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The Oracle Education Foundation recently welcomed its Think partners from around the world to the fourth annual Think Partners Conference in San Diego, California. Nearly 100 partners, educational leaders, and advisors took part in the three-day event, sharing real-world experiences and best practices around the ThinkQuest competition, Think.com, and collaborative learning through technology.
ThinkQuest and Think.com are free online programs for the primary and secondary education community, sponsored by the Oracle Education Foundation. ThinkQuest, a global competition that challenges students to create innovative and educational web sites, and Think.com, an online learning environment used by 300,000 students and teachers worldwide, have been embraced by educators as effective ways to engage students while teaching fundamental skills in project management, research, teamwork, web publishing, collaboration, and writing.
"Attending the Think Partners Conference gives me a global perspective on improving student learning through the use of technology," said Bonnie Marks, California Think partner and representative from the California Technology Assistance Project. "It's uplifting to learn about efforts in other parts of the world and to share ideas with one another."
At the July 2006 conference, partners had the opportunity to share their insight and experience on how to enhance ThinkQuest and Think.com, and encourage even more students to take part in collaborative project learning.
"For 12 years, ThinkQuest has helped thousands of students develop research, teamwork, collaboration, and technology skills, while creating long-lasting relationships with peers internationally," said Clare Dolan, Vice President, Oracle Education Initiatives. "The Think Partners Conference provides the Oracle Education Foundation and its partners with a focused opportunity to share ThinkQuest and Think.com success stories, and to discuss how these collaborative learning programs can help even more students develop vital skills needed for 21st century academic and career success."
The Think Partners Conference convened on the heels of the largest, most comprehensive ThinkQuest competition to date. Nearly 3,000 students took part in ThinkQuest International 2006, submitting over 650 educational Web sites. The winning teams included students from 17 countries who collaborated across time zones and geographies to create comprehensive, educational Web sites on topics ranging from avian influenza to poverty in developing nations. Award-winning web sites can be viewed at http://thinkquest.org/winners/.
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