What is IT-Adventures?
IT-Adventures, which is in its fifth year of operation, is an innovative program that is dedicated to increasing interest in and awareness of IT among high school students through inquiry-based learning focused on three content areas: cyber defense, game design programming, and robotics.
IT-Adventures utilizes secondary, post-secondary, and industry partnerships in educational programming, competitive events and service learning projects aimed at the high school students, as well as workshops and classes for high school teachers, to accomplish its goal. Additionally, the program has components that are targeted at post-secondary students at the community college level.
By using an inquiry-based approach students can explore IT in a non-threatening, experimental environment. Modeled upon two years of successful pilot project high school cyber defense competitions, the basis of the program is the formation of IT-Clubs in high schools across Iowa. The IT-Club provides an avenue for students to gain access to educational materials from Iowa State University (ISU) and to ask questions of IT professionals.
The capstone event for students who participate in IT-Adventures is a two-day competition, named the IT-Olympics, on the ISU campus. It features high school students showcasing the IT knowledge they have gained during the year in competitions and presentations. IT-Olympics is also a celebration of IT, and is open to the public. Family members, high school counselors, teachers, and the general public can watch the students in their quest to be the best, or can explore IT careers and opportunities on their own.
The program is a partnership forged between:
- Iowa State University’s Information Assurance Center,
- Iowa Department of Economic Development,
- Iowa Mathematics and Science Education Partnership
- Technology Association of Iowa,
- Iowa chapter of InfraGard,
- other Iowa businesses.
If you are new to the IT-Adventures program, you may want to watch:
- an eight minute video about IT-Adventures produced by Iowa Public Television;
- a short PowerPoint slide show;
- a cyber defense video from the IT-Olympics competition that was produced by ISU's College of Engineering and made available at current.com.
Previous Years' Information
We also have information about the participants from the previous two years of competition:
