About Us
DesignIT Studios is a grant-based program funded through the National Science Foundation developed to promote Information Technology fluency among diverse Americans. The aim of the project is to encourage 160 minority and under-served children entering grades 7 through 9 to tinker and design things using a variety of IT tools and materials - including microcontrollers (Crickets) designed by the MIT Media Lab, robotic sensors, and Logo Blocks and MicroWorlds software -- in order to learn fundamental IT skills that can later be applied to college and workplace settings. Four studios serve the students: one at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, one at the Applied Learning Academy, and at two Boys and Girls Clubs. One goal of the project is to establish a new partnership for IT education between a science museum, a middle school, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Ft. Worth, and large IT and engineering corporations.
Four DesignIT studios in one community proide unusually high accessibility to computers for low income and minority youth -- whether they are at home, in school, or in out-of-school care programs. Youth participants may choose their own paths from an array of enrichment resources including mentor relationship, work internships, support for the creation of their own Design IT projects, and opportunities for college preparedness, resume building, and peer coaching. Impact on youth is sustained after the period of NSF support, as students move through high school, college, work internships, and recruitment and scholarship programs made possible by TX A&M, TX Christian University, the TX Business & Education Coalition, and Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.
The DesignIT Studios project will allow project leaders to evaluate a design-based approach to IT learning, which may serve as a national model for fundamental IT skill-building among American citizens.
Our partners include:
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
Fort Worth Boys and Girls Clubs
Massachusetts Institute for Technology
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
Contact Information:
Abdur-Raheem Saafir, DesignIT Coach
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
(817) 255-9300
Jonathon Mills
DesignIT Studio Theatrical and Technical Specialist
(817) 255-9300 ext. 588