For several years, Foad Hamidi, associate professor in the Department of Information Systems, has partnered with the Digital Harbor Foundation and other local organizations in Baltimore and Pittsburgh to lead a collaborative initiative called Rec-to-Tech, aiming to transform recreation centers into community-driven STEM learning hubs. The NSF-funded initiative brought together UMBC, the Digital Harbor Foundation, the Baltimore Department of Recreation and Parks, the City of Pittsburgh Department of Parks and Recreation, and MN Associates, an education evaluation firm, to establish technology-rich learning infrastructure, educator training, curriculum co-design, and ongoing operational support across 20 recreation centers in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, directly serving over 800 youth.
Photo: Foad Hamidi (Digital Harbor Foundation and Nate Templeton Photography)

An NSF-funded documentary, titled “Digital Harbor: Bridging the Digital Divide,” highlights the success of the program to date, showing how access to technology, mentorship, and supportive environments creates new possibilities for students. The 28-minute feature story originally premiered on WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore on August 26th and is now available to stream on YouTube.

“Without mentorship and community, these technologies are not going to solve problems by themselves,” Hamidi says in the film. “Our idea was that we can investigate how these programs can be better rolled out in society and diverse contexts.”