About the Technology Ambassador Program
The Technology Ambassador Program at GGC strives to break the misconceptions of the IT field by providing fun workshops for students of all backgrounds. TAP students design engaging and fun outreach workshops to encourage interest in IT and STEM.
This award-winning program also addresses a need to increase the number of students who persist in an IT major or IT minor, particularly those underrepresented in computing.
Student Benefits
- Enhanced technical, communication and leadership skills
- Technical projects that demonstrate experience on your resume or graduate school application
- Exciting opportunities to build strong peer networks, and contribute and get involved in your community
- Increased confidence, especially when speaking in front of groups and demonstrating leadership qualities
- Affiliation with national STARS Leadership Corps with possible funding to attend STARS Celebration, an annual leadership conference.
Recognition and Scholarships
Both the GGC TAP program and student participants have received recognition for innovative leadership and awards for conference presentations during STARS events. Learn more about STARS Computing Corps, the non-profit that provided grant funding to establish TAP in 2012.
Scholarships provide opportunities for TAP ambassadors to attend regional and national conferences and workshops, and participants have subsequently achieved numerous awards for their student research and poster presentations. TAP ambassadors also participate in National Science Foundation research experiences for undergraduates at GGC and through opportunities at other universities. TAP experiences ultimately propel many students onto graduate school and assist them in achieving acceptance into highly competitive graduate programs.
Expectations and Course Outcomes
TAP participation creates opportunities for student-driven, peer-to-peer instruction in introductory STEM courses and GGC outreach initiatives.
Students serving as technology ambassadors (TAs) work in a team of 3-4 students with a faculty instructor. TAs gain exposure to specific technologies, collaborate with faculty experts and achieve a deeper understanding by teaching what they’ve learned.
Examples of Technologies
- Online games (Scratch)
- Games (Processing, Unity, etc.)
- Hardware controllers (Arduino, Makey Makey)
- Python (Earsketch and PyGame)
- Robots and drones (Codrone, Sphero, etc.)
- Augmented reality (EchoAR)
- 3D printing
Team Deliverables
- Create a fully-developed technology project.
- Develop and lead three workshops in IT general education classes.
- Participate in service learning at TAP Expo, GGC Super Saturdays Series (S3), Atlanta Science Festival, GGC CREATE, and/or STaRS symposia.
- Produce and present a poster and/or research paper at research event
- Document project on GitHub TAP Organization repository.
Individual Expectations
- Assist as student leader in workshops and other events.
- Attend multiple service learning activities.
- Write reflection papers and journal the experience.
- Update resume and cover letter.
- Participate in external professional development activities.