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You
are here: GIANT CAMPUS: Experience-based Technology Learning
by Maura Whalen
Hook the learner. Engage him. Empower her. Make it meaningful. Connect them to real-world applications! What will do it? Technology education is a powerful way to hook, engage and empower!
In an increasingly complex and technical world, it is imperative for today's students to be technically savvy. In order to meet the demands that will be placed on them at higher levels of education and in their careers, today's students must learn how to navigate on the world wide web, to understand and utilize software and to craft presentations using computer applications. Many argue that facility with technology is essential for today's students and yet many students make their way through school with little more than the most basic of technology skills. One reason: students' acquisition of technology skills is limited by teachers and parents who grew up pre-PC and are daunted by technology.
Most adults over the age of thirty-five attended college with a typewriter, whereas adults younger than 35 never experienced late nights typing and retyping papers due to the wonders of word-processing which was a way of life by the time they reached college. Many teachers and parents over 35 are still reluctant to resolve challenges that arise with their PC. In contrast, most children today grow up with a mouse in their hands and learn at a very young age to do much more than point and click. Since many of our nation's teachers are a part of the "older set," a rift exists in some classrooms that results in a stifling of children's technical inclinations and desires.
"Children who do have the opportunity to explore, create and invent with technology seem to be more enthusiastic about learning. Technology is a powerful tool that should be woven into all classrooms and community centers", says former teacher and mother of three, Shelley Tomaino. "My kids turn most of their school projects into web design projects," says Tomaino.
It is undeniable that today's children grow up in a visually stimulating world. For many, doing the traditional poster-board project is just not cool-- it's boring. Accustomed to MTV and graphically rich and robust Internet sites, they find it much more exciting to create an interactive web site for one's science project then to cut and paste objects onto a poster board. Moreover, children are better able to make connections to life beyond the classroom when they are equipped with technical skills and tools that have real-life applications.
Technology is powerful in that it a tool that works at both ends of the spectrum: with the struggling, disenfranchised student and with the accelerated student who is often bored and held back by the pace of the class. Incorporating skills such as web design, graphic design, digital photography, 3D animation and even programming into one's day empowers the struggling student and propels the advanced.
"Any program that stimulates the interest of children in technology and (information technology) skills is going to be critically important to those industries that rely on this workforce level for the 21st century," says Joan Fenwick, national director of the AT&T Learning Network in Basking Ridge, N.J. "A comfort level with technology and IT skills is a prerequisite for almost any entry-level job, whether you're a factory worker on the floor, the manager of a hamburger stand or in banking," says Fenwick.
How and where can one gain technology training? There are numerous technology training companies, but none quite like Giant Campus, parent company of Cybercamps, whose core belief is that 'Human Brains Learn More When They're Having Fun!" This belief is evidenced throughout all of GC's courses through goofy, Dr. Seuss-like computer interactions and humor. Giant Campus successfully engages the young and the old(er) learner. Moreover, one needn't be a "techie" to teach it! All that's needed is a computer, access to the Internet and a third grade reading level to successfully complete one or more of GC's courses.
Started in 1997 as one summer technology camp on the University of Washington's campus for students aged 7 - 17, 'CYBERCAMPS' are now found on nearly 50 renowned college and university campuses across the United States, as well as in five countries overseas. Over 1,000,000 classroom hours have been taught to thousands of students. The reach is growing with schools and community organizations licensing GC's courseware and hiring their trainers for an efficient and effective training. Giant Campus' courses are used as an elective during the school day, an after-school technology club or as a mini-Cybercamp during a school holiday. Adults also find the courses as effective as they are fun, and thus many have tapped Giant Campus' courses for professional development opportunities or simply for the love of lifelong learning.
Unlike most technology curriculum, Giant Campus' courses are project-based, highly interactive and specifically designed for the web rather than simple "how to's" cut and pasted from a textbook. From the very first session, students begin to build an online portfolio of projects that they may access from any computer at any time. The resulting learning experience is enjoyable and instructive, yielding a skill set applicable to a young person's life in school and equipping him/her with real-life, workforce skills for the future. Moreover, the courses are designed so that students may move through them at their own pace. After completing the suggested guided projects, students are encouraged to assimilate their news skills to create "challenge" projects with relevance to their own lives. Encouraging connections to life beyond the four walls of a classroom is a motivating undercurrent of GC's courses that not only keeps students engaged, but also keeps them coming back for more!
Maura Whalen, Director of Business Development, for Giant Campus has had a foot in both business and Education for the past 15 years. After receiving her Masters in Education, Maura created and ran an alternative education program for troubled middle schoolers within the Shoreline School District in Seattle, Washington. Maura also worked in the District's Applied Learning Office helping teachers connect their classroom lessons to the 'real world' followed by a position raising money for Seattle Public Schools from the private sector. A stint in the Dot com arena honed her business skills bringing her back to Giant Campus where she fuses her business know-how with her love and commitment to educating kids.
For more information about Giant Campus or Cybercamps, visit Giant Campus online at: www.giantcampus.com or contact Maura Whalen.
© December 2002 New Horizons for Learning
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