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August 22nd, 2008 by: Jimmy
Congratulations to our 2008 Ultimate Gaming Weekend Champions!
Banditz, Zach M. from University of Washington and
Gh0stfaceK1llah, Chris S. from the University of Central Florida
These two amazing gamers, attended our Ultimate Gaming Weekend program and achieved the status, nay, the very pinnacle of success that defined the Ultimate Gaming Weekend Gamer.
Battling the minions who dared to challenge them in the arena of multiplayer gaming, they came out victorious. Foe after foe slayed by the mighty left and right mouse button, they ignored the cries of misery and instead rallied behind the mighty power of “PWND”.
On behalf of all of us at iD Tech Camps, we want to congratulate you for all of your hard work and dedication to the sport of gaming!
August 22nd, 2008
Posted in: Do Something Big
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
Computer Camp Teaches Children New Technology
By Heather Murtaugh
Flocks of sheep can fly and talk with Scottish accents.
Well not in day-to-day life, but those are common sights in 12-year-old Eric Snyder’s modification of video games, also known as modding. Actually, Snyder does not yet know how to give the sheep the accents. But the flock is definitely soaring overhead. Learning to create these different situations in an existing video game is just one lesson students can choose to pursue at iD Tech Computer Camps. The camp is offered in 23 states, Washington, D.C. and through a study abroad program in Spain to students 7 to 17 years old. In our ever-changing technology-driven society, many of the skills children learn at an early age can be put to use for professions in the future.
Or in the case of 14-year-old Nick Peterson from Burlingame, those skills can be used straight away. Peterson first signed up for camp four years ago. The first two years he opted to go during the day. This year and last year he stayed over night. Each session gave Peterson the ability to build on tech skills.
During his various camp sessions, Peterson has taken digital video, Web design, special effects and gaming design.
He’s been able to use his video skills as a sort of side job.
“I love camp, and I learn a lot,” he said near the end of his one-week session.
ID Camps average about six students per staff with only adult staff. Additionally, each student has their own computer in which to work. Camps are partnered with over 50 universities – locally with Stanford University. Through the week, students learn skills such as web design, animation and Flash through projects.
Foster City resident Sandra Kung, 11, was able to build a Web site about puppies. She picked the topic because she really wants a dog but can’t have one.
Kung previously attended a different technology camp. She left it unimpressed and brought those same apprehensions to the first day of camp in Palo Alto this year. She was pleasantly surprised, however. Kung plans to help her friends design Web sites.
Fourteen-year-old Stephanie Lee designed a site about soccer. She plays for a local club team as a defender.
“It’s fun to be able to create [a Web site]. It’s a lot of fun and it’s cool to see when you finish,” said Lee as she showed various aspects to her soccer Web site.
Although the focus is on technology, it is still a camp, explained Lead Instructor Dory Abrams.
“It’s really fun but also educational,” she said. “It’s a hard balance, but we manage to pull it off.”
There’s special activities planned each night for the students like movie night, talent show and an ice breaker event where staff introduces themselves using costumes and funny skits.
Students also have set time away from the computers in the afternoon to play games and sports.
Participating in camp can be rewarding for the staff was well.
Director Lydia “Big Apple” Luxama teaches ninth grade English during the school year. This is her ninth camp season, and the sixth with iD Camps. As her time with the company expanded and grew, so did her opportunities, she explained. Luxama began as an instructor. Today she is the director at the Palo Alto location.
For Luxama, a big component of camp is enhancing the children as individuals. Students get tickets for things like working well with others or helping another person. Those tickets go into a raffle at the end of the week.
Eleven-year-old Paul Touma from Atherton had a lot of tickets stored in the lanyard around his neck holding his ID. Touma was participating in a special camp allowing him to choose a sport - in his case tennis - to participate in half the time with the rest of his camp focused on technology.
Touma was nervous to attend camp, which he regretted by the end of camp since he made so many friends.
Learning to create the games was easier than Touma had originally thought, at least once he got into it. He created a basic shooting game. Once home, Touma most likely will not make additional games since he simply does not have access to the software.
Creating first-person shooting games has a certain amount of violence build into it. The camp, however, has a patch on the software preventing students from creating games with certain violent actions, explained Counselor Emily “Thumper” Lindsay.
