Don't expect swimming, canoeing, grilled food and ghost stories around a campfire at the summer camps being offered next month at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
Instead, the middle- and high-school students attending these summer camps offered by Penn College's Technology Transfer Center will learn about a variety of topics like Web-page design, development and marketing; effective Internet navigation; and computer graphics, among others.
The "E-Commerce Summer Camp" will be offered in two sessions: one for high-school students from June 18-22, and another for middle-school students from June 25-29. Both sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day. Time also will be allotted from 2 to 4 p.m. for independent laboratory work by the students, as they develop their own Web pages, explore the software and apply what they have learned. A staff member will be available to assist students during this period.
The cost is $75, but students and their families are urged to contact the TTC for assistance if the fee poses financial difficulty.
At the camps, students will develop their own Web biography page, explore effective navigation techniques, work with attention-grabbing graphics, learn about creating online forms, learn how to use file transfer protocol, publish their site to a live Web server and be introduced to e-commerce.
Additional topics will include: business plan development, Web site development and design, Web site marketing, legal issues surrounding e-commerce and career opportunities in information technology. Seating is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
A second "E-Commerce Summer Camp" will be developed and scheduled for the summer of 2002.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn more about e-commerce," said Tom Woodson, the e-commerce project manager for the TTC. "We are very excited about the possibilities, and we are particularly pleased with the positive response of the Williamsport Area School District in its support for the development of this pilot program."
The "E-Commerce Summer Camp" project is supported, in part, by funds from the state's Link-to-Learn initiative. The TTC recently began to work in partnership with public schools, business and industry, and individual entrepreneurs in developing e-commerce and e-business opportunities in Central Pennsylvania.
For more information about the "E-Commerce Summer Camps," call the TTC at (570) 327-4775, or send e-mail.