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]
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 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]
^ ab1998, 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.
^
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.
