30/08-10   -   Press releases

Oracle Education Foundation Invites Students and Teachers to Join ThinkQuest International Competition 2011

Students are Challenged to Think, Create and Innovate

- The ThinkQuest International Competition 2011, sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation (OEF), is now open to students worldwide.

- The competition challenges students, up to age 22, to solve a real-world problem by applying their critical thinking, communication, and technology skills.

- This year, OEF has introduced some exciting changes that will capture the creative spirit of even more students than before. The introduction of two new events considerably broadens the choice of technologies students may use to create their entries. Moreover, the emphasis on problem-solving serves to inspire participants to tackle real-world challenges and produce solutions that benefit others.

- Participants may enroll in three events: ThinkQuest Projects, Digital Media and Application Development.

- In the ThinkQuest Projects event, participants will use ThinkQuest Projects, a hosted environment where students produce web-based learning projects, to create their entry.

- In the Digital Media event, participants will use digital media tools to produce a blog/journal, website, animation, public service announcement, photo essay, video, or some combination of these items.

- In the Application Development event, participants will develop a web-based application or game using their choice of programming language from a select list.

- Teams have eight months to develop and submit their entries by the April 27, 2011 deadline. Professional educators from around the world will judge all entries.

- Qualifying entries will be published in the ThinkQuest Library, the world’s largest online repository of student-developed learning projects that is visited by millions of learners each month.

- Prizes include laptop computers, a trip to ThinkQuest Live, hosted in the San Francisco Bay Area, and monetary grants for the coach’s school, or organization.

- More than 4,700 teams from 83 countries participated in the last competition cycle.

- Full details of the ThinkQuest International Competition 2011 are available at http://www.thinkquest.org/competition.

Supporting Quotes

- “Our experience shows that when students collaborate on subjects about which they care deeply, they produce inspiring work" said Brad Saffer, Vice President, Oracle Corporate Citizenship. “We encourage teachers and students to take part in this powerful learning experience and look forward to seeing the results of their efforts."

- “ThinkQuest has profoundly changed my classroom. It enables students to collaborate on authentic problems and engage with the community to create websites that showcase their learning on a global stage. Through this process, they´re learning important 21st century skills, such as how to engage in digital conversations, create valuable shared content, and find partners beyond their borders." said Jeanne Paulus, teacher and multi-award winning ThinkQuest coach.
Supporting Resources

- ThinkQuest
- Previous ThinkQuest International Competition Winning Sites
- Oracle Education Foundation
- Become a fan of ThinkQuest on Facebook
- View the Oracle Education Foundation YouTube channel

Notes to Editors:

About the Oracle Education Foundation

The Oracle Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization funded by Oracle. It delivers ThinkQuest, an online learning platform that helps students develop important 21st century skills, including communication, critical thinking, and technology skills. ThinkQuest includes a project environment that supports collaborative learning; technology competitions that challenge students to solve real-world problems; the award-winning ThinkQuest Library, a learning resource visited by millions; and professional development for educators.

Trademarks

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.