Lindsay joined the staff from Canada and teaches 3-D game design and game modding. Some of her students also create a puzzle game. Each has the chance to stump Thumper with their game. Students take turns attempting to stump each other as well, she said. Teleporters seem to be very popular with the students.
Sean Morgenthaler, 12, used his skills to modify games to make games he owns harder, he said.
Morgenthaler , from Portola Valley, began taking the classes in 2004 because he really likes computers. He definitely sees himself working in the computer science industry later in life.
“This is a fun place to go and do what you like,” he said. “It’s a lot different from some of the other computer camps. You have freedom. They give you guidelines, but you can use your imagination.”
For more information visit www.internaldrive.com.
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
iD Tech Camps Weave Web of Learning for Kids
By Dave Thomas
Just because school is out for the summer does not mean students are not learning. One local tech camp is making sure students learn and have fun at the same time.
The iD Tech Camps, which include offerings locally at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), make available weeklong sessions for day and overnight, beginner to advanced students, ages 7 to 17, at more than 50 prestigious universities in 23 states and Spain. The local camp, which is in its ninth year in La Jolla, will run through Aug. 8 at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Students learn how to create video games, experience game modding, improve gaming skills, build robots, design Web sites with Flash, produce digital movies, create comic books, learn programming and more.
As a result of attending iD Tech Camps, the student’s self-esteem improves as he or she returns to school and incorporates the learned technology into school projects and extracurricular hobbies. Oftentimes these students are mentors for other students and even teachers.
Every camper has his/her own computer and there is an average of six students per staff member.
Campers also get exposed to university life as they are on campus, work in the lab and eat in the cafeteria. Overnight campers sleep in the dorms.
At UCSD, students can also take a Surf & Tech program in which they spend half the day learning to surf and the other half making a Web site or creating a video game.
A number of local students are partaking in the learning and fun this summer, including Liberty and Montana Ruderman of La Jolla.
The two said they have learned how to make Web sites and flash animation. They first put the images together in Photoshop and then used Dreamweaver to create the code for their very own Web site.
Asked why they are attending the camp, they noted that they have their own Web site and their dad wanted them to get experience making Web sites while having fun at camp.
The two said the best thing to date at camp so far was flash animation, with Montana adding, “I made my character wave.”
La Jollan Kasi Ladjevardi is also attending this summer, noting that last year she came to this camp and made a cool video game.
“This week I’m making a Web page and animating a character in flash,” Ladjevardi said.
Asked the best thing about camp so far, Ladjevardi noted the help given by the instructor.
“She showed me how to animate my character,” Ladjevardi added.
Norby Cisneros of San Diego said that making a really cool comic book was fun.
“I also learned how to use the computer keyboard and mouse,” Cisneros said. “I used the Wacom tablet to draw pictures for my comic book named ‘Robots Attack.’ ‘The Unknown Creature’ is my second comic book I’m working on with my partner in class, Ava Ladjevardi.”
Cisneros added that the instructors are nice.
“I get tickets for the Friday raffle when I do stuff that’s good,” Cisneros added. “The best thing about the camp is that I like working with a partner to make an even cooler comic book.”
And not to leave out the local flavor, Cisneros added, “The cafeteria at UCSD is a buffet.”
There is still some space available at the UCSD camp. For further information and fees for the remaining weeks of camp, visit www.internalDrive.com or call (888) 709-TECH (8324).
© 2008 San Diego Community Newspaper Group
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
Innovative iD Tech Camp Lets Kids Create Computer Games
By Sally Applegate
North Andover -
The Blade of Awe has been stolen, and it is up to you to find The Prime Suspect and return the stolen sword to the king.
To do so, you will have to face all the creatures in the woods that don’t want you to get it back, but you have already slain a dragon.
When you reach the Palace of Darkness the Samurai warrior guards will try to stop you, but you are stronger than three of them put together.
Charley Lei of Andover, a sixth grader at West Middle School, has quite the imagination. He is in the process of creating the Quest of Dragons game in a room at Merrimack College’s Deegan Hall, where iD Tech Camp’s young campers are hard at work on their projects.
Sitting next to Charley, Ian McGinty, a seventh grader from Chelmsford, demonstrates how the heroes of these games cope with hit points and benefit from health points – until they run out, that is.
“Ian’s my friend,” says Charley as he explains what happens once your health points run out. “If you lose all your health points, you go to the Underworld, where Death himself decides whether to keep you or send you back to start all over again. It’s basically never-ending. [In my game] you can go to any other city and find another quest.”
