Technovation Challenge Pitch Night

You are cordially invited to the Technovation Challenge Pitch Night on April 28, 2011 at the Santa Monica Public Library Auditorium.

Join us as we celebrate the conclusion of the Spring Technovation Challenge with a business plan competition and an awards presentation for the winning teams and outstanding individuals.

The evening will feature keynote speaker:
Lucy Hood, Executive Director, Institute for Communication Technology Management, USC Marshall School of Business

Along with the following VCs and entrepreneurs, as our Pitch Night Judges:
Dana Settle, Partner, Greycroft, LLC
Dave Siemer, Managing Director, Siemer and Associates
Eva Ho, VP Marketing and Operations, Factual
Karen Jashinsky, Founder and CEO, O2 MAX

This will be a unique opportunity to network with industry leaders and budding entrepreneurs and to learn how to take an idea from concept to launch! Register at http://tcla2011.eventbrite.com.

The mission of the Technovation Challenge is to promote women in technology by giving girls the skills and confidence they need to be successful in computer science and entrepreneurship. We aim to inspire girls to see themselves not just as users of technology, but as inventors, designers, builders and entrepreneurs. By showing girls that the high-tech world is an exciting place marked by collaboration and creativity, we hope to encourage more young women to enter the field.

In the 9-week course, high school students design a mobile phone app prototype, write a business plan, and "pitch" their plan to a panel of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs at a high-visibility Pitch Night event. Winners of each regional Pitch Night will come to the San Francisco Bay Area for a National Pitch Night.

The Technovation Challenge is run by Iridescent, a 501(c)(3) non-profit which provides STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education for underserved and underrepresented youth. Iridescent’s mission is to use science, technology and engineering to develop persistent curiosity and to show that knowledge is empowering. If you cannot attend but would like to sponsor the event, donations, in-kind or otherwise, are tax deductible. Further details for sponsorship can be found here.

Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations

Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations - the prepublication offer from the National Academies Press:

"At a time when scientific and technological competence is vital to the nation's future, the weak performance of U.S. students in science reflects the uneven quality of current science education. Although young children come to school with innate curiosity and intuitive ideas about the world around them, science classes rarely tap this potential. Many experts have called for a new approach to science education, based on recent and ongoing research on teaching and learning. In this approach, simulations and games could play a significant role by addressing many goals and mechanisms for learning science: the motivation to learn science, conceptual understanding, science process skills, understanding of the nature of science, scientific discourse and argumentation, and identification with science and science learning.

To explore this potential, Learning Science: Computer Games, Simulations, and Education, reviews the available research on learning science through interaction with digital simulations and games. It considers the potential of digital games and simulations to contribute to learning science in schools, in informal out-of-school settings, and everyday life. The book also identifies the areas in which more research and research-based development is needed to fully capitalize on this potential.

Learning Science will guide academic researchers; developers, publishers, and entrepreneurs from the digital simulation and gaming community; and education practitioners and policy makers toward the formation of research and development partnerships that will facilitate rich intellectual collaboration. Industry, government agencies and foundations will play a significant role through start-up and ongoing support to ensure that digital games and simulations will not only excite and entertain, but also motivate and educate."

Joystick Labs Indie Accelerator

If you are involved in an Indie startup in the North Carolina area, check out this incubator/accelator initiative:

"You bring a great idea and great people, we provide the keys to minimizing the risk of starting a game company: funding, support, mentoring, and introductions.

Joystick Labs is an innovative accelerator program focused exclusively on identifying and launching the next generation of digitally distributed video game companies. We are looking for teams of 2-5 developers who are passionate about games and social media, have a clear vision for the type of experience they want to create, and who are entrepreneurs at heart.

We don’t care how many titles you have previously shipped. We are more focused on your vision for your company and how many great titles your company will ship in the future."

Treadsylvania

"Treadsylvania" is another cool game-based learning product from the NMSU Learning Games Lab

Google Apps Marketplace

From Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology 01/26/11

Google has introduced a new education-focused area in its Google Apps Marketplace, which provides Web applications that integrate with and extend Google Apps.

According to the company, this area will be a central destination for educators to find new Web applications specifically intended for K-12 and higher education use. The apps don't require additional logins, are available from the Google navigation bar, and can access data stored in Google apps with approval.

Currently, the site has 24 applications, including Aviary Design Suite for Education, a set of free tools and templates for creating multimedia projects; RCampus ePortfolio, a free version of an e-portfolio environment; and Applane SIS, a six-month trial version of a student information system still in beta form.

Listings for higher ed users include EasyBib, an automatic bibliography composer; Digication e-Portfolio, which allows students to showcase work online; and EduTone Connector for Moodle, a trial version of a utility that facilitates single sign-on authentication through Google Apps.

Khan Academy

Perhaps you've become aware of Salman Khan on PBS, CNN or through one his promotional appearances, talking about his wildly successful Khan Academy?

This is an open-source (free) project that is nothing short of amazing. He has self-produced an online library of 1600+ instructional videos for math, science, finance, economics, biology, chemistry, astronomy, history, physics, and statistics. Although many of his lessons do specifically address curriculum standards (for a purpose, such as the CAHSEE), this library is not driven by a curriculum structure, but is instead driven by learner need and interest.

This is SO totally cool!

Keith Devlin's Math Game Research

Keith Devlin has been doing very cool research at Stanford regarding the use of games to teach math at the Middle School level. He has a project idea that I hope finds a greenlight:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/february15/devlin-aaas-mathematics-021910.html

Here's some of his recent presentations:

http://www.stanford.edu/~kdevlin/videos.html