CSUSB welcomes African-American and Latino middle school boys for Verizon Innovative Learning Camp

CSUSB News

This summer 150 African-American and Latino boys from middle schools across San Bernardino are learning technology skills at Cal State San Bernardino as part of the Verizon Innovative Learning Camp.One of 17 institutions nationwide chosen as a host site, it marks second straight year CSUSB, a Hispanic-Serving Institution, has been selected. It was the first CSU campus to hold a Verizon Innovative Learning Camp, and this summer is joined by Cal State Los Angeles.
CSUSB has already held two sessions, June 19-23 and July 10-14, with a third camp taking place July 17-21. Each session assembles 50 attendees. During the first camp, the MdBio Foundation worked with with Verizon and brought the Verizon Innovative Learning explorer lab to campus on June 22 for the middle schoolers.
The explorer lab is a shared immersive learning experience that combines movie-quality video, special effects, and hands-on educational gaming to create a learning environment that gets kids excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) — right in the school parking lot.
The students experienced a shared immersive learning experience of light, sound and video that took them to Mars onboard the explorer lab. Students watched a five-minute video about the solar system and human space exploration. They then were given tablet computers and presented with engineering challenges to design and maneuver their rovers over the Martian surface.
Later this month, eight boys from last year’s program will attend a special youth summit in San Francisco. For most of them, it will be the first time flying in an airplane. The youth summit will be aimed at inspiring attendees to be early adopters and leaders in emerging technological trends such as wearable technology, virtual reality, 3D printing and the Internet.
The Verizon Innovative Learning Camp, the first of its kind, exposes young male African-American and Latino students to technology, including coding and 3D printing, and provides valuable ...

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