Throughout the course of this 18-month initiative, the Challenge learning community – a primary team consisting of afterschool program partners, a research team from NYU, and SCE, and a secondary team of human resource professionals and system intermediaries – will explore what it means to be a prepared and skilled 21st century citizen. To do this, we have partnered with eight programs that use digital tools for learning. We will study how the work is done, in differing contexts, with different sets of challenges, and how success is achieved navigating all of these factors.

Each program partner has similar qualities: exemplar programs using digital tools for learning, and serving youth ages 13-18 in afterschool settings. Each focuses on skill growth by working with youth to create and connect hands-on learning experiences to life, work and play beyond the program. Each program partner serves an urban population (a challenge we hope to address in future grantmaking). However, each program partner differs in how it defines 21st century skills, the tools used, and program model, all of which are based on the unique community context.

Uniquely positioned, each partner has identified a set of skills – digital, social and emotional, and civic that are most valuable for the youth based on the demands of each community. Prescient in the program design, organizational leadership also understands that in a world where technology is changing how we work, digital media skills are a critical vehicle for teens to develop in-demand workforce skills. Many, if not all, have partnered with local employers and other organizations to create economic pathways through project-based training, networking opportunities, and paid apprenticeships.  Due to this, the Challenge will also explore the changing nature of work and the role of digital media and informal learning environments in equipping youth with skills needed to thrive as professionals in the workforce.

And that, we believe is our sweet spot. Our goal is to honor the important contextual differences while identifying and understanding common processes. And then together, we will analyze and articulate best practices and share what we’ve learned with educators, informal learning practitioners, and others with a vested interest in ensuring more youth have access to more meaningful learning experiences using digital tools, while preparing them for success in work, life, and play.

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Learning Community Participants

Program Partners

 AS220: Founded in 1985, AS220 is a non-profit community arts organization located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island and is the parent organization to AS220 Youth. AS220 Youth serves 450 students four days a week, year round, in partnership with an alternative middle school and the state juvenile detention center. AS220 Youth’s core project focus is ZuKrewe:  a youth-led artist collective that uses music, art, social justice, and popular culture to promote and create social change. ZuKrewe represents a diverse group of young people who are using their talents to positively affect their friends, families, and neighborhoods while encouraging their peers to become involved in the issues that matter most to them. The program combines in-depth arts, entrepreneurial, and technical education with service to communities in Providence and greater Rhode Island and helps prepare our youth postsecondary education and/or the workforce. Zukrewe is divided into 5 teams, with each team responsible for elements that contribute to a final performance on social-justice topics at the end of the year. https://as220.org/

The Beam Center: Founded in 2005 in Brooklyn, NY, Beam Center connects youth to learning with creative projects that combine STEM with art and design while fostering collaboration and authentic relationships with adults. The Beam Center’s Apprentice Program recruits high school juniors and seniors from Title-I public school partners and provides an intensive internship-like, afterschool experience for cohorts of 25-30 students. Apprenticeships take place twice-a-week over a 16-week period with Beam faculty engineers, artists, and scientists to create a large-scale collaborative project each session. Students learn the basics of digital and manual tool use, as well as how to collaboratively plan and execute a large project. Projects vary per session but all employ design-thinking, hands-on creation, multidisciplinary academic content, digital and manual fabrication skills, and digital media creation. The experience forms the basis for future interest-driven learning as well as skills that can be used in a variety of settings. Apprentices who complete the program are eligible for paid summer jobs at a community day camp and afterschool programs through a partnership with ExpandEd NYC. https://beamcenter.org/

YOUmedia, Chicago Public Library: Since 1873, Chicago Public Library (CPL) has encouraged lifelong learning by offering equal access to information and knowledge. Created in 2009, CPL’s YOUmedia is a 21st century teen learning lab in 12 branches. It serves as a national model that has informed the work of nearly 30 libraries and other public spaces throughout the country. This Library program) offers teens numerous entry-points for self-expression, project-based learning, and collaboration. At YOUmedia, high-school students from across Chicago can access—free of charge—a range of technologies that would be difficult to find elsewhere, such as DSLR cameras, maker bots, and graphic design software. Whether building basic skills, learning advanced production techniques, or pursuing more individualized projects, specially-trained mentors support teens in using these technologies as tools for creating, learning, and communicating. YOUmedia’s digital learning opportunities are also designed with low barriers to participation: teens can join a project at lower engagement levels and “level up” as their skills and interest develops. https://www.chipublib.org/programs-and-partnerships/youmedia/

