Tech Directions - January 2009 - (Page 9) the news report Susanne Peckham susanne@techdirections.com Construction Challenge The Annual AEM Construction Challenge is a national career education initiative designed to engage middle school (grades 6–8) and high school (grades 9–12) students in realworld, hands-on experiences exploring the 21st century construction industry through competitions in Manufacturing Design, Service Tech Simulation, and Critical Infrastructure. Regional Rally competitions will take place on February 7, 2009, throughout the U.S. and Canada. This year, over 750 teams drawing more than 5,000 youth nationwide are expected to participate. A nominal registration fee of $120 (for each school team of 5–7 members), includes Challenge Prep materials and a full day of fun and exploration ending with an awards ceremony honoring participants. Champions from each regional rally will advance to finals to be held May 19-23, 2009, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, to compete for national awards and scholarships valued at over $75,000. Visit www.constructionchallenge. org for more information and registration materials. learning while encouraging an inventive culture in schools and communities long-term. Each InvenTeam will receive up to $10,000 in grant funding to invent a practical solution to a real-world problem of their choosing. This year, the InvenTeams proposed inventions such as an alternative energy refrigerator for northern climates, a freeze-protection system for citrus crops, and a sensing guide cane for the visually impaired. InvenTeams applications for the 2009–2010 school year are now available on the InvenTeam web site and are due next spring: http://web.mit. edu/inventeams/apply.html. and efficiently,” said ACTE Executive Director Jan Bray. “The new features we incorporated into the design not only allow people to find information quickly, but also provide more interactive capabilities and cater to personalizing information for our members. The new site also provides ACTE the opportunity to keep members and visitors apprised of our latest efforts with policy, media, and other issues.” ITEA to Launch “Mission Green Technology” In preparation for launching an effort to educate and share resources on the topic of sustainability, the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) is looking for sources of green resources and articles. All educators with a knowledge base relevant to that topic are urged to contact Katie de la Paz at kdelapaz@iteaconnect.org. ACTE Launches New Web Site Design and Features The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) has launched a newly designed web site—www.acteonline.org—that allows members and visitors to find information quickly and to interact with professionals in the CTE community through new features that include blogs, public and private forums, personal pages, and immediate access to the latest CTE news. Web site users can receive updates to many sections of the site via RSS. Members and nonmembers have access to a personalized page called myACTE, which can be customized with information such as favorite pages, forums, blogs and other places on the site they frequently visit. Members log in using their membership ID number and nonmembers can register for free. Features include a policy watch blog, school-to-career blog, and tech prep blog, in addition to pages giving legislative alerts and updates. There are also forums that educators can use to discuss education and CTE topics with other professionals. “Before the new web site design, we found that it was very hard for visitors to find information quickly Experiencing Engineering Through Design Looking for a way to get students interested in engineering? Intel’s Design and Discovery free curriculum offers an inquiry and interdisciplinary approach to engineering. Students are introduced to engineering principles and guided through the design process, as they identify a meaningful problem and develop a prototype to solve it. The curriculum consists of 18 sequential sessions; each includes two to four hands-on activities. To learn more, visit www. intel.com/education/Design/. Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam Grants Nearly 94% of adults and 80% of teens in the United States believe the country needs to be more proficient in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), according to the 2008 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index. The Lemelson-MIT InventTeam initiative addresses this critical issue—this year, 16 teams of high school students, teachers, and mentors will be given the opportunity to develop their STEM and problemsolving skills as they embark on an inventive journey. The InvenTeam initiative is designed to excite high school students about invention through hands-on Events Feb. 15-21. Children’s Engineering Convention. Virginia Technology Education Association. www.vtea. org/ESTE/convention. Feb. 15-21. Engineers Week. National Engineers Week Foundation. www. eweek.org. Mar. 26-28. International Technology Education Association International Conference. Louisville, KY. www. iteaconnect.org/Conference/ conferenceguide.htm. Susanne Peckham is managing editor of Tech Directions. www.techdirections.com NEWS REPORT 9 http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/apply.html http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/apply.html http://www.constructionchallenge.org http://www.constructionchallenge.org http://www.intel.com/education/Design/ http://www.intel.com/education/Design/ http://www.vtea.org/ESTE/convention http://www.vtea.org/ESTE/convention http://www.eweek.org http://www.eweek.org http://www.iteaconnect.org/Conference/conferenceguide.htm http://www.iteaconnect.org/Conference/conferenceguide.htm http://www.iteaconnect.org/Conference/conferenceguide.htm http://www.techdirections.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.