Congratulations to all participants of the 2011 1st Pilot of the Weeklong Summer Workshop!
Thanks to all the organizers and sponsors for making this a success. Check out News 14 coverage of the Workshop.
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We are seeking additional funding to expand the workshop for 2012 - More details will be available by Feb 2012
Imagine today’s world without computers. Computers and information technology have impacted every field you can imagine – business, manufacturing, health care, sports, entertainment including travel and tourism. We live in a digital world that opens new frontiers almost daily. New, exciting, IT related careers emerge such as Cyber Law, Gaming, Apparel design, Bioinformatics, etc. The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that by 2016, five out of the top ten fastest growing jobs relate to IT (check out the FAQ page for more information). Most IT jobs require good skills in communication, problem solving, creativity, human interaction and collaboration – the kinds of skills most often attributed to women.
UNCG is currently working in collaboration with Guilford County Schools to increase awareness about IT education and careers among high-school girls in grades 9 through 11. Thanks to the grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), UNCG is offered a week-long workshop in 2011 entitled, “IT is for Girls.” Through hands-on activities, participants will:
- Build and repair computers
- Create animations and video games using MIT's "SCRATCH" software - Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu) is a programming environment that was designed specifically to allow people to quickly begin creating their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art. It is a project of the MIT Media Lab's "Lifelong Kindergarten Group," and is widely used to enable students to explore their digital creativity.
- Design web pages
- Develop Android mobile applications using Google AppInventor (http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/) which uses many of the same ideas as Scratch to create an easy-to-use programming environment, but is specifically designed to create apps for Android smartphones and devices. Have a great idea for a simple Android app? Learn how you could turn that into reality using AppInventor!
- Film Festival - "Become a video Diva. Learn to tell a digital story by creating a storyboard, filming, and editing your very own video production."
- Explore computer and internet security
- Investigate fun ways to visualize data using 3-D Max
- Participate in computational hip-hop (conducted by NC A&T) - Computational Hip Hop is a program that allows students the chance produce musical instrumentals, create songs, and learn entry level techniques in relation to sound engineering. Students are challenged to create positive songs that reflect their life experiences through music while also learning how to use the essential tools.
All participants were able to take their projects home, as well as a copy of the SCRATCH software program. Please feel free to browse the websites for the previous workshops in the archives link.