[YL] YouthLearn Newsletter, Issue 136

Tue Jul 8 10:36:58 EDT 2008

YouthLearn
Newsletter, Issue 136 - July 8, 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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YouthLearn Updates 

YouthLearn Helps Launch New EDC Chicago Office
YouthLearn is excited to share the news that three of our team members are now located in the recently opened EDC Chicago office. YouthLearn's work remains national in scope with current projects for such funders as Adobe Systems Incorporated, the Verizon Foundation, and the National Science Foundation. Having staff based in Chicago will offer us the opportunity to pilot more work on the ground and connect with other local and national education, media and technology efforts in the city and midwest. Our new Chicago address is: The YouthLearn Initiative EDC-Chicago, 770 N. Halsted Street, Suite 205 Chicago, IL 60622. Feel free to look us up whenever you're in town!
URL: http://www.youthlearn.org <http://www.youthlearn.org/> 

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News 

National Summer Learning Day
The Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins heralds National Summer Learning Day - this Thursday, July 10. "Summer Learning Day is a time for communities across the nation to celebrate the importance of high-quality summer learning opportunities in the lives of young people and their families. In 2007, Summer Learning Day included 145 registered events in 34 states and a national policy forum in Washington, DC. This year, we hope to have 300 events nationwide, including a major policy event in Washington, DC, where summer learning leaders from around the country will come to make the case for increased federal investment in summer learning programs." A summer learning video contest - deadline on July 31 - is part of the celebration.
URL: http://www.summerlearning.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=426 <http://www.summerlearning.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=426> 

Technology Reshapes America's Classrooms
The "Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Boston, offers a glimpse into the future. It has no textbooks. Students receive laptops at the start of each day, returning them at the end. Teachers and students maintain blogs. Staff and parents chat on instant messaging software. Assignments are submitted through electronic 'drop boxes' on the school's Web site.... Classwork is done in Google Inc's free applications like Google Docs, or Apple's iMovie and specialized educational software like FASTT Math. 'Why would we ever buy a book when we can buy a computer? Textbooks are often obsolete before they are even printed,' said Debra Socia, principal of the school in Dorchester, a tough Boston district prone to crime and poor schools.... Unlike traditional schools, Frederick's students work at vastly different levels in the same classroom. Children with special needs rub shoulders with high performers. Computers track a range of aptitude levels, allowing teachers to tailor their teaching to their students' weakest areas, Socia said." 
URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080707/tc_nm/usa_education_technology_dc;_ylt=Am5SSrb0M5dERBD4FMzDmTL6VbIF <http://news.yahoo.com/i/1212;_ylt=AkG3lA95XeuqQm5T0xb9QPojtBAF> 

Laptops Help Keep Migrant Workers' Kids in School
On NPR's All Things Considered, Larry Abramson tells a story of how the One Laptop Per Child program is affecting educational experiences for children in a Florida community. "Immokalee, Fla., is the largest center for migrant farmworkers on the East Coast. Juan Medina, a former agricultural worker, worked the fields with his family, planting onions in west Texas and picking tomatoes in Homestead, Fla. Medina now works for the Florida Department of Education, trying to help the children of migrant workers deal with the challenges of migrant life. He is part of a town effort to help the children in school. His new tool is free laptops."
URL: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91891812 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91891812> 

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Funding 

Disney MinnieGrants for Youth-Led Service Projects
"Youth Service America and Disney have announced the launch of a second round of Disney MinnieGrants to engage children and youth, ages five to 14, as community volunteers. Selected applicants will receive $500 each to support their youth-led service projects. Projects must take place October 15-November 15, 2008. Grantees from the first round of Disney awards of 2008 are eligible to apply. Visit the YSA Web site for complete program guidelines and to review past award recipients from all over the world." Deadline: August 30.
URL: http://ysa.org/AwardsGrants/tabid/58/Default.aspx <http://ysa.org/AwardsGrants/tabid/58/Default.aspx> 
Referred by: Foundation Center

Siemens High School Competition in Math, Science & Technology
The Siemens High School Competition in Math, Science & Technology gives students "an opportunity to achieve national recognition for science research projects that they complete in high school." Funded by the Siemens Foundation, U.S. high school students may enter to win a maximum award of $100,000. Deadline: October 1, 2008 
URL: http://www.siemens-foundation.org/en/competition.htm <http://www.siemens-foundation.org/en/competition.htm> 
Referred by: Promising Practices

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Activities 

VERB: CDC Youth Campaign to Increase Physical Activity
Comprising online games and interactives, blogs, educational materials, and other activities, this multicultural social marketing campaign to increase physical activity among youth is called VERB: It's what you do. 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. The VERB curricular materials for educators and interactive multimedia content directed at youth combine to engage and motivate tweens (ages 9 to 13), encouraging healthy lifestyles and participation in physical activity. VERB was created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
URL: http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/technology.cgi?resource=10 <http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/technology.cgi?resource=10> 

Lost Ladybug Project
"Over the past twenty years several native ladybug species that were once very common have become extremely rare... During this same time several species of ladybugs from other places have greatly increased both their numbers and range. Besides being incredibly cool and charismatic, ladybugs are also essential predators... To be able to help the nine spotted ladybug and other ladybug species, scientists need to have detailed information on which species are still out there and how many individuals are around. Entomologists at Cornell can identify the different species but there are too few of us to sample in enough places to find the really rare ones. We need you to be our legs, hands and eyes. If you could look for ladybugs and send us pictures of them on Email we can start to gather the information we need. We are very interested in the rare species but any pictures will help us. This is the ultimate summer science project for kids and adults! You can learn, have fun and help save these important species."
URL: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/icb344/Lost_Ladybugs.htm <http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/icb344/Lost_Ladybugs.htm> 

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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