The Clubhouse Network, often shortened to "The Clubhouse," is an American nonprofit organization that provides a free out-of-school learning program where children (ages 10–19) from lower-income communities can work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop new skills, and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology.[2] Its motto is "Where Technology Meets Imagination."[2]
 | |
 Clubhouse in Bangalore, India in 2012 | |
| Nickname | The Clubhouse |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1993 |
| Founded at | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Type | Nonprofit |
Region served | Worldwide |
Director | Lisa Cook |
Chair of the Board of Directors | Amon Miller |
Budget (2022) | $3.8 million[1] |
| Website | theclubhousenetwork |
Formerly called | Computer Clubhouse Intel Computer Clubhouse |
Initially founded in 1993 as the Computer Clubhouse, The Clubhouse is the brainchild of Mitchel Resnick and Natalie Rusk of the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Stina Cooke of Boston's Computer Museum.[3][4]
From 2000 - 2015, with an investment of over $50 million from Intel, The Clubhouse Network grew to support nearly 100 community-based Clubhouses in 18 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, New Zealand, Palestine, Panama, Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, South Africa, and the United States.[5]
In 2012, Best Buy partnered with The Clubhouse Network to launch multiple learning sites throughout the U.S., operating under the name "Best Buy Teen Tech Centers."[6] The Clubhouse Network provides access to resources, skills, and experience to 25,000 youth per year.[7]
From 2000 to 2017, led by longtime Executive Director Gail Breslow,[8] The Clubhouse Network was part of the Museum of Science, Boston. In 2018, it was separated from the Museum and relocated to Dudley Square in the heart of Roxbury. Lisa Cook took over as executive director in 2022.[9]
In 1997, The Clubhouse won the Peter F. Drucker Award for Non-Profit Innovation.[10][11]
In 2016, The Clubhouse partnered with the MIT Media Lab and Maker Media to publish Start Making! A Guide To Engaging Young People in Maker Activities.[12]
Clubhouses have been utilized as the proving ground for a number of projects of the MIT Media Lab's "Lifelong Kindergarten" research group. Notable examples include:
- Lego Mindstorms programmable bricks, a late 20th-century robotic construction toy.[4]
- PICO programmable Crickets, early 21st-century programmable toys for art construction projects[13][14]
- Scratch, a 21st-century multimedia programming language for young people.[15]
References edit
- ^ "A Year of Gratitude: The Clubhouse Network's 2022 Annual Report" (PDF). The Clubhouse Network. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ a b "The Clubhouse Network". Retrieved 2016-10-17.
- ^ Marriott, Michel. "Not Just Closing a Divide, but Leaping It". New York Times. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ^ a b 1998, Resnick, M., Rusk, N., Cooke, S. "The Computer Clubhouse: Technological Fluency in the Inner City", published in: High Technology and Low-Income Communitiesedited by D. Schon, B. Sanyal, and W. Mitchell, MIT Press. Online version [1], retrieved on October 18, 2007.
- ^ Locations at theclubhousenetwork.org, retrieved on March 8, 2016.
- ^ Meyers, Nicole. "Best Buy Doubles Down, Opens 4 Teen Tech Centers Nationwide". Best Buy Corporate. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ^ Mission & Vision at theclubhousenetwork.org, retrieved on March 8, 2016.
- ^ Lebovitz, Susan Chaityn (August 13, 2006). "Her club draws left-out youths to Web". The Boston Globe. pp. 113, 115. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ Millner, Amon (16 August 2022). "Introducing our New Executive Director". The Clubhouse Network. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
- ^ "Drucker Non-Profit Innovation Award". Way back Machine - Drucker Institute. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
- ^ Kafai, Yasmin; Peppler, Kylie; Chapman, Robbin (July 2009). The Computer Clubhouse: Constructionism and Creativity in Youth Communities. Teachers College Press. ISBN 0807749907. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
- ^ "New From Make: Books -- 'Start Making! A Guide to Engaging Young People in Maker Activities'". April 13, 2016.
- ^ Business Week, Sep 7, 2006 "Invasion of the DIY Robots" by Jessie Scanlon. Online edition retrieved on October 18, 2007.
- ^ MIT Spectrum, Winter 1998 "Smart Toys - Mitch Resnick builds a toy chest of learning tools". Retrieved on October 18, 2007.
- ^ 2004, Maloney, J., Burd, L., Kafai, Y., Rusk, N., Silverman, B. and Resnick, M., "Scratch: A Sneak Preview. Second International Conference on Creating, Connecting, and Collaborating through Computing, Kyoto, Japan, pp. 104-109. Online version retrieved on October 18, 2007.