Computer camp helps teens utilize NASA platform

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Many teenagers probably spend some summer days playing Nintendo Wii or the board game Risk, and students at the iD Programming Academy are no exception.

But instead of flailing to hit virtual tennis balls or pushing tiny cavalry units across a game board, students at Stanford University hunched over lines of programming code last week. At a two-week computer programming camp run by national company internalDrive, they used games as a starting point for real-world computer programs.

The Campbell-based company runs dozens of "iD Tech" computer camps at universities across the country, but last week at Stanford it organized its first "programming academy," aimed at 13- to 18-year-olds who want to focus specifically on programming. The students -- who stay in Stanford dorms -- said it was one of the first camps they had seen that wouldn't bore teens with prior programming experience.

"If you go into any other camp, they're literally telling you, 'This is Java,' " said 15-year-old Galina Meyer of Los Angeles.

Instructors said they try to focus on real-world projects. They gave students challenges based on an open-source program developed by NASA, called World Wind, which is similar to Google-Earth.

One group had to build a computerized version of Risk, to be played on the World Wind globe, while another group created a program allowing users to personalize World Wind maps by labeling points of interest and mapping routes. A third group had to figure out a way to use a Wii Fit Balance Board to move across the World Wind globe.

For more information, visit www.internaldrive.com/programming.