Carnegie Mellon to Announce Collaboration with Electronic Arts

["David Farber" <dave () farber net>]

Contact: Anne Watzman, Carnegie Mellon          For immediate release:
        412-268-3830
        aw16 () andrew cmu edu

Karen Alston, McKinley High School
        202-636-0020
        karen () alstonmarketing com

Tammy Schachter, Electronic Arts
             650-628-7223
             tschachter () ea com

Media Advisory: Carnegie Mellon Announces Collaboration With Electronic
Arts Inc.

Partnership Will Revolutionize How Computer Programming Is Taught in the
U.S.

EVENT: Carnegie Mellon University and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) will
announce a groundbreaking collaboration that can revolutionize how computer
programming is taught in the U.S. With input from EA, Carnegie Mellon's
popular Alice programming software (www.alice.org), currently used at 100
high schools and universities in the U.S., will reach new levels of visual
excitement and usability, especially among young women and minorities.
Instead of manipulating numbers and code, the Alice programming language
lets students drag and drop 3-D characters - people, houses or animals -
into scenes on the computer screen, move them around and tell stories as
the student is learning the basics of programming. A great strength lies in
making abstract concepts concrete in the eyes of first-time programmers.
The numbers of students studying computer science in U.S. colleges and
universities has dropped 50 percent in the last five years. National
Science Foundation-funded studies show that Alice improves student
performance and retention at the college level and inspires middle school
girls.
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 10.
WHERE: McKinley Technology High School, 151 T Street NE, Washington, DC
20002.
(Email: mckinleytechnology () k12 dc us)
Established by the federal government as a model technology high school,
McKinley was chosen as the site for this announcement because Alice is
already a mainstay of its curriculum. More than 300 McKinley students use
Alice each day to learn computer programming.
###




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