Tag Archives: youth

The National STEM Video Game Challenge has motivated interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in nearly 20,000 middle and high school students since launching in 2011 by harnessing their natural passion for playing video games and inspiring them to design games of their own. Presented by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media with founding sponsor the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the STEM Challenge has named 113 youth winners – including 40% female –…

In 2013, 25 per cent of public school children in the U.S. were Hispanic-Latino, and this number is expected to grow to 29 per cent by 2025. Within this vibrant and diverse population, many students, particularly those from immigrant families, face challenges in school. Many are tasked with mastering a new language, and their parents often struggle to understand an education system that is completely new to them. But Hispanic-Latino families can bring enormous strengths to school communities. How can educators…

I have been working with the brilliant minds in the video game and design industry since my introduction to the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006.  While I am a scientist and tech savvy, I had no idea what the world of augmented reality, gaming, and videos could mean in the age before the iPad, especially to kids who are growing up immersed in the opportunity to not just consume games, but create them. We’ll get…

Global Kids, Inc. works to ensure that youth from underserved areas have the knowledge, skills, experiences and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities and on the global stage.  Many of the students in their programs are creating games eligible for submission into the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. Through in-school and after-school Global Kids (GK) programs, middle school and high school students examine global issues, make…

This past week, the Institute of Museum and Library Services hosted The Capitol Hill Maker Faire as a part of the White House’s National Week of Making.  The STEM Challenge attended the Faire to network with other organizations and spaces that are also devoted to making and innovation. The Faire explored the best practices and challenges of the maker community, in order to foster educators’ and community leaders’ efforts to further innovation across the country. The organizations represented at the…

Empow Studios brings technology, arts, and play together to help young learners discover and build on their creative talents. They teach classes in programming, robotics, video game design, animation, design, audio engineering and other creative skills for the 21st century at over 20 locations in Massachusetts. Many of the students enrolled in their summer programs are designing games that are eligible for submission into the 2016 National STEM Video Game Challenge. When 22-year-old Lynne Richman had her first taste of…

Almost every child in the United States plays video games—91% of children ages 2-17, according to NPD. But how many kids make their own video games? I could not find any reliable statistics. Nowadays, one barely needs to write a line of code in order to build a video game because there are so many platforms that make the process simple. Gamestar Mechanic, Unity, GameMaker, and Scratch are probably the most popular. Each one involves a different amount of complexity…

The entries are in for the National STEM Video Game Challenge, and our expert judges have been busy playing video games! This year we’ve received more than 4,000 entries in the following categories: Gamestar Mechanic, Gamemaker, Scratch, Unity, Open Platforms, and Written Design Documents. The STEM Challenge has hosted more than 35 game design workshops across the country for youth and educators. The energy at these workshops was amazing—read more about a youth workshop that took place at the Science…

Personally, I believe in general, when you look at the new assessments, you look at the new standards, you look at what employers want, you look at what people really need to thrive, they tend to align well with inquiry-based learning, blended learning. … But the fact is it’s really hard to design, develop, implement and support those types of learnings. I believe the people who can do that are going to experience enormous success. – Alan Gershenfeld, president and…

This year, I had the great privilege to attend the Digital Media and Learning Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, where I had organized a panel called “Creating Youth Builders – Promoting a New Game Design Ecosystem to Engage Hard-to-Reach Youth in Learning.” The heavy hitters on the panel included Jennifer Groff, a graduate researcher at the MIT Media Lab and the VP of Learning for the Learning Games Network, Ricarose Roque, a PhD student with the Scratch Team at the MIT…