Hancock said the Center for Polytechnical Education sometimes faces tensions balancing a particular industry partner's work force needs with the center's responsibility to give students a well-rounded education. But he said the emphasis remains on a broad technology education so that the students' skills don't become outdated.

Villarreal, a freshman, said he has learned a great deal about Web programming and designing Web pages, which will come in handy as he pursues his goal of becoming a video game-industry programmer.

Young, also a freshman, sees herself becoming a businesswoman or a veterinarian, using her technology skills in either profession.

Indeed, teachers at one fine- and performing-arts school in Chicago are employing technology throughout their curricula because it heightens students' interest in learning, and enables them to stay abreast of the latest technology.

Students at Higgins Elementary Community Academy, a Chicago public school at 11710 S. Morgan, won first, second and third places among 300 entries nationwide in the Hewlett Packard (HP) Digital Assist education grant competition.

Their video entries, at hpdigitalassist.com under the Chicago Bulls icon, showed how math, science and reading, and the creative use of technology, could solve questions related to playing basketball.

HP awarded the school $91,000 worth of technology.

Diamond Gant, 13, an eighth-grader, said she enjoyed working on the second-place project, which concluded that the weight of a basketball has no effect on how high a player can jump.

Gant played a scientist in her team's project video. She said the role sparked a newfound interest in the idea that she could pursue science as a career.

Besides providing valuable help, the students become more engaged when they create their own tech-centered projects, said Higgins' fine arts coordinator, Dean Niedenthal. "A critical factor [in the HP competition] was having fun," he said.

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