January 19th, 2009
Digital Youth Research
I’ve recently come across some great research and information about the way teenagers use the internet and social networking. I just started reading it all, but I think this research can provide insight about how to achieve our organizations’ missions by better utilizing new media and social networking. While the studies focus on teenagers, people of all ages – especially young adults – are plugged-in.
The Digital Youth Project: (here is a nice overview via boingboing)
“Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures” is a three-year collaborative project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Carried out by researchers at the University of Southern California and University of California, Berkeley, the digital youth project explores how kids use digital media in their everyday lives.
Taken Out of Context
American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics
(doctorial dissertation by Dr. danah michele boyd)
From the Introduction:
“While teenagers primarily leverage social network sites to engage in common practices, the properties of these sites configured their practices and teens were forced to contend with the resultant dynamics. Often, in doing so, they reworked the technology for their purposes. As teenagers learned to navigate social network sites, they developed potent strategies for managing the complexities of and social awkwardness incurred by these sites. Their strategies reveal how new forms of social media are incorporated into everyday life, complicating some practices and reinforcing others. New technologies reshape public life, but teens’ engagement also reconfigures the technology itself. “
Tags: audience, media, networking, public, Teachers, websites, youth
Posted in Environmental Education | No Comments »
December 18th, 2008
How about utilizing community organizations as a source of new program participants? There are many community groups and nonprofits looking for volunteers and new employees to provide programming for their constituents. What if the environmental educators of the Twin Cities were able to jump in and fill those roles? It could build a strong sense of place and home for community residents and perhaps even reduce crime, increase fitness, and create an overall happier community. It would also prevent the community organizations from reinventing the educational wheel. Furthermore, the opportunity to bring in other educational groups (arts, music, language, etc.) could be a real partnership boon for all organizations involved to share skills, contacts, audience, and more.
Here’s a good example:
Family and Children’s Services is looking for volunteers to provide activities and programs for children during parenting classes. The classes are in the Camden Apartments – which are within walking distance of North Mississippi Regional Park. Interpreters from the North Miss, or from the National Park Service (since its along the Mississippi), could either go to the apartment building or could invite the class to the Interpretive Center at North Miss. It’s potentially a great way to engage a new audience with their local environment and create more stewards, but also a way to build the local community’s sense of place and pride.
This process can grow even deeper. When I was a Ranger for the National Park Service I had the honor of establishing a Student Ranger Program. In this program, students from a local community group (The East Side Community Design Center), which had developed a relationship with the park through volunteering to restore the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, recommended students who were interested in establishing a career in environmental science. The NPS then hired two students (after reviewing resumes and interviewing) for the summer and provided them with a wide range of experiences which will help open the door for their careers. Giving the next generation of park rangers a healthy start. It was great for the community too because they were able to see a familiar face in the National Park Service uniform working to protect a valued community resource – the Mississippi.
Where can you find local community groups in need of programming? I recommend checking out the job postings page of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and VolunteerMatch.com for a start. If you would like help, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to help establish new partnerships.
Are you already working in a community partnership like this? I would love to hear about it and perhaps post your story here. Please contact me.
Tags: audience, community, Environmental Education, sense of place
Posted in Featured | No Comments »