Education: March 2009 Archives
A new game called Time Engineers teaches kids about engineering (and time travel).
The first product to emerge from the TechInsights-Software Kids partnership is a game called Time Engineers. It's intended to promote kids' interest in engineering and has received numerous educator awards and lots of positive reviews. In fact, it beat out Lucas Arts and Walt Disney at a recent competition. You can view the game at www.software-kids.com/ html/time_engineers.html. The College of Engineering at Valparaiso University also had a hand in the game's creation.Playing Time Engineers, students travel in a time machine to three different time periods and encounter typical engineering problems that must be solved in order to build pyramids, irrigate farm land, command a WWII submarine, raise and lower medieval drawbridges, and more. The game provides students with opportunities to learn about how engineering principles have helped people through the ages.
Unlike many educational games, Time Engineers was designed to be rich in graphics and content to hold the middle and high school students' interest while simultaneously applying some of the fundamental principles of engineering. Tools like this are now needed more than ever.
(HT: DS.)
My daughter has been born, and I haven't changed my mind about not paying for her college education. In addition to the points I made in that earlier post, I believe that:
1. Tuition will get cheaper over time. It's vastly overpriced right now, and I think that will be corrected over the next 18 years.
2. There will be fewer students in the future. According to this Census estimate almost 10% of the population is currently college-age; in 2025 the percentage is predicted to drop to 8.7%. Fewer college students among a larger population means more loans and grants for future students. We're at a mini-peak for that age group right now, which (along with the credit freeze) is why college is so expensive at the moment.
3. As I said before: no one will lend me money for retirement. Additionally, my wife is younger than I am and will need to live off our retirement savings for longer than I will.