Digital Harbor Foundation (DHF): In 2013, DHF transformed a closed-down inner-city Baltimore rec center into the DHF Tech Center, a 5,000-ft² makerspace to deliver youth-focused technology education programs in high-growth pathways ranging from digital fabrication to web development, design, and electronics. Based in maker philosophy and practice, DHF programs provide support for informal learning, and create a continuous, progressive pathway into technology education, innovation, and career options for youth ages 13-18. All incoming DHF youth enroll in Maker Foundations, a 14-week exploratory course designed to give youth hands-on experience with the various meanings of ‘technology,’ help them identify their own interests, and develop career-ready skills and self-efficacy as creative technologists. When youth complete Maker Foundations, they progress to the MegaLab programs, an array of seven-week project-based courses that build access, interest, and competence in technology innovation and creativity, especially for minority and underserved youth. These intermediate and advanced courses offer deeper experience in high-growth, interconnected areas such as Interactive Design, JavaScript, Game Design, CAD software, and Electronics. http://www.digitalharbor.org/

DreamYard: Established in 1994, DreamYard is the largest arts provider in the Bronx. The organization’s approach is rooted in art and social justice pedagogy and supports students in developing a lifelong learning pathway. DreamYard’s Digital Learning Portfolio initiative captures the process of student learning, encouraging students to manage and direct their own learning narrative to better present themselves to colleges, employers, and peer interest groups. DreamYard is building out their digital portfolio work with the DreamYard Bronx Art Collective (BAC), a year-round visual art program to activate STEM learning and interest in design, coding, digital art, and more.  DreamYard is supporting youth as they experiment with ideas in hands-on, real-world situations. The skills and knowledge that youth acquire at DreamYard are wide-ranging, from learning to use technology, to developing original pieces of art, to creating community place-based design initiatives, to developing communication and leadership skills. http://www.dreamyard.com/

Free Spirit Media: Founded in 2001, Free Spirit Media (FSM) provides youth on Chicago’s South and West sides with a comprehensive foundation in media literacy and hands-on digital media production experience. FSM News is an afterschool and summer program where student reporters produce news packages, issue specific mini-documentaries, socially conscious narrative pieces, and public service announcements for broadcast on local Chicago TV stations. Curriculum focuses on news literacy, solutions-oriented reporting, journalism ethics, and digital media production as a form of civic engagement. At the apprentice level, the curriculum is focused on building the literacy and technical skills needed for journalism and video production. By the program’s completion, apprentices produce and distribute a newscast using the digital media skills gained throughout the year. Advanced crews are responsible for completing 5-6 themed newscasts throughout the year to showcase their skills in broadcast journalism and digital media production. https://freespiritmedia.org

The Knowledge House (TKH): Located in the Bronx, TKH provides technology and digital media instruction to young adults to prepare them for the 21st century workforce. The Intro to Tech Entrepreneurship course provides low-income students in NYC with an introduction to the various technology occupations and skillsets (AutoCAD, Virtual Reality, Data Visualization, UX/UI, Graphic Design, Digital Marketing, and more), coding, and workplace skills to prepare them to thrive in the technology ecosystem. Students engage in project-based learning through daily digital and coding exercises, individual and group projects, and final presentations. To complete these core programs, students ideate, design, develop, and demonstrate a technology product produced within a team that addresses a community or user need. Students present their digital project at a demonstration event (Demo Day) open to the community. The program also exposes students to professionals in the technology sector through networking events, site visits and Hackathons. http://www.theknowledgehouse.org

West Michigan Center for Arts + Tech (WMCAT): Founded in 2005, WMCAT after school Teen Arts and Tech Program provides hands-on studio experiences to high school students in Grand Rapids, Michigan. WMCAT engages nearly 150 students twice a week throughout the school year in student-centered, project-based learning experiences melding the arts and technology. This non-drop in program is comprised of both introductory and advanced level courses, guided by professional teaching artists to expand teens’ technical skills, build their creative confidence, and promote engagement with their community. WMCAT provides studios in video production, audio production, digital photography, and video game and app design and engages teens in creating original films, podcasts, video games, and photo essays to elevate their voices and affect community conversations. The tuition-free after school program eliminates financial barriers, offers transportation to and from the WMCAT facility, and provides all students with access to professional equipment, intentionally outfitted studio spaces, and mentoring from teaching artists. http://www.wmcat.org/

Research Partner

The Innovatory Learning Group, based in New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, is an interdisciplinary research group that designs and studies novel ways to interact with technology and information in the service of improving educational opportunities for all learners. The team – Dr. June Ahn, Dr. Dixie Ching and Dr. Rafi Santo – brings expertise in out-of-school and community-based programs, digital media and learning, design of learning technologies, digital initiatives in informal learning organizations, and the role of networks in informal organizational development that will inform the research and learning community aspects of SCE Digital Learning Challenge. www.innovatory.group

Funding Partner

Susan Crown Exchange (SCE) is a Chicago-based foundation invested in shaping an ecosystem of anytime, anywhere learning to prepare youth to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing and highly-connected world. Through three primary programs—digital learning, social and emotional learning, and catalyst grants—SCE connects talent and innovation with forces for positive change. SCE’s exchange model leverages up-to-date research, best practices, grantmaking, and innovative programming to design, evaluate, and promote high-quality learning experiences for young people beyond the classroom, particularly youth from underserved communities. www.scefdn.org

On January 2, 2017, SCE is opening applications for a new Challenge initiative focused on digital learning. Over the last two weeks, SCE has posted a series of blogs that outline why we view digital learning as a key pathway to the development of 21^st century skills and a list of questions we aim to address through our next this initiative. This is the final post in the series before the newest program goes live.  We call it: What Does Success Look Like?

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SCE Digital Learning Challenge: What Does Success Look Like?

Our previous investments and partnerships have taught us that that many afterschool programs have access to the internet and computers, but the quality of programming and equipment is highly variable depending on where kids live and what resources are available. We know that training can be expensive and for many inaccessible, but we believe that many organizations have figured out innovative ways to train their staff on new models of teaching and learning and digital technology at low-cost and high-impact.

That said, we are well aware of the fact that technology alone is not the answer and technical assistance can be scarce and expensive, but we are certain there are organizations out there that have figured out clever ways to cut through some of these challenges.

We believe that the people working for nonprofits all across the country have figured out ways to use both interpersonal and digital skill-building to equip youth with the skills to thrive. This initiative is focused on those organizations: we want to learn how organizations work with the people, utilize the spaces, and find the resources readily available in the community to implement a digital learning program that is both engaging and impactful.

If you’ve been following along this blog series, you are aware that SCE intends to bring together a learning community of afterschool programs and a strong evaluation partner to engage in a process to uncover best practices. It is our assumption that each partner operates in their own specific way, with their own specific language, but we believe there are likely commonalities. Throughout this Challenge, we plan to also invite human resource professionals, system intermediaries, and digital media supply-side organizations (including product developers and distributors) to the table in an attempt to break down silos between and across industries, while supporting and promoting collaboration.

Success for us means getting closer to the solutions of these tough challenges and finding creative ways to communicate and elevate these ideas so other informal learning practitioners and educators can make use of them. We hope to better understand from you, the afterschool organizations, how we can better support partnerships and growth among informal learning environments, system intermediaries, and supply-side developers and distributors to ensure that teens are equipped with the 21^st century skills they need to thrive as individuals, professionals and citizens.

We hope this program captures your interest and imagination.  It is a large challenge, one that will involve hard work, time, learning, connection with quality colleagues, and, of course, fun.