Charley views the game he is creating as an adventure that might make a good book someday.
At the other end of the room, Ethan Gouveia, a seventh grader from North Reading, is building a first person shooter game in a futuristic urban world full of villains that must be eliminated.
“You come up and get your gun and ammunition, and there is a second gun here if you are able to get it,” explains Ethan. “It’s supposed to be science fiction. You get keys to the guns, and if you can’t get the keys, you can jump through a door.”
Ethan’s game is a maze of colorful boxes where danger lurks and hidden items will let you get yourself another weapon – or take a hit if you step on a corner, but find healing if you step on a green box – but during the game you can’t see what color the boxes are. If you negotiate the final maze of small tunnels you enter the Win Zone at the base of the game.
iD Tech Camp
Merrimack College is one of three Massachusetts colleges, along with MIT and Smith College, offering youngsters at the national camp this opportunity to spend a week creating a video game and learning many other skills such as game modding, robot building, Web site design, digital movie production and comic book creation.
The youngsters range in age from 7 to 17, and use the products Apple, Adobe, AutoDesk, Canon, Clickteam, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Symantec, VEX, Western Digital, Wacom and others as they build their video games.
They also get a preview of what college life will be like as they work on campus, eat in the college cafeteria, and, for overnight campers, sleep in the college dorms. This is the fifth year at Merrimack College for the iD Tech Camp, which is in its 10th year of operation.
Lead Instructor Greg Kinneman is a 2006 graduate of North Andover High School currently entering his junior year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute [WPI]. This is his second year teaching at the camp.
“Last year I saw a newspaper article on the tech camp and checked out their Web site,” says Kinneman. “I’d had a lot of experience working with kids and was studying game design at WPI with a major in Interactive Media and Game Design. When I went on their www.internalDrive.comWeb site I viewed it as if I were a student coming to camp, would I enjoy it? I found it is a well set up camp, with a beautiful Web page.”
Kinneman applied online, was accepted, and taught at the camp last year.
“I really enjoyed it, so I came back this year,” says Kinneman, whose camp nickname is Jazz Jackrabbit. “I’d like to work for a game development company, either nearby or in California or Texas. I could start as a programmer and work my way up to being a lead designer someday.”
The campers enjoy an outdoor hour every day, with sports, games and interacting as a group. At the end of each day, they gather outside to recognize and thank each other for the help they gave each other during the day.
Camp Director Liz Theis, camp nickname Motherboard, is a grad student at the New School in New York City, and teaches Video Production at the Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School in New Haven, Conn. She says the afternoon acknowledgement is part of the camp’s social experience, giving the campers a chance to interact with people with similar interests.
Kinneman was surprised at how diverse these young computer enthusiasts are.
“When I first came here I expected to see narrowly focused kids,” says Kinneman. “The truth is we have kids from all walks of life with all sorts of interests, really into athletics and social activities. They’re really a diverse group of individuals. They’re what makes this all worth it.”
You can check out the camp for yourself at www.internalDrive.com.
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: Bentley University, Brown University, Harvard University, iD In The News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Merrimack College
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
iD summer tech camp includes design classes
Participants work for one week to finish video game projects
By Ines Min
On a UT blackboard Wednesday, 15-year-old Tyler Bautista worked out the equation for an algorithm to make his video game function properly.
Bautista came to the solution a few minutes later using the Pythagorean theorem and guidance from an instructor. The algorithm would keep the video game’s enemy from fruitlessly entering a tower’s line of defense and dying senselessly, Bautista explained.
For the past eight years, internalDrive, a family-founded technology education organization, has put on a summer technology camp for kids ages 7 to 17 on the UT campus. The camp is a technology-driven educational program consisting of week-long specialized courses in robotics and video game and Web design.
Every summer, the kids and staff members come from countries around the world, including Canada, Egypt, Norway and France, to participate, said Jennifer Suarez, director of the Austin program and first-grade teacher who has worked at the camp for two summers.
Up to 70 kids enroll each week and are allowed to take as many of the courses as they want. A week-long overnight course costs about $1,200, and a week-long day course is about $750.
The most popular courses at UT are 3-D game design and video game creation, Suarez said.
