Youthlearn Current News

"Looking@Democracy is a national competition offering a total of $100,000 in prize money for short, provocative media submissions designed to spark a national conversation about why government is important to our lives, or how individuals and communities can come together to strengthen American democracy.

"Today, so much of our research happens online, and part of what makes the internet so wonderful is the ease at which it brings information into our lives. But when that information is so easily available to us, it is sometimes easy to forget that someone else produced that information, and they deserve credit...Teaching students about copyright is more than just letting them know that they should be doing their own work, and not copying off the web.

"The Texas Council on Family Violence has created a new resource: a creative arts curriculum for people aged 12-21 which uses a variety of media to enlist youth in exploring equality and nonviolence. It's directed at a youth and adult audience, and presents 12 "action plans" which are based on contemporary music, video, art, and written word examples from youth culture."

A new issue brief from Afterschool Alliance focuses on Digital Media & Learning in Afterschool: "digital media and technology are revolutionizing how, where and when children learn. As one might expect with any type of transformative innovation, digital media has compelled many educators to completely reimagine the learning experience. 

"Teachers want to know: Among all the millions of videos out there, how do you find the great ones? How do you evaluate the quality of a video? Who are the great content creators, and what are the best curation sites?... In collaboration with educator Catlin Tucker, MindShift presents Teachers’ Guide to Videos, to answer these questions and more.

The Adobe Youth Voices Aspire Awards recognizes media with original, high-quality youth-produced content that creatively express the vision for driving positive change in local communities. The deadline for media created in 2013 is midnight Pacific Time on April 19, 2013.

Eligible projects must be created by youth between the ages of 13-19 and demonstrate the power of media to give voice to youth issues and concerns.