Students representing Darlington's ELA-8 and Upper School divisions took home several awards from last week's Georgia Educational Technology Fair at Middle Georgia State University in Macon.
The current year marks the first that Darlington has participated in the technology showcase, which brought together more than 500 first-place winners from 19 regional fairs across the state.
A total of 18 Darlington students competed in the event after successfully advancing through the Northwest Regional Tech Fair last December. The fair's categories spanned specialized tasks including 3-D modeling, internet applications, graphic design, mobile apps and video production. Each project that was presented in Macon was created in either a classroom or the Makerspace on the Darlington campus.
“Competitions are important because they push the kids to think outside the box and to try harder,” said Beth Wardlaw, technology integration specialist. “We wanted to try out the state fair this year and get a few groups involved in hopes that other kids would see it, and become interested in participating the next time.”
Freshman Elliot Kinney and sophomore Philip Woford won first place in the competition's device modification category. The duo took a small computer and upcycled it into a large game controller for two players, and also programmed a simple game to use with it. While positive marks were given for the more technical aspects of the project, the team received praise for aesthetics as well.
Kinney and junior Julian Porto won second place in game design for their original “Project: Top Down Shooter,” a single-player seven-level game where a main character battles it out against three different kinds of enemies and their leader. The game also featured an original soundtrack and sound effects made specifically for the project.
Eighth-grader Michael Hall also brought back an award, winning third in state for the tech literacy challenge. The student completed a written exam that tested his knowledge of the history of computers, their inner-workings, computer applications, emerging technologies, the Internet, and the social implications of these machines.
“Competition provides a deadline that drives the quality of a product up, especially if you know you have to present it in front of judges and compete against other students and schools,” said Owen Kinney, Darlington's Upper School science department chair. “Our kids want to have something that sets them apart from other students, to learn new skills and use those skills in this competitive environment.”
Maintaining an involvement and visibility in state-level tournaments is a sign of more "maker-centric" opportunities along the horizon for Darlington students. Plans are also being discussed to create an annual school-wide maker fair, from which winners would advance to regional, and then state levels.
“We don't know what kind of careers will exist when our students graduate from college,” added Wardlaw. “If we can get these kids interested by third and fourth grade, we know they will fall in love and develop those technological skills early. Our desire is to prepare them to be better problem-solvers—thinking creatively with innovation.”
The Georgia Educational Technology Fair (GaETF) is an annual student technology tournament produced by the Georgia Educational Technology Consortium. The GaETF is the highest level of student technology competition in Georgia, and exists to challenge young makers to become leaders in a digital age.
Click here to see more photos from Darlington's participation in the Georgia Educational Technology Fair.
