YouthLearn at the 2006 CTCNet conference

YouthLearn facilitated a session, Harnessing Technology to Advance Afterschool Learning, at the recent Annual Community Technology Centers Network (CTCNet) conference in DC on July 28, 2006. Drawing from promising practices on technology integration witnessed in the field today, this session was intended to share ideas for building and sustaining technology-integrated afterschool programs and creating activities that use media and technology tools to support youth learning, creativity, and fun.

Mapping: A YouthLearn Recipe for Brainstorming

Have you tried mapping out your ideas to jumpstart curriculum and project planning for the fall? YouthLearn's guide to using graphic organizers (see also our info about webbing) can get you started. Mapping is a simple and wonderfully versatile technique that you can use with your colleagues and kids for brainstorming, organizing thoughts, and generating ideas. They can be used to define a curriculum, plan a project, select a theme, develop a simple story or to add energy and enthusiasm to a repetition-based exercise such as pattern writing. Whether you're doing a project with the whole class, breaking up into teams or working on individual projects, mapping should be a part of almost every group activity—and you should do lots of group activities. The reason is practical as well as philosophical. If you allow group members to suggest their own ideas and make their own decisions (within the parameters of your educational goals, of course), they will be much more engaged, positive and enthusiastic than if you make all the decisions yourself...

UPS Foundation Education Grants

"UPS Foundation Education Grants fund high impact philanthropic programs that raise the level of educational instruction, family learning opportunities, and school involvement projects. Maximum Award: varies. Eligibility: 501(c)(3) organizations. Deadline: N/A."

Staples Foundation for Learning Grants

"The mission of Staples Foundation for Learning is to provide funding to programs that support or provide job skills and/or education for all people, with a special emphasis on disadvantaged youth...

The organization must: Have a nonprofit tax-exempt classification under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Deadline is September 15, 2006"

Young Volunteers Invited to Apply for Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

"The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honor young people in grades 5 through 12 who have demonstrated exemplary voluntary service to their communities. The program was created in 1995 and is sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals... Schools and officially designated organizations [Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross Chapters, YMCAs, etc.] may select one middle level and one high school Local Honoree for every 1,000 students (or portion thereof). Student applications are due back to schools or organizations by October 31, 2006."

IFC's Film School Curriculum

"Check out "IFC's Film School Curriculum, a FREE public service initiative that uses the excitement of filmmaking to engage high school students in their English classes. Developed to meet the standards of the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, as well as the National Education Technology Standards from ISTE, IFC's Film School Curriculum provides the tools to get students energized about classroom activities while simultaneously accomplishing core educational goals."

Sites to See: Technology Integration Resources

"A growing number of Web sites offer knowledgeable and useful ideas, suggestions, lesson plans, activities, and resources for integrating technology. Whether you're a newbie or a technology guru, you'll learn something new at these featured sites."

Young Digital Creators Educator's Kit

DigiArts is one of "UNESCO's major initiatives aiming at the development of interdisciplinary activities in research, creativity and communication in the field of media arts".

"Enabling young people to using ICT creatively to address global challenges of development, cultural diversity and inter-cultural dialogue is the aim of UNESCO's Young Digital Creators Educator's Kit that is now published and available online."

CITIZENShift

CITIZENShift is a website that features film, photos, text and audio all with a focus on social issues and activism. Check out the CITIZENShift's latest feature, Youth Empowerment Through Media. This dossier features media by youth exploring issues that are important to them.

Web Site Engages Youth, Spurs Community Action

"YouthNoise, a Web site initially launched in 2001, re-launched last month with the aim of encouraging youth dialogue on important social issues. The revised site, featuring content created exclusively by young people, lets users submit articles they’ve written, post to message boards on various topics, and participate in debates. Site users (who range in age from 16 to 22) discuss issues relating to politics, health, education, and more. Some young people use the site as a forum to share strategies for taking action in their local communities." It's especially interesting to the YouthLearn team to see this development, as we partnered with YouthNoise to conduct the AT&T Young Leaders Program a few years ago.

YouthRising Grant Program to Support High Risk Youth in Volunteer Service

"Youth Service America and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention have announced the launch of the YouthRising grant program. This opportunity offers grants of $2,000 for organizations in the United States to engage high risk and/or gang-involved youth (ages 12-25) in volunteer service to their communities. The program seeks projects that are co-led by youth and adult allies such as parents, counselors, coaches, teachers, youth leaders, etc. A significant portion of the project must take place on National and Global Youth Service Day, April 20-22, 2007."

YouthLearn's How-to on Teaching Digital Photography

Showing kids how to see with the camera's eye comes more easily with this activity from the YouthLearn collection. Photography is not just about pointing and pressing a button; it's a decision-making process. One of the best reasons for working photography into your activities and projects is that it helps kids better understand the media images they're bombarded with every day. Photography is also just plain fun, and it's a wonderful foundation for community-based projects. If you introduce photography properly, it helps kids look much more carefully at the world around them.

Check out our curriculum around photo techniques and related lesson plans as well!

UNICEF Photo Contest: Inspirational women

"Have your picture featured in this year's State of the World's Children. Submissions due 8 September 2006. This year's State of the World's Children will argue that one of the most powerful constraints to fulfilling children's rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals is the discrimination experienced by women. To help us express how important women are for the well being of children we would like you to send us a picture of a woman in your life -- a mother, a sister, a teacher, a friend -- who has been a particularly powerful source of inspiration and support. The photos should include a 250-word explanation of who the woman is and how she has inspired you..."

Classroom activities to teach engineering

" 'TeachEngineering' provides more than 500 lessons and activities for teaching engineering content in K-12 science and math classes. Topics include oil and energy consumption, water and electricity, mass and volume, various energy sources, heat transfer, solar heating systems, collisions and momentum, electrons, cellular respiration, biomedical engineering, and more. Lessons connect real-world experiences with concepts and skills already taught in K-12 classrooms. "

Handle With Care: An essay on teaching everyday ethics

"Most children and adolescents want to be good, but they find it very difficult. There are many competing pressures on them, and they often feel that they must choose between loyalty to friends and 'doing what is right,' as dictated by parents and teachers. Children need opportunities to talk with sympathetic adults who can help them to understand that they are not alone in their ethical confusion and that they are not the only ones who sometimes fall short of their own ethical ideal. The latest issue of Greater Good magazine features several essays on the topic of 'everyday ethics,' including an essay by Nel Noddings about how to teach children to make ethical decisions in their daily lives."