Youthlearn News Archive 2006

Survey confirms importance of professional development to tech integration
By Robert Brumfield, Assistant Editor, eSchool News
"In their efforts to meet federal requirements for improved student performance, the nation's teachers say effective use of classroom technology is essential to conduct important administrative tasks and reach a new generation of learners weaned on technology. And key to the effective use of classroom technology, educators report, is adequate professional development.

Your parents were right, don't study with the TV on. Multitasking may be a necessity in today's fast-paced world, but new research shows distractions affect the way people learn, making the knowledge they gain harder to use later on.
The study, in Monday's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, also provides a clue as to why it happens.

'What's new is that even if you can learn while distracted, it changes how you learn to make it less efficient and useful,' said Russell A.

The Best Buy te@ch program recognizes creative uses of interactive technology in K-12 classrooms. The purpose of te@ch is to reward schools for successful interactive programs they have launched using available technology. This year the program will provide more than $3.5 million in total awards to K-12 public, private, and parochial schools in the United States.

To be eligible, schools must be located within fifty miles of a Best Buy store. Accredited K-12 public, private, parochial, and nonprofit charter schools are eligible.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is now enrolling participants for the pilot of its first ever web-based A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute anti-bias course. Making Diversity Count: An Online Course for Educators, developed with funding from the Ford Foundation and the Sylvia and Leon P. Family Foundation, is a new groundbreaking online educational initiative to combat bias and promote respect. The course is developed for secondary level educators in public, private and parochial schools.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) -- mapping and analysis software employed by the U.S. government, NASA, and other agencies -- now is helping students locate and document hazards in their communities."
"Technology used for analyzing and mapping states, countries, and continents now is helping youngsters clean up their communities and find safe routes to school...

The Red, White & Green Youth Action Campaign, a new joint project of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute and Youth Service America, announces the availability of 60 grants for young people, ages 15-25, to create community service projects that address climate change. The $500 grants will support younger Americans as they develop their voice and impact public policy on the critical issue of climate change.

The Development Gateway Foundation is calling for nominations from around the globe for the third annual Development Gateway Award. The award recognizes outstanding achievement in the use of Information and Communication Technologies to improve the lives of people in developing countries.

This year the program is highlighting projects that empower or improve the conditions of youth.

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. Here's an overview and a link to the site:
Fostering Media Savvy STEM Learners

What is the relationship between the development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) skills and the need for new 21st century literacy?

Four-in-ten teens (40.5%) who do not attend after-school programs say it is because they simply are not interested in what is being offered, according to a new poll. In contrast, about one-in-ten teens say they do not participate because of cost (11.9%) or lack of transportation (11.6%). Overall, 44.7 percent of respondents say they attend after-school programs other than sports, while 55.3 percent do not.

"Partnering with schools can be tricky, but with know-how and strategizing, it can be done."
"Most youth media organizations wanting to reach a diverse group of young people consider, at some point, collaborating with schools. "Let's face it," says Kathleen Tyner, who teaches at the University of Texas and helps bring media education to schools, "schools are where the kids are, and the kids are hungry for this.... But partnering with schools can be tricky. Schools have their own culture and language, which can be difficult to penetrate.