YouthLearn Team Seeking Your Feedback

We're redesigning the YouthLearn website! We need you, our YouthLearn subscribers, to tell us what you think about our site, content, and newsletter.

Specifically, we hope that your feedback will help us make the site more user-friendly. We want to present the content, information, and resources in ways that work best for you. Additionally, we are exploring what we can add to support afterschool educators in pursuit of professional development, resources, activities, and community.

The survey will only take a few minutes to complete. Please follow the link below.

We greatly appreciate your feedback and will keep you posted on new developments.

Thank you,
The YouthLearn Team

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.

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!

YouthLearn Helps Launch New EDC Chicago Office

YouthLearn is excited to share the news that three of our team members are now located in the recently opened EDC Chicago office. YouthLearn's work remains national in scope with current projects for such funders as Adobe Systems Incorporated, the Verizon Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. Having staff based in Chicago will offer us the opportunity to pilot more work on the ground and connect with other local and national education, media and technology efforts in the city and midwest. Our new Chicago address is:

The YouthLearn Initiative
EDC-Chicago
770 N. Halsted Street, Suite 205
Chicago, IL 60622

Feel free to look us up whenever you're in town!

Youth Media Fellowship – Presentation of Learning

From September 2007 through May 2008, eight youth media educators from across New York City have come together for bi-monthly, three-hour seminar sessions on Friday mornings. Together, this community of peers has formed the inaugural cohort of the Youth Media Fellowship – itself a pilot program of the Youth Media Learning Network. On May 16, 2008, the Fellows presented their work to colleagues from the fields of youth media, youth development, and formal education at a “Presentation of Learning” event in New York, hosted by the Open Society Institute.

The Youth Media Learning Network is a joint project of Education Development Center (www.edc.org) and the Educational Video Center (www.evc.org). For more information contact Timothy Dorsey at 212.807.4214 or tdorsey@edc.org.

Follow the link below to explore the Youth Media Fellows' work.

New Afterschool Resources Compiled by YouthLearn Team

For the past several months, the YouthLearn team has been busy at work on two projects in particular that will bring new resources to the attention of afterschool educators. Please look for announcements about these exciting resources in the next few weeks! And thank you for your patience during the recent hiatus in the publishing of the YouthLearn Newsletter. Future issues will come out on every other Tuesday as usual.

Job Opening with the YouthLearn Initiative

YouthLearn is hiring! We're accepting applications for a full-time Project Assistant, based in Chicago. This is a new position we've created to help us with our projects both here in Chicago and around the country. Ideally, we're looking for someone with experience in youth development, educational technology and/or youth media. Candidates should also have great people, writing and tech skills and love multi-tasking (if that's actually possible).

If you or someone you know is interested, see the job posting and apply online at the url below.

NIOST Summer Seminar on Links to Learning

The National Institute on Out-of-School Time is holding its annual Summer Seminars in Boston this July and there are three new workshops for afterschool professionals. YouthLearn Director Tony Streit is co-facilitating, with Dishon Mills, the seminar on Links to Learning for Middle School Programs, which will be held Monday-Tuesday, July 9-10, 2007, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This training is geared towards those who serve middle school youth, though the framework for Links to Learning works for all age groups. It's designed to help educators find ways to make their afterschool program connect to the school day.

The other summer seminars include: Intensive Seminar for System Builders and Organizational Development Tools for Strategic Thinking & Planning. Follow the link to the NIOST website, which contains information on registration, pricing and other offerings. Registration closes June 29.

Youth Media Fellowship – Call for Applications

The Youth Media Learning Network (YMLN) seeks applicants from the greater New York City area to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Youth Media Fellowship, a 10-month-long professional development opportunity for youth media educators.

The fellowship will offer 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 will 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 May 25th, 2007.

For application instructions and more information, please see the linked ‘Call for Applications’ or contact Timothy Dorsey at 212.807.4214 or tdorsey@edc.org.

Youth Media Expert Joins YouthLearn Team

YouthLearn is thrilled to share the news that Deidre Searcy, youth media educator and expert on arts integration, has joined our team as a new Senior Associate for Curriculum and Program Development. Deidre will be working on a range of projects that help educators promote youth media making and integrate technology tools.

EDC Tools and Resources to Support Afterschool

The YouthLearn team has recently joined forces with our colleagues across divisions and disciplines at Education Development Center (EDC) to better share information about ways that we as an organization are supporting afterschool. In a newly published section of the EDC website, you can check out a recent Mosaic on Afterschool Time, an EDC journal which features a roundtable conversation including YouthLearn Director Tony Streit; learn about EDC's pedagogical philosophy and our combined tools and resources; and link to EDC projects relevant to the afterschool space. Please be in touch if you have any questions about EDC’s work on behalf of the afterschool field.

YMLN at NAA

As part of our new project, the Youth Media Learning Network, YouthLearn will be offering a workshop entitled "Youth Media, Civic Engagement and Critical Thinking" at next weeks' National Afterschool Association conference in Phoenix, Arizona. YouthLearn Director Tony Streit and YMLN Project Director Tim Dorsey will be co-facilitating. The session is scheduled for Thursday March 22nd at 10:00 AM. EDC will also have a booth in the exhibit area if you'd like to stop by and visit.

Youth Media Learning Network Director Joins The Team

We're thrilled to share the news that effective this week, Tim Dorsey has joined our team here at EDC as Project Director of the new Youth Media Learning Network (YMLN). YMLN is our new capacity building and professional development initiative, launched in partnership with Educational Video Center (EVC) in New York, intended to strengthen the practice and expand the reach of youth media. Tim is formerly the Managing Director at EVC (http://www.evc.org) and brings a great deal of project management and youth media expertise to this new effort.

Youth Media in the Classroom: Lessons from LA

Over the last year, YouthLearn Director Tony Streit has been advising arts education leadership at Los Angeles Unified School District in support of their efforts to better integrating media making into the classroom. The initiative involved intensive professional development and mentoring through a partnership with University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television and Institute for Multimedia Literacy. Tony has recently written an article about their efforts, which is available at the URL below in the Youth & Media section of the YouthLearn website.

YouthLearn Continues as Mott Foundation's Afterschool Academies Partner

This summer, YouthLearn team members worked with other partners in the Afterschool Academies training initiative to pilot test new professional development strategies for the afterschool practitioners. Academies were offered in San Jose, California and Macon Georgia and drew almost 100 practitioners to each event. The approach is one that explores how best to weave academic enrichment into afterschool program design and advocates for the integration of positive youth development principles, thoughtful staff development, and experiential learning strategies. YouthLearn focuses on how to develop inquiry-driven, project-based learning curriculum through a hands-on workshops and peer coaching.

The program is funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Collaborators include lead organization Foundations Inc., as well as the Center for Youth Development, Citizen Schools and afterschool gurus Gary & Eve Moody, formerly of Arnold's All-Stars.

For more information about the Afterschool Academies, visit:

The YouthLearn Guide and YouthLearn's Afterschool & Technology Website

Our signature resource, The YouthLearn Guide: A Creative Approach to Working With Youth and Technology, has helped so many practitioners over the past few years that we thought it worthwhile to remind folks about it again. The Guide is an easy-to-use, hands-on manual with more than 160 pages of lessons, worksheets, and sample activities on how to set up a new learning program or enhance an existing one.

As with our other resources, the Guide helps practitioners combine new technologies and proven teaching techniques in ways that will make your work even more rewarding for you and the children you serve. You can use the Guide in conjunction with the activities, program models, and additional resources shared on the YouthLearn website to develop and enrich your afterschool program.

Please also check out, if you haven't already, our Afterschool & Technology section for model programs. Launched last year, this section documents the work of 8 afterschool programs that integrate technology into content-rich learning experiences. As always, we would love to hear your thoughts about these resources and to learn about your own efforts with project-based learning and technology integration.

ITEST Webcast 1: Infusing IT/STEM Skill Standards in Informal ITEST Learning

WHEN? Thursday, October 5, 2006 2:00-3:00 ET
TO REGISTER, go to http://home.learningtimes.net/itest?go=1375981.

The YouthLearn team continues its work as a partner in the NSF ITEST Learning Resource Center (LRC). Joyce-Malyn Smith, LRC PI, and Haejung Chung from YouthLearn are organizing the first of two webcasts in October 2006. Please join us for the first event, "Infusing IT/STEM Skill Standards in Informal ITEST Learning," which is designed to answer the following questions: How do educators guide young peoples’ development of IT/STEM skills outside the classroom? How do they articulate the skills and knowledge that ITEST students are developing in such flexible, informal learning environments?

During this first webcast, Principal Investigators from three ITEST projects will share model practices that integrate IT/STEM skill standards into dynamic, informal learning environments, and reveal how ITEST experiences support advanced IT skills and knowledge beyond the standards.

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.

New Web Publication on Youth Media Making

The YouthLearn team recently completed work on a new publication as part of our Learning Resource Center for the National Science Foundation's ITEST (IT Experiences for Students and Teachers) program. It was our attempt to look at the intersection between the worlds of youth media and informal science learning. "Fostering Media Savvy STEM Learners" explores the relationship between the development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) skills and the need for new 21st century literacy. Experts from ITEST projects and the field of media studies discuss what constitutes youth media making, the skills needed to be savvy media consumers and producers, and what educators need to know to facilitate the process. Samples of media products from ITEST projects are featured throughout.

Resources for summer program teaching and learning strategies and technology integration

For those who are busy with planning for summer program activities, YouthLearn staff strongly recommend two relevant resources: "Lessons Learned in Summer Programs," and "Summer Programs Tips & Tricks," which were produced in 2004 and 2005 by the YouthLearn team for the ITEST Learning Resource Center at EDC. In these publications, you will find ITEST projects' insights about innovative technology use and teaching methods in summer program activities that can inform program design and practices of other informal science education programs.

Summary of YL discussion thread on using computers in afterschool

As you gear up for summertime tech & learning activities, we’re offering a recap of a discussion and resources from the YL list. Last year, Matt Crichton posed a series of challenges facing his afterschool program which seemed very familiar to others, and over 17 YL members responded with ideas, solutions and philosophies about his scenario.

Challenges & Questions

Kids are not motivated to use computers, and it is hard to keep their attention focused on the activity at hand;
The time schedule does not provide a structured time to come to the computer lab;
The equipment is old, and only 3 of the desktop work stations are functioning;
Girls do not get involved with technology;
What are learning activities that can be used to get the kids started using computers?

ITEST LRC Newsletter Highlights Learnings and Success Stories

We're pleased to share Issue 2 of the ITEST LRC Newsletter, which YouthLearn staff were integrally involved in producing as part of our work on the ITEST LRC team. In this issue: learn more about the many educators and young people who are using cutting-edge technology to advance academic learning in both formal and non-formal settings; view highlights of our third annual summit, a gathering of ITEST project leaders to network, share lessons learned, and explore how best to interest young people in STEM learning and careers; read recent success stories; and learn about upcoming events and publications.

ITEST Program Continues To Grow

In the past, we've shared with the YouthLearn community our work as part of the team here at EDC assisting National Science Foundation's ITEST (IT Experiences for Students and Teachers) program. YouthLearn team members are liaisons to some of the more than 50 program grantees around the country and create many of the publications that illustrate promising practices reavealed through their efforts. A recent convening of grantees of the program illustrated the dynamic ways that these projects are articulating how IT skill development and STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) learning go hand-in-hand in today's classrooms and afterschool programs.

Changed attitudes and practice among educators in DRC

Monica Biswas, of YouthLearn, has just returned from Mbandaka, in Equateur province of DRC. This was the third training with a group of administrators who are in charge of training and inspecting teachers in primary school. Anecdotal data so far indicate positive impacts on teaching practices.

YouthLearn Seeks Input on Curriculum

The team at YouthLearn has been working for some time to explore the best ways to integrate technology and media into afterschool learning. Last year we launched a new section of the website as part of our work with SEDL and the Mott Foundation that showcased a number of model afterschool programs:

http://www.youthlearn.org/afterschool

Now we're specifically exploring how afterschool programs are using and/or adapting curricula to serve their programmatic needs.

Afterschool Time: Choices, Challenges, and New Directions

MOSAIC: An EDC Report Series, Winter 2006

"EDC recently convened a panel of leaders in the afterschool movement to discuss the challenges facing the field, including three EDC staff members and one of our key partners... The four panelists engaged in a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of topics, including staffing and professional development, research and evaluation, the role of afterschool programs, and directions for the future." Tony Streit, YouthLearn director, participated in this roundtable discussion to share YouthLearn's insight about the afterschool movement.

Youth Safety Online: Resources on the YouthLearn website

The YouthLearn online community recently saw a deluge of messages in response to Lauren Penney's question about whether to unblock the MySpace website at her Boys and Girls Club. Folks weighed in on both sides of the issue, and expressed a great deal of concern and interest in the safety of the Internet for young users. If you're looking for additional resources, please check out the recently updated section on Online Safety at the YouthLearn website. Also, look for a forthcoming report from Wendy Rivenburgh, YouthLearn associate, about her recent appearance on the 2K Nation teen radio program on DC's WPFW--discussing the issue of youth safety online.

YouthLearn welcomes 3rd cohort of ITEST projects

YouthLearn continues its involvement in the ITEST Learning Resource Center, as we welcome and orient the third cohort of projects to be funded by NSF's ITEST Initiative. Projects focus on engaging youth in STEM activities and careers, through youth-based activities or teacher professional development which builds teacher skills in leading cutting edge STEM activities to support learning.

Over the past two years, YouthLearn has organized TA offerings on topics such as: "Active Learning in the Information Age", "Marketing your Program: Tips and Tricks", and "Accessibility: Enhancing your program". Staff members have also supported the ITEST team's efforts in technology infrastructure, marketing, and publications, and by serving as TA liaisons to projects.

TIME TO REFLECT

This article captures "recent conferences, collaborations, and venues for professional development" opportunities aimed for nurturing the field of youth media. YouthLearn's current projects related to youth media are identified in this article.

"Youth media has become a bona fide field with its own practices, philosophies, and goals."

- "A collaboration between the Educational Video Center and the Education Development Center's YouthLearn Initiative to create new resources for the field, including a peer network linking youth media educators to each other"

- "The Education Development Center's YouthLearn Initiative's ongoing research into how youth media programs evaluate their impact."

Stage 2 Training in Democratic Republic of Congo

As part of our ongoing work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Monica Biswas of the YouthLearn Initiative visited the country to lead a second training. This one focused on two topics: engaging people and materials from the local community in classroom teaching, and paying attention to issues of gender and equity in education.

Using Blended Learning for the Professional Development of Youth Workers

In early 2005, YouthLearn conducted an online survey of youth workers on Blended Learning with the National Collaboration for Youth (NCY). Check out this publication, which includes the findings of the survey and promising practices on professional development efforts using Blended Learning methods.
http://www.nydic.org/nydic/documents/Prof_Series_ENews_4.pdf

YouthLearn holds a session at the CTCNet Conference [June 17, 2005]

YouthLearn is presenting a session entitled Afterschool and Technology - Strategies to Advance Content-rich Learning at the upcoming CTCNet Conference in Cleveland on Friday, June 17th. YouthLearn has invited a panel of four field experts to share their innovative use of technology in integrating content into afterschool.