Kids in the 3-D design class build video games from scratch using a special design program. The robotics class started with a basic square bot and focused on making their robots able to move before making more sophisticated robots that can fight with each other using weapons.
“I was blown away by the kids here,” Suarez said. “They are all brilliant.”
Freda Li, a 14-year-old from Houston who took the Web design course, spent the week creating a Web site of her favorite bands and worked Wednesday to create an animated background for her site using Adobe Photoshop.
“I think it’s really fun. I like working with computers and we get lots of time to hang out,” said Li, who is one of three girls enrolled in the camp.
“We’ve found that the girls in the camp are really creative,” Suarez said, adding that the program is trying to recruit more girls. “They create the most visually appealing games.”
Peter Golightly, a 15-year-old who recently moved to Austin and partook in the program’s camp at Stanford University, based his work on a popular online game. Using a computer program, a designer creates a game by first starting with a model, then creating a skeleton, adding texture and eventually a script, Golightly said.
“It’s like a jigsaw, but the pieces can be molded to any shape you want,” he said.
Staff member Eric Cooper, 22, said the game can become as complex as the designer wants and depends on the time and effort put forth. Kids are given the entire week to finish a game, working for approximately six hours a day on the computer. Outdoor activities are integrated into the schedule.
Walker Summers, 13, spent his week in the game programming course. His game combined elements from the video game World of Warcraft III and the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
“It’s a lot of fun here,” Summers said. “[The programs] are easy to work with, and it’s fun to make maps.”
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
This tech camps is no Flash in the pan
By Terria Smith
Kids and computers fill a room in California Lutheran University’s Nygreen Hall, creating digital army tanks, animals and landscapes for the computer games the students are making at iD Tech Camp.
“This is very fun. It’s what I live for every year,” said James Sutton, 12, who attends Santa Rosa Technology Magnet in Camarillo and is in his fifth summer at the camp. “We get to learn a skill that not a lot of people get to learn.”
The iD (internal Drive) Tech Camp runs from the end of June to the beginning of August. Each session is 2 1/2 weeks long. Students 7 to 17 take classes to learn how to create video games, design Web sites, produce digital movies and learn programming.
The program started 10 years ago and is held at 50 universities in 23 states. Some programs offer overnight camps. The program at Cal Lutheran is day only and costs $749 per session.
Charlie Freund, local program director, said this is the seventh summer that CLU has hosted the program.
He said most students come into the program with an interest in computers and can be successful if that is all the background they have.
“They can pretty much come in without much knowledge,” he said.
Ken Gorman, in his third year as a camp instructor, said the program tries to get new students into core classes so they can learn and build on that knowledge.
“It’s a great environment to teach in because they’re so eager to learn more,” Gorman said.
Freund said the students learn Web design using Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Flash software programs. He said they make two- and three-dimensional video games using Multimedia Fusion 2.
Gorman added that the staff tries to keep the games as nonviolent as possible.
“There’s a lot more to developing a computer game than making one thing shoot at another,” he said. “We want them to get a whole design with a story line, plot, beginning and end.”
This is 11-year-old Nicholas Berardis’ second year in the program. The student from Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village said he was designing a game that wasn’t a maze but was still challenging for a player to try to find his way out. He said his favorite types of games to make are 2-D games.
“Most games that are 2-D are from old times,” Nicholas said. “I didn’t know anything about making video games before I came here.”
Gorman said he hopes that the campers leave the program with a desire to be more creative and learn more.
“Most students come back with a willingness to be open-minded,” Gorman said.
- For information on iD Tech Camps, visit http://www.internalDrive.com.
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: Cal Lutheran University, iD In The News, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UCLA
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
June 2008
By Becky Brock
Believe it or not, summer camps are not limited to hiking and horseback riding anymore. Instead, camps are catering to a variety of children’s interests. To keep up with the fast paced lifestyle of the 21st century, iD Tech Camp offers an exciting summer camp with beginner to advanced level courses, for ages 7 to 17, on the newest technology, programming and film strategies and systems.
Family owned and operated, iD Tech Camp has more than 50 camp locations at prestigious universities in 23 states and features a study-abroad program in Spain. With almost a dozen camp locations scattered across California, there is one right here in Orange County at UC Irvine.
iD tech Camp, which prides itself on being America’s number one tech camp, gives students opportunities to work with the latest technology and educated staff members.
