The Global Challenge: Giving Students the Tools and Confidence to Solve Global Problems – Together

September 22, 2006
David Gibson | The Global Challenge, and University of Vermont

The Global Challenge, recently sponsored by the National Science Foundation ITEST program, supports young women and minority high school students to develop the knowledge, skills and personal vision to see science, technology, engineering and mathematical (STEM) studies as feasible and desirable choices for college majors. Students are formed into mentored international teams that learn together and compete for significant privately raised scholarships while working with IT tools of science – computational science and communication tools – on real-life global problems such as global warming and the future of energy. Student knowledge and skills are enhanced through highly engaging, intensive, long-term contact with research scientists, engineers, mathematicians and project leaders. Global Challenge opportunities are disseminated worldwide through key contacts with STEM professionals in global businesses and higher education.

The program seeks collaboration with Microsoft to build and deliver a high quality communication and computational science “world game” simulation platform. This platform would provide a new kind of e-learning environment that helps students communicate internationally with peers and experts, create and experience games involving complex systems and scientific simulations relevant to problems explored, and build team products that describe viable scientific and global business ideas – all while certifying student learning. The Global Challenge seeks a long-term multi-stage research and development relationship that has the potential to transform the concept of an e-learning platform and influence the lives of millions of young people all over the world.

Speaker Details

David Gibson is co-Founder and Executive Director of The Global Challenge (www.globalchallengeaward.org), a web-based competition and scholarship program for high school students that engages international teams of K12 students in using science, technology, engineering and mathematics to solve global problems. Dr. Gibson is also Research Assistant Professor of Computer Sciences at the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont and is the Founder and President of CurveShift, an educational technology company (www.curveshift.com) that assists in the acquisition, implementation and continuing design of games and simulations, e-portfolio systems, data-driven decision making tools, and semantic Web technologies. He recently led the educational technology research team that created simSchool (www.simschool.org), a classroom simulator for training teachers that is currently being translated into Korean. His research and publications include work on complex systems analysis and modeling in education, Semantic Web applications and the future of learning, and the use of technology to personalize education for the success of all students. His book “Games and Simulations in Online Learning” published by Idea Group goes on sale in September 2006.