Oracle Education Foundation Opens ThinkQuest International Competition

Soulclap to City Lights Software for reminding us about the ThinkQuest International Competition 2011, sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation. This is a worldwide competition open to students, up to age 22, that challenges them to solve a real-world problem by applying their critical thinking, communication and technology skills.

"Our experience shows that when students collaborate on subjects about which they care deeply, they produce inspiring work," says Brad Saffer, VP, Oracle Corporate Citizenship. "We encourage teachers and students to take part in this powerful learning experience and look forward to seeing the results of their efforts."

This year, the Oracle Education Foundation has introduced some exciting changes that will capture the creative spirit of even more students than before. Two new events considerably broaden the choice of technologies students may use to create their entries. Moreover, the emphasis on problem-solving serves to inspire participants to tackle real-world challenges and produce solutions that benefit others.

Participants may enroll in three events: ThinkQuest Projects, Digital Media, and Application Development.

1. ThinkQuest Projects - participants will use ThinkQuest Projects, a hosted environment where students produce Web-based learning projects, to create their entry.
2. Digital Media - participants will use digital media tools to produce a blog/journal, Website, animation, public service announcement, photo essay, video, or some combination of these items.
3. Application Development - participants will develop a Web-based application or game using their choice of programming language from a select list.

Teams have eight months to develop and submit their entries by the April 27, 2011, deadline. Professional educators from around the world will judge all entries.

Qualifying entries will be published in the ThinkQuest Library, the world's largest online repository of student-developed learning projects that is visited by millions of learners each month. Prizes include
laptop computers, a trip to ThinkQuest Live hosted in the San Francisco Bay Area, and monetary grants for the coach's school, or organization.

More than 4,700 teams from 83 countries participated in the last competition cycle.   How cool would it be to see some BDPA students ... particularly some of our HSCC Alumni ... participating in this international competition?

For more information:

• Become a fan of ThinkQuest on Facebook
• View the Oracle Education Foundation YouTube channel

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) is willing to work with any local BDPA chapter interested in participating in the ThinkQuest International competition. What say u?