“Tech camp sounds like an ideal opportunity for children to experiment with software that may be inaccessible to them,” says Claire Rubman, associate professor at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood, New York. “They can also work with experts in the field that may not be available in the regular school year and dedicate time to hone a new skill.”
Students also work closely with staff members because of the 6:1 ratio. With only five to six students in each course, staff members are better able to help students complete their projects and understand the computer, gaming, or film systems. And, to make iD Tech Camp a memorable summer camp, each staff member is at least an upper-level undergraduate, or graduate studying related fields where the iD Tech Camps are held. The instructors not only serve as mentors, but they are also trained and closely evaluated.
Whether or not your child stays for day camp or the overnight camp, students are motivated to learn because each course is project based, to give students a hands-on experience. At the end of the week, students submit a project using the new skills they have learned, like digital video editing or making their own web page.
But the camp isn’t all work and no play. Each day, students are given free time to play Frisbee, board games and more. Some camps, like the one at the UC San Diego campus, is used for a Surf and Tech Camp for kids ages 11 to 17. Half the day is spent learning video game creation or web design and the other half is surf instruction.
Karen Thurm Safran, vice president of marketing, points out that when students complete the projects they have worked on all week, it gives them a sense of accomplishment and helps boost many students’ self esteem. Also, the iD Tech Camp locations are a part of the goal to help kids embrace the learning process.
“Because it’s at a university, the child may decide to apply there,” Thurm Safran says. “It encourages them to continue on with their education.”
Julian Finnegan of San Francisco enrolled in an iD Tech Camp video game creation course when he was 10 years old. Not long after, he started creating his own video games and selling them to his friends.
It has been four years since Julian started his own video-gaming business. He has acquired most of his electronic literacy by attending the id Tech Camp and Gaming Academy.
“It’s his favorite camp,” says his mother Ellen.
The skills Julian learned at camp have helped him at school and home. In addition to creating his own video games, he helps his teachers install software, prepare lighting for school plays and has designed a Web site for his father.
iD Tech Camp also encourages green activity, including carpooling, lowering energy consumption and recycling. Staff members say they know the importance of teaching kids technological advancements and how to stay green, to improve the future. For more information about iD Tech Camp, visit www.internaldrive.com. -Becky Brock
This article originally appeared in Parenting OC Magazine’s June, 2008 issue.
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News, UC Irvine
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
Camp for Computer-Age Children
By Rob Ikoku
CHAPEL HILL-For many children, summer camp offers the opportunity to get away from mom and dad, make new friends and have all kinds of fun on the lake. But for some children, camp involves more conditioning. Air conditioning, that is.
Campers at iD Tech Camp at UNC take the summer camp idea and turn it inside-out. Designed to cater to the computer crowd, the camp, based in UNC’s Spencer dorm, offers classes ranging from programming to video game modification. Open to kids as young as 7, the weekly camp caters to those who have frown up surrounded by an electronic culture, and who represent the future of a booming industry, explained cam director Kathy Trimble.
“For this age group, it’s a very natural thing,” she said. “Each child takes their own track and makes their own custom-designed project.”
As she spoke, fingers clicked away at keyboards as games of all types were being constructed, tested and tweaked. Mason Garard, 12, of Noblesville, Ind., took time away to describe his 12-level creation.
“I guess it’s an adventure game,” he said. “The spider’s name is Cirrus and he’s fighting Nimbus, the demon. I’m going to sell the idea to Nintendo.”
While it might be a few more years before the designers behind titles such as blockbusters Halo and Grand Theft Auto take notice, it’s not as far-fetched as it might seem, Trimble said. “We have iD Tech campers who have published games.”
For parents who might second guess sending their children to a computer camp, Trimble was reassuring, insisting that the game-based camp offered an opportunity to be creative rather than just an escape.
“It’s logic based,” she said, referring to the game design software, before adding that every game “has to be carefully designed and built.”
As for video games in general, the freedom involved with constructing is the real draw, but that freedom has limits, said Andy Arminio, a camp counselor from Flagstaff, Ariz. He spoke at length concerning violence in video games and the balance between allowing campers to build them as they wish and ensuring they keep violence to a minimum.
“It does look a lot more realistic,” he said, referring to the violence in some of the advanced campers’ creations. “But in the end, you’re responsible for what you do. It’s always a trade-off between freedom of expression and the public good.”
