I’m excited to announce the three finalists in the Dell Education Challenge. These teams were selected from more than 800+ projects and exemplify innovation and creativity in solving educational issues. They will travel to Dell World in Austin next week to pitch their ideas and compete for $30,000 in cash and support to launch their businesses. These projects range from building a “World of Warcraft” game for education, using light, sound and vibration to help children with autism and leveraging cell phone for learning. Learn more:
IMMERSED GAMES — Student social entrepreneur team Immersed Games from the University of Florida is harnessing the power of engaging and social online games to increase student access to quality education and enrichment. The three-member team is building a MMPORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) with modules covering essential 21st century understanding such as economics, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and media literacy.
ABBY – This six-person team, Abby, Abby from Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico aims to help the autism community by providing an affordable way for children with autism to learn and communicate effectively through the use of triggering stimuli such as light, sound, and vibration. Their devices (including a small vibration cube, a small illumination cube, and an illumination table) release light, sound, and vibration stimuli customized to the personality, interests, and skills of each child to capture their attention and create a comfortable space where they can learn and communicate. Techniques from Applied Behavioral Analysis are integrated into the creation and use of these devices to optimize the user experience for autistic children, teachers, and caregivers.
LIGHT OF HOPE – Light of Hope from the University of Flensburg is a six-person student entrepreneur team that plans to make rural community schools throughout Bangladesh self-sustainable by installing income-generating solar power systems available for convenient cell-phone charging and printing services at a cost. Nearly every household in rural delta villages in Bangladesh owns a cell phone, despite the absence of a reliable connection grid. Cell phone charging options are typically miles away from rural villages and tend to run on the expensive side. This gives rise to the innovative value of installing solar-powered cell phone-charging stations to sustain school operations, as well as reduce travel time and increase business opportunities for residents.
Stay tuned for the winners to be announced Thursday, December 12 at 4:15 pm live from Dell World and follow along on Twitter using #DEC13.