_______________
News
21st Century Community Learning Centers Evaluated
The first-year findings from a study of the federal afterschool program
have just been released, leading to debate about the results and the
implications for funding levels. See the evaluation report at the
U.S. Department
of Education website
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/21cent/firstyear/
and read about reaction at the Afterschool Alliance website.
http://www.afterschoolalliance.org
ICT Literacy Summit Convenes
International Leaders
YouthLearn Director Tony Streit joined a few
hundred leaders from the
education, public policy, and business sectors
to discuss the growing
need for digital literacy. Reaching consensus on
how to define and
promote 21st century skills, as well as ensure the distribution
of
sufficient resources for students and educators, emerged as key
challenges.
The Summit agenda, video of the sessions (for a limited
time), and other
ICT literacy resources are available on the Web.
http://www.ictliteracy.info
Young Leaders to Host Online Panel
Starting next week! It is the culmination of the 2002-03 AT&T Young
Leaders Program, a joint project of the America Connects Consortium,
YouthLearn, and YouthNOISE. The group of teens from communities
around the country will share their views and answer questions about
youth leadership and related issues. This online panel, scheduled for
February 18-28, is open to adult and youth subscribers. To join the
forum, please send an email to majordomo@americaconnects.net
with subscribe panels as the only text in the body of the message. Or
send a request to CTCNet at info@ctcnet.org. You can also visit the
Young Leaders
website to learn more about them and their work.
http://www.youthnoise.com/ctc
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Grants and Awards
Inspired Teacher Scholarships for Visual Learning
Sponsored by Inspiration Software for the fifth year, these scholarships
give 30 educators $750 each toward professional development
opportunities. Awards honor the innovative use of visual learning and
technology in the classroom. See the program website for eligibility
requirements. Deadline is February 28. [eSchool News]
http://www.inspiration.com/prodev/index.cfm?fuseaction=scholarship
National Youth Service Day
Project Grants
In honor of National Youth Service Day 2003,
April 11-13, Youth
Service America presents two grant programs for youth,
teachers, and
youth organizations. The AT&T CARES Youth Service Action Fund
offers
25 grants of $500 each to youth or organizations for community
service
projects. The Good Neighbor Service-Learning Award from the
State Farm Companies
Foundation offers 50 grants of $500 to youth
and 50 grants of $1,500 to
teachers to organize service-learning
projects. Applications are due February
28.
http://www.ysa.org/awards/award_grant.cfm
Guardian Life Insurance Scholarships for Young Women
The 2002/2003 Girls Going Places College Scholarship Program,
sponsored by the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America,
recognizes girls between the ages of 12 and 16 who demonstrate
outstanding entrepreneurship and make a difference in their community.
Thousands of dollars in scholarship prizes will be awarded.
Nominations are due by February 28. [Foundation Center]
http://www.glic.com/wc/ggp.html
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Info
New NIOST Reports on Afterschool
Initiatives
The National Institute on Out-of-School Time
has recently released
two publications of interest to the field. "Making
the Case: A Fact
Sheet on Children and Youth in Out-of-School Time" summarizes
the research on the benefits of afterschool programs. This short
document
(6 pages) can be an excellent resource for proposal
development and meetings
with stakeholders.
http://www.niost.org/Factsheet_2003.PDF
The report "Building and Sustaining Citywide Afterschool Initiatives"
documents the experiences, including successes and lessons learned,
of 8 of the 21 cities in the Cross-Cities Network of Citywide
Afterschool Initiatives.
http://www.niost.org/cross_cities_brief8.pdf
TechLearning Magazine Features Project-Based Learning
This "primer" on project-based learning explains in brief what it is,
how you can do it, and why it's worth it. Oriented to the traditional
K-12 classroom, many of the ideas are also applicable in out-of-
school time programs. [Innovative Classrooms]
http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2003/01/project.html
Research Finds Limits and Opportunities for Ed Tech
Successful strategies for encouraging teachers to adopt technology
meet the challenges associated with traditional educational systems
and other forces beyond the classroom. This is according to
researchers in this recent article at eSchool News, where they identify
the five stages that teachers seem to follow in adopting instructional
technology and the factors that contribute to sustainable change.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryalert.cfm?ArticleID=4177
CTCNet Center Start-Up Manual 2003 Edition
The latest edition of this authoritative guide to setting up a technology
center is now available on the Web and in print. The legions of
practitioners who have provided feedback and contributed to the
revision process have helped Community Technology Centers' Network
make this a must-read for everything from mapping community resources
to selecting hardware and software to preparing a business plan.
http://www.ctcnet.org/toc.htm
National School-Age Care Alliance Conference
The 15th annual NSACA conference will be held February 27-March 1
in Salt Lake City, Utah. With 3,000 expected and more than 100
workshops, this is one of the largest events of its kind for afterschool
professionals. Online registration closes February 20, but participants
may register on-site.
http://www.nsacaconference.com
_______________
Ideas
Hear the Voices of Leaders this Black History Month
February is Black History Month, and one of the many rich Web
resources for students and educators is the National Visionary
Leadership Project. Meet some of the leading African-American figures
in recent history through streaming video of interviews with Maya
Angelou, Edward Brooke, Ray Charles, and Coretta Scott King,
among others.
http://www.visionaryproject.com/visionariesT1/visionList.html
Explore Outer Space with Planet Quest
At a time when young people and adults alike are looking to the skies
again with grief but also renewed interest, this NASA web site might
be the perfect source of inspiration. Features include a multimedia
gallery, interactive activities for students, resources for educators,
and lots of information about the search for new planets. [EdInfo]
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/
Highlights from the YouthLearn Website
*What does the Internet Look Like?
This journal writing activity gets kids to plot the virtual world
of the
Web on paper and compare their visions.
http://www.youthlearn.org/learning/activities/multimedia/internetlook.html
*Site Map Now Available!
Discover the information, ideas, and tips that you didn't know we
had,
as you browse the YouthLearn web content with this convenient new
site
map.
http://www.youthlearn.org/sitemap.htm
We welcome your feedback!
_______________
YouthLearn
http://www.youthlearn.org
This newsletter is produced by the YouthLearn Initiative at EDC especially for
members of the YouthLearn discussion group.
YouthLearn is a project of the nonprofit Education
Development Center, Inc.
Designed for youth-development professionals, teachers, educators, and other
caring adults, YouthLearn provides resources and tools for developing effective
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Copyright 2003 Education Development
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YouthLearn was created by the Morino
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