In the end, the camp gives all comers the opportunity to work with computers and do what they love, Trimble said. “It gives the campers the change to live a college life and also experience being independent.”
This article first appeared in the July 7th edition of the Chapel Hill Herald.
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
UCSC Camp Encourages Kids to Unleash Digital Creativity
By Nathan Ichtertz
Video game companies such as Rare and Ubisoft design role-playing games, but now kids as young as 7 can, too.
At the iD Tech Camp at UC Santa Cruz, one of approximately 74 such camps in the United States, children ages 7-17 learn how to create video games, improve gaming skills, build robots, design Web sites, produce digital movies and learn programming.
“The whole point of the camp is to show kids these are skills they can really use,” said Sultan Rana, director of the iD Tech Camp at UCSC. “We’re tapping into their creativity.”
The camp, which expects 30-40 kids per week, runs weekly sessions from June 29 to Aug. 1, and is a hands-on, project-based curriculum where campers complete a project by the end of the week.
“It’s a rewarding experience teaching software to the next generation,” said instructor Tim Alvord.
ID Tech also offers a Surf & Tech program, where students spend half the day surfing and the rest of the time creating a Web site or video game.
The campers, most of whom are local residents, are given software to create their own video games and Web sites, and instructors are there to help as needed.
Brian Luzovich, a 15-year-old from Ben Lomond, created a WarCraft III map, which mimicked a map from the popular computer game. Luzovich said it’s really cool because he’s in control of designing every aspect of the game.
“You’re totally free,” said 11-year-old Nicole Trenchard of Scotts Valley, who was in the middle of creating a Pac-Man-like game.
In the morning, campers work on their projects for an hour and a half, then they take a 20 minute break.
“A lot of them suffer writer’s block; they don’t know where to take their game, so we give them a break to relax,” said Rana.
The day continues with lunch, and campers engage in group activities afterwards. Activities range from participation in sports to team-oriented video game tournaments.
Students then continue working on their projects, followed by “reflection time,” where the kids talk about their experience that day and interact with one another.
“I’m learning a lot at the camp,” said Alex Chesebro, a 13-year-old from Granite Bay. “The people are great. The animation is pretty easy to do and it’s rewarding to see it online.”
ID Tech Camp is a family-owned company, started by Alexa Ingram-Cauchi in 1999 while she was an undergraduate at the University of Washington. Cauchi saw a need for a hands-on summer technology program located at top universities where students could use cutting-edge products from respected companies. She believed such an environment would encourage students to pursue their secondary education while engaging in technology.
The camp is celebrating its 10th year this summer.
“I love iD Tech Camp. I was here last year and I loved it so much I came back and took it this year,” said Rory Landau, a 10-year-old from Scotts Valley. “I’d recommend it to anyone who likes computers.”
For information on the camp, visit www.internaldrive.com or call 1-888-709-8324.
August 21st, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News
August 21st, 2008 by: Ryan
Making the game: Kids gain computer skills at iD Tech Camp
By J.J. Huggins
NORTH ANDOVER – Being the best gamer on the block isn’t enough for some local kids. They took the competition to the next level and attended camp to learn to create their own video games.
“After I make the game, everybody gives me compliments about how much they like it,” said Dan Gilbert, 13, of Andover.
Using computer software, Dan made a game in which players walk around and shoot people, then take their enemies’ weapons. The Doherty Middle School student was one of 58 campers at the iD Tech Camp at Merrimack College last week.
He and other young people between the ages of 7 and 17 made video games, digital movies, Web sites and robots. The kids worked diligently in computer labs while their young adult instructors walked around giving pointers.
These camps are run at more than 50 colleges and universities in 23 states and Spain. Weeklong camps will run at Merrimack College through the end of the month. Last week’s program had 35 day campers and 23 overnight campers.
The overnight kids slept in dorms and ate in the dining hall. They spent the days working and learning, and their evenings outside or playing board games, video games and watching movies, according to camp director Elizabeth Theis.
Theis is a schoolteacher in Connecticut during the academic year. As the camp’s leader, her nickname is, appropriately, “Motherboard.”
Jeffrey Dreyfus, 11, of Andover went to the camp to learn more about making video games, so he can catch up to his friends’ abilities.
“Just coming here has already helped me a lot,” the Wood Hill Middle School student said.
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August 21st, 2008
Posted in: iD In The News
