Youth Tech Entrepreneurs

• YTE's Approach to Developing Java Projects
• YTE's Success at Bridging the Digital Divide
• YTE's Curriculum

Located in Massachusetts Youth Tech Entrepreneurs (YTE) develops student leaders who use their academic, information technology and business skills to build stronger communities. To date, YTE has developed innovative programs and curricular materials for over 1,000 youth.

YTE provides schools and communities with an innovative curriculum and a project-based approach that equips diverse students with the professional, technical, and leadership skills to succeed in tomorrow's economy. YTE's coursework, service projects, programs and competitions enable students to identify and address local needs through technology. By bringing together students, educators, community and business leaders, YTE strengthens communities and develops tomorrow's leaders today.

Using funds from the Sun Foundation, Java instructors from Charlestown High School, the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Cambridge College teamed up together to develop curricular units using a project-based learning approach.

Java Instructor, Virginia Lombard, teaches at both the high school and college levels. She has been teaching Java at Charlestown High School for the past five years. She is concerned with the fact that it is sometimes difficult to attract and keep young women interested in learning programming and Java skills. One reason why it may be difficult to attract young women is that traditional approaches to teaching and learning Java sometime do not offer more than "drill and code" practices. This is one reason why Lombard has integrated more graphically-oriented exercises and projects into her teaching methods. Using a graphics approach to Java projects, students can problem-solve, work collaboratively, and complete assignments based on specific, often measurable, criterion.

YTE has had success in providing opportunities for underserved youth to engage in service-learning projects involving the development of their leadership and technical skills. An important and motivational part of their program has always been their annual Technology Service Learning Project Contest. In the last contest, nearly 20 student teams competed for prizes and cash scholarships. The majority of the schools and students who have participated in the contest represent the diversity of learners engaged in YTE's programs in schools. YTE awarded over $12,000 in scholarship money to contest winners.

The YTE team developed curricular materials in three main categories: pre-Java, gaming, and Java projects. All of the projects developed with funds from the Sun Foundation contain rubrics for the assessment of student learning and outcomes. The projects make reference to Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, School to Career Competencies, and national standards set forth by the Technology International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE). All of the projects make connections to subjects taught across the curriculum at the high school level. Many of the projects offer opportunities for students to design solutions to meet a community need, such as developing a help desk to solve technology issues at a school or updating a school web site. Please find a description of each project below: