[YL] YouthLearn Newsletter, Issue 143

Tue Oct 28 20:41:10 EST 2008

YouthLearn
Newsletter, Issue 143 - October 28, 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/> 

_______________________
News 

Top Stories from Youth Radio
For young people's perspectives on the election just one week away, you can view, read, or tune into a wide array of youth media. One group that's helping youth have a voice in the news cycle is Youth Radio, a youth development and media organization that contributes stories to NPR, among other media outlets, and has a dynamic web presence, featuring the latest news stories on Election 2008.
URL: http://youthradio.org/election-2008 <http://youthradio.org/election-2008> 

_______________________
Funding 

Echoing Green Offers Support for Social Entrepreneurs
"Each year, Echoing Green awards twenty two-year fellowships to social entrepreneurs working to create innovative new organizations to help change their communities, countries, or the world for the better. Echoing Green seeks individuals or partnerships (organizations led by two people) with: innovative solutions to significant social problems; strategies to create high-impact, sustainable change in people's lives; and the ability to grow and lead a new organization. Organizations must be the original idea of the applicant.... The application process is open to citizens of all nationalities, working in any country. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and must have sufficient English fluency to participate in interviews and Echoing Green events. Fellows receive up to $90,000 ($60,000 for individuals and $90,000 for partnerships of two people) in seed funding and technical support over two years to turn their innovative ideas into sustainable social change organizations." Deadline: December 1, 2008
URL: http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship <http://www.echoinggreen.org/fellowship> 
Referred by: Foundation Center

_______________________
Research 

Powerful Learning: Studies Show Deep Understanding Derives from Collaborative Methods
"Today's students will enter a job market that values skills and abilities far different from the traditional workplace talents that so ably served their parents and grandparents. They must be able to crisply collect, synthesize, and analyze information, then conduct targeted research and work with others to employ that newfound knowledge. In essence, students must learn how to learn, while responding to endlessly changing technologies and social, economic, and global conditions. But what types of teaching and learning will develop these skills? And, just as important, do studies exist that support their use? A growing body of research demonstrates that students learn more deeply if they have engaged in activities that require applying classroom-gathered knowledge to real-world problems.... Research shows that such inquiry-based teaching is not so much about seeking the right answer but about developing inquiring minds, and it can yield significant benefits.... Similarly, studies also show the widespread benefits of cooperative learning."
URL: http://www.edutopia.org/inquiry-project-learning-research <http://www.edutopia.org/inquiry-project-learning-research> 

Middle-school years called optimal time for teaching critical thinking
"The notion that the middle-school years may be the best time to train people in complex reasoning and critical thinking has been borne out in initial studies by researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas's University Center for BrainHealth, writes Robert Miller, a columnist at the Dallas Morning News. 'High-level reasoning and critical thinking are skills that have to be learned and practiced,' says Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, BrainHealth's chief director. 'If teens do not acquire the ability to learn strategically during this developmental period, they might never do so.' Researchers at the center have created a program called SMART-- Strategic Memory and Reasoning Training -- to teach teens how to think critically. Special benefits are seen for those with attention deficit disorder."
URL: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/rmiller/stories/DN-miller_14bus.ART.State.Edition1.26df6de.html <http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/rmiller/stories/DN-miller_14bus.ART.State.Edition1.26df6de.html> 
Referred by: PEN Weekly NewsBlast

New Issue Brief on Afterschool and Special Needs
"The Afterschool Alliance has just released a new Issue Brief, 'Afterschool and Students with Special Needs,' examining the role of afterschool programs in reaching out to and providing enrichment opportunities for special needs students. It includes examples from programs and promising practices for others interested in learning more, implementing, or incorporating successful strategies into their own special needs programs."
URL: http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_34_specialneeds.cfm <http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/issue_34_specialneeds.cfm> 

_______________________
Activities 

Circle of Stories - Multimedia Collection and Activities
A multimedia collection of documentary film, photography, artwork, and music, the Circle of Stories website celebrates Native American storytelling. 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. Visitors can listen to four Native Americans tell their stories, explore current issues facing native cultures, view maps and photo galleries that reveal Native American heritage and influence, as well as share their own stories and feedback. In addition, this PBS website features three interdisciplinary lesson plans designed for educators who work with teens. 
URL: http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/technology.cgi?resource=22 <http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/technology.cgi?resource=22> 

We welcome your feedback!

_______________

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.

To subscribe or unsubscribe:
Go to http://www.youthlearn.org/join/subscribe.html <http://www.youthlearn.org/join/subscribe.html> 

To send a message to the YouthLearn discussion group:
Send an email to youthlearn at mailman.edc.org <mailto:youthlearn at mailman.edc.org> 

To write to us:
To receive future issues of this newsletter in plain text format or to write us
with other comments or questions, send an email to info at youthlearn.org <mailto:info at youthlearn.org> . 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.edc.org/pipermail/youthlearn/attachments/20081028/8646e7bc/attachment.html>