REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 2, 2009 – Students today are doing amazing things with technology – recently, one 10-year-old student journalist came to Microsoft for the inside scoop.
Brennan LaBrie interviews Joe Wilson, senior director of student marketing at Microsoft, about Microsoft’s efforts to make learning more fun.
Brennan LaBrie of Port Townsend, Wash., was selected from over 400 students to become one of the 12 student reporters for TIME for Kids, a weekly news magazine distributed to elementary schools in the United States. He recently visited Microsoft’s Redmond campus to learn more about the future of education, specifically how the company is helping to make learning fun for students and improving resources for teachers.
Brennan toured the campus visitor center to check out the latest Microsoft products including Windows 7, Microsoft Surface and the WorldWide Telescope. He also participated in demos of the Kodu Game Lab and Windows Live Movie Maker, learning how easy it is for kids to create games and movies. “What impressed me the most,” Brennan noted, “was that ordinary people can do amazing things because of what is being invented.”
Two years ago, Brennan decided to start his own newspaper, the Spruce Street Weekly. When he formed the idea he started looking for examples and began reading every paper he could find. “I noticed that lots of them weighted heavily on bad news,” Brennan said. “Right then I decided that my newspaper would focus mainly on good news.” These experiences led him to enter the contest to work for TIME for Kids.
Joe Wilson, senior director of student marketing at Microsoft, gives pointers as Brennan LaBrie and Joey Wilson play a game of chess using Microsoft Surface at the Microsoft Visitor Center.
You can read his article, “Play to Learn – Microsoft Hopes to Change How Kids Use Computers,” online and in the upcoming issue of TIME for Kids. Brennan also created a video interview with Joe Wilson, Microsoft’s senior director of student marketing, and his son Joey during his trip to campus – you can watch the video here.
His next assignment is to cover the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. Though he is excited to see all of the events and interview people from around the world, Brennan is keeping an eye out for Apolo Ohno. He is a big fan of Ohno, the short track speed skater and five time Olympic medalist, as he practices near Brennan’s home town.
Follow Brennan’s reporting and keep up to speed with his latest activities at
Twitter.com/KidReporter
.
