Youthlearn News Archive 2005

This new strategy brief from the Finance Project and the Council of Chief State School Officers describes how six major funding streams included in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) can support extended learning opportunities.
'Using NCLB Funds to Support Extended Learning Time: Opportunities for Afterschool Programs,' provides important context for those seeking to access these funding streams, and includes a discussion of strategies, considerations and tips for accessing each source.

Subjects"Educational Technology"

Grade
"6-8"

Brief Description
"Students learn the six criteria for evaluating Web sites and then use those criteria to locate three sites that provide good information and three that do not."

Objectives
"Students will

• Understand the six criteria for evaluating Web sites
• Identify Web sites with accurate, relevant, and current information on a given topic."

More...

Laptops, Internet access, scanners, and video cameras can help teachers and students access information and resources quickly and easily. Digital imagery, PowerPoint presentations, and microphones create fun, interactive classrooms.
But access and ease do not equal knowledge and comprehension, according to Peter N. Berger in his Oct. 26 EDUCATION WEEK Commentary. In the midst of all the educational technology hype, Berger writes that we have lost sight of the basics of learning and teaching.

How effective is cutting-edge equipment in improving actual achievement?

Deadline: December 16, 2005

VSA arts (http://www.vsarts.org/) and the MetLife Foundation have announced their 2nd annual Arts Connect All funding opportunity for arts organizations.

The new issue of Education Development Center's report series, Mosaic, may be of interest to folks working with high school-aged youth in and outside of the classroom.

The ITEST (IT Experiences for Students and Teachers) Learning Resource Center, in which YouthLearn is a partner, recently held a public event on Engaging Girls in Science and IT. This eSchool News feature story provides a good summary, in case you missed the webcast:

"To engage girls in the study of science and technology, educators need to convey the right message about the roles these fields play in society and the skills they require--and they also need to provide more hands-on activities that have some social value.

These were the main lessons imparted during a Sept.

Deadline: December 1, 2005

"The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (http://www.cgp.org/) is a grantmaking organization that works to promote mutual understanding between the United States and Japan on contemporary social issues.

CGP's Grassroots Exchange Program provides support for exchange projects that involve issue-oriented cooperation and learning among youth, nonprofit organizations, and members of the general public in both the U.S.

Deadline: November 2, 2005

"ITEST is designed to increase the opportunities for students and teachers to learn about, experience, and use information technologies within the context of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including Information Technology (IT) courses.

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."

"Not long ago, many of us working in youth media did not consider ourselves part of a field. And, really, why would we? Opportunities to share practices and collaborate with others working on teen-produced media were few and far between.

The Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME at http://www.acmecoalition.org) continues its 2005-2006 "Monthly Media Education" resource offerings with their "ACME Food For Thought Tool Kit", a FREE downloadable resource detailing a wide variety of ways health, language arts, history, civics, social studies and journalism teachers can use media education to focus on a host of food-related matters: obesity, nutrition, health, corporate power, agriculture - of vital importance to all of the globe's citizens today."

"The "Food For Thought" tool kit in