Teaching Youth how to use Mobile Devices

16 May

The City of Seattle Department of Information Technology completed their third tech indicators survey (http://seattle.gov/tech/indicators/docs/2009_TechAccessAndAdoptionInSeattleReport.pdf) in 2009.  We learned that Seattle is a connected city, but disparities exist when you take a close look at education, and income.  Another trend jumped out to me – mobile devices.  In four (4) years there was a 16% increase in households with at least one cell phone.  According to the report, adoption of smart phones or mobile devices with Internet access is now at 35% for Seattle residents with landlines.  I’m sure that number has increased in the last two years and is significantly higher if you factor in residents without landlines.  The bottom line, mobile devices play a role in how we communicate and consume information.  We know this though.  Youth Digital Media instructors need to start helping use mobile technology in more meaningful ways.

We did not waste time exploring how our team at YTECH could support young people develop their mobile device skills.  We started off by researching best practices and we found this cool dude that creates all his content from his mobile device (read story).  And we found a mapping project that we liked in San Jose.  The project wasn’t about mobile devices, but we liked the concept of weaving mobile programming with a mapping presentation. 

Along the way we started using our smart phones.  We played with SonicPics, PS Express, Hipstamatic, Instagram, iMovie, iMovie Extras.  Basically, we got comfortable with available apps and how we would teach.

Next we had to track down some funds.  We submitted a grant to the City of Seattle’s Tech Matching Fund (http://www.seattle.gov/tech/tmf/) for a mapping voices project.  The project would support Latino youth develop digital stories about their community (like the one below) and then map the stories.

 

 

Follow the Latino iStories crew on Puget SoundOff – http://pugetsoundoff.org/iStories

The youth leaders get to keep their iPod Touches for the duration of the project.  We wanted to find out how these devices were being used.  Check this out:

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Summer Technology and Media Camps for Grades 2-6 in Seattle, Eastside and North Puget Sound

17 Apr

Summer is almost here and we can’t wait!

by Noreen, YTech Techreation camp 2011
Redmond, WA

YTECH will hold our successful Techreation summer technology camps for students entering grades 2 through 6 at four locations across Puget Sound during summer 2012. Camps are week-long affairs and can be combined with YMCA wrap-around care to make them full day experiences for your child.  At Techreation camp, kids learn photography and video skills and edit their own digital story about active living! We had such a blast at Audobon Elementary last year — this year we expand our offerings to Bothell, Woodinville and Shoreline. In Redmond, we’ll offer a special Food & Tech camp that will teach young people to create media about healthy foods.

Follow the links below to visit the YMCA of Greater Seattle summer camps page for cost, details and to register. See ya at Techreation!

July 9 – 13
9:30AM-12:30PM
Audobon Elementary (3045 180th NE, Redmond)
Details

July 16 – 20
9AM-noon
Northshore YMCA (11811 NE 195th St, Bothell)
Details

Aug. 6 – 10
9AM-noon
The Y at the Carol Edwards Center (17401 133rd Ave NE, Woodinville)
Details

August 20 – 24
9AM-1PM
Dale Turner Family YMCA (19290 Aurora Ave N, Shoreline)
Details

Food & Tech!
August 13-17
9:30AM-12:30PM
Audobon Elementary (3045 180th NE, Redmond)
Details

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Teen Dating Violence PSA’s

1 Apr

They could have enjoyed a long day off school but instead 9 students at Chief Sealth International and West Seattle High Schools chose to get in some community service hours with YTech. This time with a Tabu twist…

February was Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. It serves as a time for people to really ask questions and understand that abuse among young people is a very real thing. It’s a topic often ignored by parents and caring adults in order to protect ourselves from a harsh reality. This reality was made known to the group of Seattle students and they decided to take action through making Public Service Announcements.

Our Civic Voice Curriculum model served as the outline of the day’s activities:

Knowledge is Power: We began by screening Tabu’s pilot short film titled, “I am a survivor of rape.” The media was a safe way for young people to engage with real life stories of women coping with a trauma like sexual abuse. The video was followed by powerful circle discussions in small groups and reflections about different types of abuse.

Express Yourself: Each student was invited to write a message to the audiences affected by Teen Dating Violence: peers, those who have been abused, those who have abused, parents and supporters of the cause.  See their messages below:

Connect & Collaborate: Students selected groups based on the audience and message that resonated most with them. This activity became a great brainstorming session for the scripts of their PSA’s.

Take Action: Finally they recorded Public Service Announcements to raise awareness and spark meaningful conversation and prevention within their online networks and offline community.

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YTech in Education Northwest Magazine

28 Mar

It comes as no surprise that teachers are beginning to see the added value of technology in education. It’s why we are so excited about the release of our Civic Voice Curriculum, designed to help educators incorporate digital media into their teaching. So many are well on their way, enhancing these new literacy skills of their students, and we are happy to be featured along with some of our youth media peers in the spring edition of Education Northwest Magazine. 

As written in Connecting Adolescents to Literacy, “Literacy 2.0″:

“At Pugetsoundoff.org, youth across Seattle blog about subjects such as social justice, animal rights, and the environment. Students who see themselves as writers and artists
post their creations: a poem on bullying, a photograph of graffiti a video of a Seattle snowstorm. Many voice concerns about community issues and collaborate to solve problems in their communities.

This community youth center in the ether is a joint effort of the City of Seattle, the University of Washington Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, and Metrocenter YMCA. While youth o$en participate on the site as individuals, teachers have begun to use Puget SoundOff as an educational tool, offering students the opportunity to blog or post comments on issues and submit entries to competitions such as ‘Write a Bill’ and ‘Human Rights Day Banner’ contests.

‘I’ve seen educators in the classroom—as well as those working with youth at our community centers, nonprofts, and libraries —using Puget SoundOff and other technology tools to
enhance education,’ says David Keyes, the City of Seattle’s community technology manager. ‘They are using blogging tools to teach applied critical thought, writing, English, and civic engagement skills.’

YMCA, the organization that manages the site, has branches in several Seattle schools and offers after-school classes in blogging, photography, and videography, so students can acquire the skills they need to communicate and collaborate on the site, as well as in the real world. The ‘Y’ has been particularly effective at making these Literacy 2.0 opportunities available to underserved populations. In Garfield Community Center’s Teen Life ‘Rectech’ group, teens participate in progressive blogging, writing together as a group until they develop the skills to go solo.

‘This helps build articulation skills,’ reports Keyes, ‘and for some of the East African immigrants involved, it improves their English. Commenting on blogs helps with the development of critiquing skills. The public posting gives them a greater purpose in sharing their voice and affirming that their voice matters.’

‘There is power in telling your story,’ says Colleen McDevitt, a technology instructor with the Y. ‘When kids do it online and people read it and comment on it, they feel that someone is listening.’”

Download and read the rest of Education Northwest Magazine at the link: http://educationnorthwest.org/resource/2278

Webinar Series on Connected Learning

28 Mar

Here’s a great little weekly-webinar series from the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub that will touch on a number of learning topics.

Howard Rheingold, “Brother Mike” Hawkins and Joe Kahne are on my calendar!

March 29 – 10:00 AM PST
Buffy Hamilton – The Unquiet Librarian

How do libraries cultivate participatory literacy to disrupt what Paulo Freire calls the “banking” system of education?
April 3 – 8:00 AM PST

P2PU Co-Founder Philipp Schmidt will discuss his insights regarding the dynamic growth of the P2PU community.

April 10 – 9:00 AM PST

Howard Rheingold – Social Media and Peer Learning: From Mediated Pedagogy to Peeragogy

Discover how giving students more responsibility in shaping their own curriculum can lead to more active participation.

April 17 – 7:00 AM PST
“Brother Mike” Hawkins – YOUmedia Mentor

“Brother Mike” Hawkins will share his personal experience with the power and potential of interest-driven learning.

April 19 – 7:00 AM PST
Katie Salen – Making Learning Irresistible: 6 Principles of Game-like Learning

6 guiding principles underlying a learning model developed by the Institute of Play, which uses the intrinsic qualities of game design and play to reimagine

April 24 – 9:00 PST
Joe Kahne – Youth & Participatory Politics

What is the relationship between online participatory practices and political participation?

May 1 – 9:00 PST
Mark Surman – Mozilla Open Badges

Mark Surman will highlight the potential benefits of the Open Badges initiative and share how people can kick-start their own badging systems.

Connected Learning

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