[YL] YouthLearn Newsletter, Issue 134

Tue Jun 3 13:15:50 EDT 2008

YouthLearn
Newsletter, Issue 134 - June 3, 2008

The YouthLearn Newsletter compiles the latest entries to the YouthLearn News Blog. This innovative service to the YouthLearn community highlights youth, education, and technology news, tools, and resources. We hope this assists you in your important work. Please feel free to share this resource with friends and colleagues, and visit the News Blog often! http://news.youthlearn.org <http://news.youthlearn.org/> 

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Funding 

VSA arts Invites Entries From Young Artists With Disabilities for Green Light Awards
"Sponsored by VSA arts with support from Volkswagen of America, Inc., the Green Light Awards program is open to young artists ages 16 to 25 living in the United States who have a physical, cognitive, or mental disability. The program invites entries of both representational and abstract work... Art must be an original work that has been completed in the last three years." Eligible media include paintings and drawings, fine art prints, photography, computer-generated prints and two-dimensional mixed media. "This year the program also welcomes entries of sculpture and time-based media." 15 cash prizes will be awarded. Deadline: July 11, 2008.
URL: http://www.vsarts.org/PreBuilt/showcase/gallery/exhibits/vw/2007/ <http://www.vsarts.org/PreBuilt/showcase/gallery/exhibits/vw/2007/> 
Referred by: Foundation Center

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Resources 

Creativity in Public Education
In a new video clip frontpaged on Edutopia, innovation consultant Sir Ken Robinson talks about the transformation needed in public education to nurture creativity... and he advocates making creativity an "operational idea like literacy." The clip (15 minutes) was recorded at the Apple Education Leadership Summit in April 2008. An older article written by Robinson on similar themes is also linked.
URL: http://www.edutopia.org/ <http://www.edutopia.org/> 

Op-Ed: Put a Little Science in Your Life
"I've increasingly come to believe: our educational system fails to teach science in a way that allows students to integrate it into their lives," writes Professor Brian Greene in a New York Times Op-Ed. "When we consider the ubiquity of cellphones, iPods, personal computers and the Internet, it's easy to see how science (and the technology to which it leads) is woven into the fabric of our day-to-day activities," and yet, "I've spoken with so many people over the years whose encounters with science in school left them thinking of it as cold, distant and intimidating. They happily use the innovations that science makes possible, but feel that the science itself is just not relevant to their lives. What a shame. Like a life without music, art or literature, a life without science is bereft of something that gives experience a rich and otherwise inaccessible dimension." 
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/opinion/01greene.html?em&ex=1212638400&en=0763f2d29058a80b&ei=5087%0A <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/opinion/01greene.html?em&ex=1212638400&en=0763f2d29058a80b&ei=5087%0A> 

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Research 

What Works in Education and Civic Engagement Programs
"Two new fact sheets from Child Trends synthesize the lessons learned from evaluated out-of-school-time programs and interventions in education and civic engagement. The findings are based on the Child Trends database of experimental evaluations of social interventions for children and youth - LINKS (Lifecourse Interventions to Nurture Kids Successfully)." Among the findings reported in the fact sheet on What Works for Education, "Most of the out-of-school time programs that target educational outcomes have positive impacts." Among the findings reported in the fact sheet on What Works for Civic Engagement, "Connecting children with needy populations and/or providing community service opportunities is effective in increasing helping behavior and perceptions of social responsibility."
URL: http://www.childtrends.org/_docdisp_page.cfm?LID=9FD242EE-DB44-419A-912AAB82D349BC66 <http://www.childtrends.org/_docdisp_page.cfm?LID=9FD242EE-DB44-419A-912AAB82D349BC66> 

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Activities 

ESRI GIS - Community Mapping Activities, Etc.
The ESRI GIS software tools and curriculum create opportunities for young people to engage in their communities in concrete, meaningful ways. It is one of the resources highlighted in the recently launched Technology Curriculum Database, developed by YouthLearn for the U.S. Department of Education-funded National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning at SEDL. Projects range from community mapping to global investigations, with technology employed as a tool in a learning process that is interdisciplinary and, to varying degrees, learner-driven. Developed by ESRI, a company that has a long history in geographic information systems, the education community portal offers educators an array of free or low-cost resources. These include curriculum, software products, and a book series on GIS education. 
URL: http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/technology.cgi?resource=20 <http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/technology.cgi?resource=20> 

Positive Youth Develoment Activities from 4-H
>From Illinois 4-H, these "Positive Youth Development (PYD) Lesson Plans have been designed for use in a club/group setting to strengthen" the eight elements identified as critical to positive youth development. These are easily adaptable for camp and other youth programs. Lesson plans include the following core sections: Background information; Assessment questions; Roll Call Suggestions; and Activities, such as self-reflection, games, and role-play.
URL: http://www.4-h.uiuc.edu/opps/pyd-club.html <http://www.4-h.uiuc.edu/opps/pyd-club.html> 

We welcome your feedback!

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YouthLearn
http://www.youthlearn.org <http://www.youthlearn.org/> 

This newsletter is produced by the YouthLearn Initiative at EDC especially for
members of the YouthLearn discussion group. Every two weeks, the newsletter is
compiled from the entries in the YouthLearn News Blog <http://news.youthlearn.org/> , including summaries
from various sources that YouthLearn staff periodically review.

Past newsletters are archived at http://www.youthlearn.org/resources/newsletter/index.html <http://www.youthlearn.org/resources/newsletter/index.html> . 

YouthLearn is a project of the nonprofit Education Development Center, Inc. <http://www.edc.org/> 
Designed for youth development professionals, teachers, educators, and other
caring adults, YouthLearn provides resources and tools for developing effective
learning programs enhanced with technology, particularly in out-of-school settings.

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