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State of Utah Taps FreshBrain to Ready High School Students for Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

Posted on: Monday, 16 March 2009, 07:30 CDT

FreshBrain to Deliver a Centralized Technology Education Solution Built on freshbrain.org, Providing All Schools in Utah with Easy and Equal Access to the Latest Technologies

SALT LAKE CITY, March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- FreshBrain, a non-profit organization that lets students create and learn with the latest technology tools, today announced that it has received a WIRED grant from the State of Utah to build a centralized technology education solution. The technology education portal, called BrainSTEM(R), will give all public schools in Utah easy and equal access to the latest technologies and software for learning and career development. By using the BrainSTEM portal, Utah schools can develop best-practices for using technology in the classroom without the enormous financial investment it would take to equip and continually update each school with new technologies and tools.

"As the first state in the US to implement the BrainSTEM portal, we can make sure students in the State of Utah continue to receive the best education available today," said Jason Perry, executive director, Governor's Office of Economic Development.

By implementing the centralized BrainSTEM portal, all Utah schools will get equal access to the latest technologies and the state will save millions of dollars. The system is sustainable because no onsite storage or infrastructure is required, taking the administrative burden off the schools and the State of Utah. In addition, districts, teachers and students can pick and choose the technologies they want to use for a truly unique and customizable experience in the classroom.

"BrainSTEM's focus on educating students with technological concepts as building blocks versus teaching specific tools means kids will develop the critical thinking skills they need to solve technological problems for a lifetime, rather than learning software that will age and become outdated," said Tami Goetz, State Science Advisor in the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "With the WIRED initiative we are harnessing this innovation to create a collaborative repository to assist students, teachers and participating WIRED organizations, not only engaging students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related learning but to expose them to the potential in STEM related careers."

The WIRED grant is a workforce development grant issued by the US Department of Labor and awarded to economic regions to encourage workforce development in the areas of science and technology. Utah's Department of Workforce Services in conjunction with GOED administers the grant in its state and is working with FreshBrain to train the emerging workforce, which covers K-12 grades. The BrainSTEM project will focus on developing science, technology, engineering and math STEM skills and career interest in junior and senior high school students.

Schools across Utah can use the BrainSTEM portal to create technology education projects, curriculum and activities, post them to the BrainSTEM portal and share with all other schools in the state. Students from around the state can also interact with each other in a familiar social-networking environment to get a broader experience with their projects in a protected and safe environment.

With the BrainSTEM portal, theory can become reality with industry involvement in classroom activities. For example, Samsung has donated cell phones, allowing students to reverse engineer and learn how to build a cell phone. Students can also use the graphics technology available in the BrainSTEM portal to build 3D models and produce dummy phones. The process simulates a real corporate research and development environment.

"The number of people choosing to go into STEM careers is declining in the United States," said Dale Ferrario, CEO of FreshBrain. "Now that technology is pervasive at nearly every level of employment, we need to find creative ways to get students more involved in STEM studies so they are equipped to thrive in the future workforce. If we can give kids real-world activities that are interesting and fun, they are more likely to choose a STEM career field. FreshBrain was founded to help kids express their passions and ideas using technology, and we are proud to work with the State of Utah as the first state in the US to implement the BrainSTEM portal."

The BrainSTEM project is expected to be implemented in early 2009 and fully functional in schools by the fall 2010 school year.

About FreshBrain

Founded in 2007, FreshBrain is a registered 501C3 non-profit organization that provides a social networking environment for students to create, explore and collaborate with the latest technology tools. FreshBrain sponsors include Sun Microsystems, T-Mobile USA, Fenwick & West, Skona Advertising, Atlassian, Curriki, Drupal, Salesforce.org and Skullcandy. FreshBrain is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, with offices in Saratoga, California and Colorado Springs, Colorado. More information can be found online at www.freshbrain.org.

About the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED)

The Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) charter is based on Governor Huntsman's commitment to economic development statewide. The mandate for this office is to provide rich business resources for the creation, growth and recruitment of companies to Utah and to increase tourism and film production in the state. GOED accomplishes this mission through the administration of programs that are based around industries or "economic clusters" that demonstrate the best potential for development. GOED utilizes state resources and private sector contracts to fulfill its mission.

About the Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS)

The Utah Department of Workforce Services (DWS) administers employment and training programs funded by the US Department of Labor's Workforce Investment Act. DWS views the WIRED partnership and the activities of FreahBrain as important components in building and maintaining a competitive 21st Century workforce. The Utah workforce of the 21st Century must be STEM literate with the skill sets and flexibility to confront and solve complex problems in occupations that have not yet been created for businesses that do not yet exist.

SOURCE FreshBrain

Source: PR Newswire

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