Here’s a quick fyi on two iniÂtiaÂtives announced for high school stuÂdents this past week:
For six years, MIT’s OpenÂCourseÂWare iniÂtiaÂtive has done a great job bringÂing free eduÂcaÂtionÂal mateÂriÂals to adult learnÂers worldÂwide. (More on the iniÂtiaÂtive here.) Now, it has launched a secÂtion of its webÂsite devotÂed to high school stuÂdents and teachÂers. Here, you’ll find a series of “MIT introÂducÂtoÂry coursÂes” withÂin 11 major areas of study (e.g. EngiÂneerÂing, ForÂeign LanÂguages, Math, etc.). Plus, you can access inforÂmaÂtion that supÂpleÂments AP BiolÂoÂgy, Physics and CalÂcuÂlus coursÂes. This is a trove of mateÂrÂiÂal that the ambiÂtious stuÂdent will cerÂtainÂly want to explore.
Next, Google announced its first open source conÂtest for pre-uniÂverÂsiÂty stuÂdents. Called the “Google HighÂly Open ParÂticÂiÂpaÂtion ConÂtest” (a bit of a mouthÂful), it’s intendÂed to “help introÂduce secÂondary school and high school stuÂdents to open source softÂware develÂopÂment and to encourÂage young peoÂple through opporÂtuÂniÂties in the fields of sciÂence, techÂnolÂoÂgy, engiÂneerÂing, and math.” For more inforÂmaÂtion you can click here and here.