Media release
9 November 2007
Technology used to teach children about the environment
An interactive game developed by four CPIT students in Christchurch with funding from the CPIT Foundation will soon be able to teach school children how to sustain the environment.
The grant is one of several announced this month totalling $148,000 from the Foundation’s latest funding round. Others will fund the development of a range of literacy support resources for Trades Innovation Institute students, the Te Puna Wanaka Awards for Excellence for intermediate and secondary students, update the Laboratory’s information technology and assist a Jazz School tutor to further his trumpet studies in New York.
The environmental game has been developed by the four students as an entry in the international competition, the Imagine Cup, which is being held in France next year with the topic of imagining a world where technology encourages a sustainable environment.
Team leader Tania Thompson and fellow CPIT Bachelor in Information Communication Technologies (BICT) students Nate Walker, Fiona Forsythe and Sam Thwaites will develop the interactive game.
CPIT Foundation funding of $800 has enabled the Lost City Developers team to purchase the software they need to develop the 3D game.
“We are creating a multiplayer game to provide an interactive and engaging experience so children can see first-hand the potential consequences of how their actions influence the world they live in,” says Tania.
“The harsh consequences that face the human race and our planet will be shown through a rich and detailed virtual reality,” she says. “The technology behind the game will encourage them to make changes in their lifestyles to better the environment in which they live creating a more sustainable environment.
The Imagine Cup competition is run every year by Microsoft to encourage innovation, creativity and applying learning to solve a problem.
Concept proposals for the competition are due next month with the national competition being held in May. Finalists will then travel to France to compete with hundreds of international teams for the Imagine Cup.
Jazz school staff member and trumpet tutor Cameron Pearce also received funding from the CPIT Foundation towards completing his Master of Arts in Jazz Performance at New York’s Aaron Copland School of Music. As a jazz musician, composer and arranger he will complete his Masters in trumpet.
“The intense immersion in jazz education will bring long term benefits to CPIT’s Jazz School for teaching jazz and contemporary music both now and into the future,” he says. “I will be able to work with my colleagues to achieve the School’s vision of being a potent force in performing arts education.”
Cameron received just over $15,000 for the Foundation towards the cost of his studies in New York.
The largest grant of $108, 000 was made to the School of Applied Science to equip all its laboratories with computers, data projectors, document cameras and smart boards.
For more information: Tony Kunowski, CPIT Foundation, telephone 03 365 3469 or 021 135 2641. Email: cpfoundation@xtra.co.nz. Website: www.cpfoundation.co.nz.