[racket] Global Learning XPRIZE -- and Racket?

FWIW, Racket (launched as PLT Scheme) was initially all about educational projects. We are still running outreach projects that synthesize math at the (US) middle school level. We don't use Racket of course but languages that support the pedagogy at that level, derived from and inspired by Racket. Our experience with that angle is great. 

Of course, this is not the same as building apps with Racket (for Android). But I agree that there is a chance and I encourage you to pursue this idea 

-- Matthias





On Jan 29, 2015, at 3:34 AM, Byron Davies <byrondavies at starshine.us> wrote:

> The XPRIZE (http://xprize.org) began with a $10 million reward for the first successful privately funded manned space flight.  When that achieved its goal, XPRIZE created other rewards for monitoring ocean health, cheaply performing blood analysis, landing a privately funded robot on the moon, and developing a Star Trek-style Tricorder.
> 
> Last September, XPRIZE announced the Global Learning XPRIZE (http://learning.xprixe.org).  The goal is, in a fixed period of time, to create the best tablet app for teaching 7-10 year olds reading, writing, and arithmetic, as judged by an 18-month field test. The total prize pool is $15M.  Lots of discussion has been going on over at http://forum.xprize.org, but nowhere has Racket come up in the conversation.
> 
> Based on:
> 	• the power and breadth of Racket
> 	• the excellent documentation and support provided by the Racket community
> 	• the continuous improvement of Racket through research and implementation
> 	• the interest of many in the Racket community in education
> 	• the exciting things I saw at RacketCon (including Jay McCarthy's game development system)
> 	• and my own successful experience developing a prototype software analysis system for a startup I'm involved with ...
> I think that Racket could be a very competitive underlying platform for an entry in the Learning XPRIZE competition.  Please let me know if you would be interested in exploring this possibility.
> 
> Byron Davies, Ph.D mailto:byrondavies at starshine.us
> Chief Learner and Director of K-12 Innovation
> StarShine Academy (Phoenix; Santa Fe; Wau, South Sudan; and Puerto Peñasco, Mexico)
> http://starshineacademy.org
> 480-276-4285
> 
> [When you go to the XPRIZE site, you'll find that the winning entry must be delivered on an Android tablet. Racket doesn't run on Android, but I have already started a porting project.  If anyone would like to help with that particular project -- and be able to fun Racket on your phone -- let me know.)
> 
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