TCS Partners with Discovery Education for Innovation Student Challenge
Tata Consultancy Services and Discovery Education’s “Ignite Innovation Student Challenge” Is a New Competition from the Computational Thinking Curriculum “Ignite My Future in School”
Tata Consultancy Services and Discovery Education today announced the launch of the TCS Discovery Education Ignite Innovation Student Challenge. The brand-new competition gives young innovators an amazing chance to win $10,000, receive virtual mentorship from a TCS technology expert and bring a winning idea to life.
The Ignite Innovation Student Challenge encourages sixth through eighth grade students to use computational thinking to create digital solutions that improve the world and solve problems impacting TCS’ social responsibility pillars of Our Planet, Health and Education. Middle school students, up to four students per team, are invited to craft a digital concept and submit their entries by creating a written description or a one to two-minute video.
Entries must define a problem in one of TCS’ three pillars:
- Explain how their answer solves a local, national, or global issue;
- Identify the population being served; explain at least three benefits of the digital solution; identify at least two computational thinking strategies used to develop the solution; and
- Present thinking and planning using visuals.
Submissions will be judged based on creativity, content, persuasiveness and overall presentation. Ten winners will then be selected to receive prizes including the Grand Prize of a $10,000 scholarship and virtual mentorship with a TCS mentor to bring their winning idea to life.
Winners of the Top Pillar prizes in Our Planet, Heath and Education will receive $7,500 and six Winner Circle prizes of $1,000 will be awarded.
Winners will be announced in March 2019. All video and written description entries must be submitted online at www.ignitemyfutureinschool.org/Challenge no later than December 13, 2018.
Launched in 2017, Ignite My Future in School is an initiative that combines the best of digital content, lesson plans, career vignettes, and professional learning to help teachers prepare their students for careers of the future. The initiative offers educators instructional resources and year-round curriculum support to ensure that computational thinking is embedded into core subjects such as math, sciences, arts, and social studies. This interdisciplinary approach helps students to obtain the necessary skills required for 21st century careers across all industries.
On a national level, Ignite My Future in School has a goal of engaging 20,000 teachers and one million U.S. students by 2021. As a first step towards this objective, TCS and Discovery Education have partnered with U.S. school districts in the Washington, D.C. area, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Michigan and Wisconsin as early adopters and launch sites of this transdisciplinary approach. Since launching, IMFIS has provided training materials valued at more than $2 million and engaged over 185,000 students and 3,300 educators in all 50 states.
For more information on the TCS Discovery Education Ignite Innovation Student Challenge, including idea starters, project flow, four-week road map, planning guide, templates, and complete rules, please visit www.IgniteMyFutureInSchool.org/Challenge. Stay connected with Discovery Education on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @DiscoveryEd.
