TechCreation is a middle-school design technology curriculum that focuses on kids creating interactive, microcontroller-based projects. TechCreation is part of "iCODE" -- Building an Internet Community of Design Engineers, a collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Machine Science Inc. The iCODE project is funded by a three-year grant awarded in October 2006 by the National Science Foundation, under the agency's Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program.
Our materials include step-by-step design plans for IT-intensive, computer-controlled projects, custom hardware and on-line tools for microcontroller programming, on-line mentoring by university students and IT professionals, forums for sharing project ideas and collaborative troubleshooting, and tools for creating web-based project portfolios.
We are launching 10 community- and school-based sites in Lowell, Lawrence, and the greater Boston area. Throughout the year, students will engage in hands-on, design-based activities, using microcontroller kits that have been developed and classroom-tested by the project partners. Each participating student attends 25 weekly after-school sessions, two career events, two design exhibitions/ competitions, and a 2-week-long summer camp on a University of Massachusetts campus in Boston or Lowell.
The iCODE program will serve more than 175 students over a three-year period.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
- Weekly after-school meetings at local school and community partner sites
- Annual Botfest exhibition at UMass Lowell and Robot Sumo contest at the Boston Museum of Science
- Two–week summer workshops at either UMass Lowell or UMass Boston campuses