Project-Based Learning Workshop at the South Carolina Afterschool Alliance Conference

Monica Biswas and Haejung Chung facilitated two training sessions at the South Carolina Afterschool Alliance Conference on "Project-based Learning: How-to-tools to Get Started." At these sessions on April 19th, 2005, two groups of local South Carolina afterschool educators and administrators experienced how to implement fun and engaging project-based learning activities in their afterschool programs...

YouthLearn continues training-of-trainers in Democratic Republic of Congo

Monica Biswas has just returned from a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she continued a "training of trainers" on using "active learning" methods. Approximately 60 administrators of primary schools are being trained so that they can return to their schools and train teachers in these methods.

"Getting administrators excited about the methodologies will make it easier for their teachers to feel supported as they experiment with the new teaching techniques."

YouthLearn Contributes to NIOST's "Links To Learning"

Links To Learning is a new Curriculum Planning Guide developed by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) to assist afterschool program providers in responding to the call of academics in non-school time, while addressing the full range of children's developmental needs. The guide provides an overview of learning and child development as they relate to out-of-school time care; offers tools for selecting, planning, developing, and evaluating afterschool activities; and demonstrates how to link these activities to both learning and quality standards. YouthLearn was thrilled to assist NIOST in this effort, providing recommendations and resources on promoting project-based methods and integrating technology into afterschool.

New YouthLearn Afterschool & Technology section

YouthLearn is pleased to announce the launch of a new section of our website called "Afterschool & Technology." In this new section, we explore how afterschool programs can promote content-rich learning in fun and creative ways with the aid of various technology tools. The section contains promising afterschool programming strategies from eight dynamic initiatives around the country. Each has effectively utilized technology to foster academic learning, while still promoting youth-led, project-based methods.

Adapting Tools, Methods, Terminology to Cultural Context

As part of an EDC discussion about providing professional development around technology integration, YouthLearn associate Wendy Rivenburgh reflected on some of our recent work, especially on the DotEDU project in the Democratic Republic of Congo:

The YouthLearn team works both domestically and internationally to help educators integrate technology and project-based learning into their programs. We’ve developed training and resources that promote the use of technology as a tool for learning, not an end in itself....

Announcing the new Afterschool Academies, limited opportunity!

With the support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the YouthLearn team has been working with other key partners in the field of afterschool to design an exciting new professional development offering for launch in the new year. This offering, the Afterschool Teaching Institute (ASTI), will be a three-day intensive training in developing content-rich afterschool curriculum. YouthLearn has been integrally involved in creating the materials, and we'll also be on the training team leading the sessions. These will run concurrently with the Beyond School Hours Conference put on by Foundations, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia from February 16-19, 2005. Please see the links for more detailed information.

This intensive training is free to Beyond School Hours attendees, but there are only 60 spaces--so sign up asap! If you have any questions about the ASTI or our other work on the Afterschool Academies, please send an email to info@youthlearn.org. We're hoping that the YouthLearn community will be well-represented at this event!

YouthLearn Seeks Examples of Technology Integration in Afterschool

For some time now, YouthLearn has been working with educators from a range of different settings, both formal and informal, to promote the effective use of technology to advance powerful learning. Currently, we're making a effort to specifically identify some of the ways that technology is helping educators working in the burgeoning afterschool arena.

Harvard Family Research Project's Evaluation Exchange Features YouthLearn

The latest version of the Harvard Family Research Project's Evaluation Exchange is all about Technology and Evaluation and features an article on YouthLearn by Project Director Tony Streit. The article address the role of technology in youth programming and the importance of professional development that supports both student centered, experiential learning and technology skill building. Other interesting artices in this issue include an exploration of how technology supports "empowerment evaluation," a look at online tools helping support the National Youth Participation Study, and an article on the work of leading youth media organization Educational Video Center (EVC).

Summer Institute 2004: Envisioning a Continuum for Powerful Learning