The ThinkQuest homepage |
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URL | www.thinkquest.org |
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Commercial? | Nonprofit |
Type of site | Educational website |
Registration | Required |
Available language(s) | Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish |
Owner | Oracle Education Foundation |
Created by | Allan H. Weis |
Launched | 1996 (acquired by Oracle in 2002) |
Alexa rank | 4,023 (June 2010[update])[1] |
Current status | Active |
Oracle ThinkQuest is an online learning platform that helps students develop important 21st-century skills, including communication, critical thinking, and technology skills.
Delivered to K-12 schools globally, ThinkQuest includes a project environment that supports collaborative learning, technology competitions that challenge students to solve real-world problems, the award-winning ThinkQuest Library, a learning resource visited by millions, and professional development for educators.
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ThinkQuest was created in 1996 by Allan H. Weis under his nonprofit Advanced Network and Services. The service was acquired by the Oracle Education Foundation in 2002, which has operated the competition ever since. The Oracle Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization funded by Oracle Corporation.
ThinkQuest Projects is a protected learning environment where students and teachers create web-based projects and engage in collaboration with peers globally. It is available in 11 languages, including Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish.
The ThinkQuest International Competition challenges students to solve a real-world problem by applying their critical thinking, communication, and technology skills. Participants may enroll in the following competition events: ThinkQuest Projects, Digital Media, and Application Development.
In the ThinkQuest Projects event, participants have used ThinkQuest Projects – a hosted environment where students produce web-based learning projects – to create their entry. Teams define the problem they intend to solve and create a ThinkQuest Project that presents their solution and the process they followed to develop their solution. Prior experience with ThinkQuest Projects is not required.
In the Digital Media event, participants have used digital-media tools to produce a blog/journal, website, animation, public service announcement, photo essay, video, or some combination of these items. Teams define the problem they intend to solve and produce an entry that presents their solution and the process they followed to develop their solution. Prior experience with digital media development is not required.
In the Application Development event, participants have developed a web-based application using their choice of programming language(s), software, and development environment. Teams define the problem they intend to solve, produce an application that elegantly solves that problem for users, and present the process they followed to develop their solution. Although helpful, prior experience with application development is not required.
The ThinkQuest Library is the world’s largest online repository of student-developed learning projects. It is visited by millions of learners each month.
ThinkQuest received the Third Annual NII Award (1997/1998) for Education.