Interest IGNITEd :-)

For the last three days, I've been hosting an IGNITE Camp at one of the elementary schools in my division. The idea behind IGNITE is to 'IGNite Interest in Technology and Engineering'. This is done through building electronic circuits, dismantling computers and building/programming robots using LEGO Mindstorm kits. While engaging in all of these activities, the Grade 4/5 students were given cameras and encouraged to document everything through photos. We blogged about our experiences at IGNITE@Brooklands, we created VoiceThreads with our observations, and the students also created videos by assembling all of the many photos that they had collected throughout the three days.

IGNITE is a program that was initiated by IBM a few years ago, and our provincial Department of Education has modified IBM's initial concept for this program so that there are more curricular connections for the students and the activities are more global than compartmentalized...

We had many visitors throughout the three days - administrators, consultants, teachers and parents. Everyone who popped in was amazed by how engaged ALL of the students were. Thanks, MECY & IBM, for the opportunity to host IGNITE. Looking forward to seeing what happens over the next couple of weeks when we run two more IGNITE Camps :-)

BTW, I closed today's session by sharing Dean Kamen's TED Talks presentation. Dean's the inventor of the Segway, and he was approached by the US government to develop a prosthetic arm for injured veterans What he put together in only 13 months will astound you...

Enjoy,
Andy