Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development

Introduction

Technology is advancing at an accelerating rate. Schools are providing teens with a traditional education, but they are unable to keep up with these advances. Limited individual computer accessibility, minimal hands-on training for teachers, and insufficient technical support are all obstacles many schools face. While the availability of curriculum continues to grow, the lack of time and skills required to select, integrate, and teach with technology continues to be a barrier. In addition, funding to provide updated computers, ongoing maintenance, training and support will always be a challenge.

The result is an inability for schools to provide the time, space, or platform for teens to fully utilize technology, either individually or in groups. This lack of integration prevents teens from gaining skills and extending their abilities with technology. Therefore, teens miss the opportunity to find their passion with, or through the use of technology, including the chance to interact with others in this space.

FreshBrain Solution

At the core of FreshBrain is an open and free web site freshbrain.org that provides teens with the opportunity to explore, engage, and create through activities and projects.

FreshBrain takes advantage of the latest technologies, such as web conferencing and social networking, to provide a very progressive environment where teens can complete activities and work together on projects. This experience is enhanced with Advisors, available to support and mentor teens who are working on projects, with the intention of increasing the likelihood of success. In addition, FreshBrain provides teens with tools and training in the latest technologies to complete these projects.

Providing the latest tools in technology, and a social interactive networking environment, has enabled teens to explore, create, and share with others. A result of pulling these two key online arenas together into one solution has enabled FreshBrain to attract teens comfortable with technology and communicating online. Creations from FreshBrain users range from music videos to logo designs.

Background

Dale Ferrario always wanted to do something to help educate teenagers about new technologies within a hands-on environment. "I wanted to give kids a chance to explore with technology, to be creative." Ferrario was also frustrated by the fact that schools struggle to keep up with the constant evolution in technology. He saw his son taking a programming class that taught the same material he learned in college. He started to look for companies that could bring modern technology to high school education, but was unable to find any. So he decided to start one himself.

FreshBrain launched October 30, 2007, with the initial support and funding provided by Sun Microsystems. The website went to Beta just in June 2008 and has its full launch at the end of January 2009.

Technology Areas

FreshBrain provides a view into eight different technology areas for project and activity creation.

These include:

• Development
• Music
• Eco/Green
• Venture
• Gaming
• Videos/Movies
• Graphic Design
• Web

Activities & Projects

An Activity is a reasonably simple, pre-designed task for teens to create something useful. An activity would often be completed in a number of days to a few weeks. Open activities are always available to the teens to complete. There are no deadlines and no rewards associated with their completion. A Project is an extensive task undertaken by a teen to take an idea and turn it into something substantial.

A project can range from something that one person completes in a number of weeks to that which a team completes in a number of months. It will typically follow a fairly standard creation process which includes a number of phases. The exercise usually involves going through a systematic process to simulate real business scenarios where projects are justified through some quantifiable metrics, including preparing a business plan, to building the final product.

Contests & Scholarships

Contests are offered frequently throughout the site; sponsored by FreshBrain or another company. They are available for a limited duration with a deadline and rewards. FreshBrain provides ongoing scholarships for continuing education or college, with the focus on the use of technology in the development and execution of the task.

Tools

The FreshBrain team has reviewed and compiled a list of all the tools that are valuable to complete projects and  activities. These tools will show up, where applicable, within the technology areas for use.

Programs

FreshBrain has a number of additional programs under development that will have a major impact. These include:

• School Enrichment - Bringing amazing technology to the classroom. 
• Summer Virtual Technology Camp - Providing EVERYONE with the opportunity to attend a Summer Technology Camp - virtually.

Community

FreshBrain's community is open and collaborative. Teens can share their opinions and experiences through discussions and chats. They can also create groups with familiar members, and enlist the help of others in the community.

Advisors

Advisors are volunteers, trained on the FreshBrain processes and tools, are available to guide a teen through a project or activity.

Safety

FreshBrain is committed to providing a safe environment for teens. Reasonable measures are designed and used to protect information about members from unauthorized access including the ability to designate information to be seen as 'public' or 'friends only'.

Partners

FreshBrain Partners include:

• Sun Microsystems
• Skullcandy
• T-Mobile USA
• Skona Advertising
• Fenwick & West LLP
• Drupal
• Salesforce.org
• Next Vista

Executive Team

• Dale Ferrario - President
• Todd Ferrario - VP Marketing and Business Development
• CT Woo - VP Engineering and IT
• Brian Smithey - Chief Engineer
• Eloisa Tejero - Director of Finance

Headquarters

FreshBrain, Inc. is headquartered in Ogden, Utah with an office in San Jose, California.

www.freshbrain.org