Youth Media Fellowship 2008/09 – Call for Applications

The Youth Media Learning Network seeks applicants from the greater New York City area to participate in the second annual cohort of the Youth Media Fellowship, a nine-month-long professional development opportunity for youth media educators.

The Fellowship offers participants a rich and unique opportunity to examine closely their work and the work of young people within a diverse and dynamic community of peer practitioners. Fellows come together in a supported, sustained, and facilitated setting intended to engage them as experts from the field, to promote collaborative learning, and to inspire emerging leadership.

The application deadline for the Youth Media Fellowship is September 22, 2008.

Knight News Challenge and Garage Announced!

The Knight News Challenge is "giving away around $5 million in 2009 for the development and distribution of neighborhood and community-focused projects, services, and programs."

Additionally, they are launching the brand-new News Challenge Garage, which is a coaching and mentoring site for prospective applicants to talk with mentors and peers, check out previous winners' applications and improve your application before you submit.

Applications for the 2008-09 cycle will be taken starting September 2, 2008 and close on November 1, 2008.

At School, Technology Starts to Turn a Corner

This New York Times essay lays out a vision for school reform through technology integration and project-based learning:

“In the classroom, the emphasis can shift to project-based learning, a real break with the textbook-and-lecture model of education. In a high school class, a project might begin with a hypothetical letter from the White House that says oil prices are spiking, the economy is faltering and the president’s poll numbers are falling. The assignment would be to devise a new energy policy in two weeks. The shared Web space for the project, for example, would include the White House letter, the sources the students must consult, their work plan and timetable, assignments for each student, the assessment criteria for their grades and, eventually, the paper the team delivers. Oral presentations would be required. . . .The project-based approach, some educators say, encourages active learning and produces better performance in class and on standardized tests.”

SAM Animation - Freeware to Make your Own Animated Movies

SAM Animation software enables young people to easily create stop-action movies that express their ideas and understanding of the world around them. It is one of the resources highlighted in the recently launched Technology Curriculum Database, developed by YouthLearn for the U.S. Department of Education-funded National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning at SEDL.

Designed at Tufts University, SAM Animation is freeware that's both PC and Mac (with Windows XP or OSX) compatible. The technology is accessible and engaging, and has multiple applications for both in school and afterschool. The developers offer support in the form of podcast tutorials on key features of the software. They also share tips, tricks, and activities in the Community section of the Web site. Users need only register with SAM Animation to download the software; plus, they will need a webcam to begin their work.

Pay It Forward Foundation Mini-Grants

"Pay It Forward Mini-Grants are designed to fund one-time-only service-oriented projects identified by youth as activities they would like to perform to benefit their school, neighborhood, or greater community. Projects must contain a 'pay it forward' focus - that is, they must be based on the concept of one person doing a favor for others, who in turn do favors for others, with the results growing exponentially - to be considered in the grant making process...
Mini-Grants of up to $500 are available." Deadline: September 15.

YouthLearn Team Grows in Chicago

YouthLearn is thrilled to welcome a new team member this summer. Kate Goddard has joined us as a new Program Coordinator, working across our various projects to help with materials development, training and outreach.

Kate comes to us with practitioner work in youth development, media, and technology, having most recently been associated with the Science Museum of Minnesota, Phillips Community Television, and The Community Technology Empowerment Project.

We are so excited to have Kate round out our group - please welcome her to the YouthLearn community!

William T. Grant Foundation Field-Initiated Grants Program

"The William T. Grant Foundation is accepting Letters of Inquiry for its field-initiated grants program.

The foundation's current research interests are understanding how social settings such as families, schools, peer groups, and organizations work; how they affect youth development; and how they can be improved...

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must be employed at a nonprofit 501(c)(3) institution, either in the United States or abroad; submit a project that is consistent with the foundation's current research interests; address issues that have compelling relevance for theory, policies, and/or practices affecting the settings of youth between the ages of 8 and 25 in the United States or a vulnerable sub-population of those youth; reflect high standards of evidence and rigorous methods, commensurate with the proposal's goals.

The deadlines for Letters of Inquiry are September 3, 2008; January 8, 2009; April 1, 2009; and September 9, 2009."

Revitalizing Arts Education Through Community-Wide Coordination

"For more than 30 years, arts education has been a low priority in the nation's public schools. This new RAND study investigated the revitalization efforts in six urban U.S. communities and found progress in access to arts learning. This progress is fragile, however, and will require committed and sustained leadership, supportive policy and sufficient resources in order to be sustainable and weather cutbacks."

PicoCrickets - Art and Technology Kits

PicoCrickets give young people the raw materials to build their own artistic creations, which they can program to respond to light, sound, and touch. It is one of the resources highlighted in the recently launched Technology Curriculum Database, developed by YouthLearn for the U.S. Department of Education-funded National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning at SEDL.

Drawing on the same research base as Lego Mindstorms, the PicoCricket Kit is a robotics kit designed with greater emphasis on artistic expression, in an effort to appeal to girls as much as boys. The Kit includes a miniature computer, sensors, software, Lego bricks, craft materials, and project ideas. The user-friendly Web site provides technical support, additional ideas for educators, and photo and video galleries for showcasing creations.

Play, Spirit & Character Radio Program

"Stuart Brown, a physician and director of the National Institute for Play, says that pleasurable, purposeless activity prevents violence and promotes trust, empathy, and adaptability to life's complication. He promotes cutting-edge science on human play, and draws on a rich universe of study of intelligent social animals." You can listen online or download the podcast of this interview by Krista Tippet of American Public Media's Speaking of Faith.