On January 2, 2017, SCE is launching a new Challenge initiative focused on digital learning. Our first blog outlined SCE’s methodology and why we are prioritizing digital learning as a key pathway to the development of 21^st century skills. This post provides a list of questions we will address through this new initiative. Check back next week to see our final post in the series: What Does Success Look Like?

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 SCE’s BIG QUESTIONS

Our last post described how SCE’s Digital Learning Challenge intends to bring together leading program practitioners, an evaluation team, HR Professionals, digital product developers and distributors to form a learning community. Our goal is to challenge this expert group to answer important questions about what it means to be a 21^st century citizen, and share wisdom about how digital tools and practices can equip youth with the skills needed to thrive as individuals, professionals and citizens in a rapidly changing world. Our hope is that other organizations will find this knowledge useful to more effectively support the development of programs and services that cultivate 21^st century skill development.

The learning community will attempt to answer the following questions:

• What does it mean to be a 21^st century citizen? What skills are needed to thrive in today’s and tomorrow’s workforce? How do organizations think about, identify and measure outcomes?

Why this question?: We believe that in order to persist through school and be successful in today’s changing world, students must be flexible, collaborative, curious, resilient, and be able to communicate effectively. We want to understand how your organization interprets 21^st century skill growth and is supporting and measuring the growth of these skills. We will then use this information to facilitate discussions to understand how employers are defining 21^st century skills.

• How are you engaging youth ages 13-18 using digital media to explore their interests?

Why this question?: Many organizations have cited consistent attendance as a challenge. Teens tend to ‘vote with their feet’ meaning, they show up when they are interested in the programming provided to them. Out-of-school time (OST) programming is entirely voluntary, which further supports the notion that attendance is driven by student interest levels and quality of offerings. We are interested in connecting with organizations who have a proven track record of success engaging youth in digital media programming.

• What are the best ways to support adults to a) teach with digital media, and b) build meaningful and motivating relationships with teens?

Why this question?: We have taken a specific interest in teens because they are at a critical juncture in their lives; they are independent, but still require the guidance of adults to help them navigate the rapidly changing world. We believe that the most successful organizations have developed staff practices that promote learning and leadership in order to support youth voice and meet the youth where they are. We also want to understand how your organization has supported staff development so they feel confident in engaging youth while building digital skills.

• How have organizations overcome obstacles specific to their communities or settings to increase digital media opportunities for low-income youth?

Why this question?: Afterschool programs and informal educators, in particular, face challenges acquiring technology (hardware, software, and network), the skills to teach with digital media (pedagogy), and the knowledge about which tools to employ (navigation and quality of tools, safety and privacy concerns) to support youth-driven digital media practices (participation, production and co-creation). We want to understand the ways in which different programs have addressed and overcome these barriers.

• What are the main characteristics of youth serving organizations that successfully create digital media learning opportunities for teens? How do they address place-based priorities and capitalize on community assets?

Why this question?: Communities, like people, are different.  They have different strengths and weaknesses, are different in sizes and how they use space and serve different demographics. While some might face greater challenges – lack of resources, infrastructure, political will, funding – we believe the seeds of innovation exist in every home, school, neighborhood, and community. We want to understand the context of where you work, what barriers exist, and how you are breaking through these barriers.

Check back for next week’s blog: What Does Success Look Like?

On January 2, 2017, SCE is launching a new Challenge initiative focused on digital learning. In the coming weeks, we will post a three-part blog that will outline SCE’s approach, aspirations, what motivates us to invest in this topic, which questions we hope to answer and what, we believe, would constitute success in this initiative.

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SCE and Digital Learning: How did we get here?

SCE, our MISSION and METHODOLGY

Founded in 2009, SCE’s mission is to help equip youth with the skills needed to thrive in the 21^st century. Our emphasis on informal learning environments is intentional: we support programs and platforms that offer youth a way to explore their own interests and connect to their world. We believe that learning does not happen solely in school, and we seek to blend the development of social and emotional skills with digital fluency.

We describe ourselves as an Exchange for a reason. In our seven year history, we have learned that building partnerships with top practitioners, policy developers, applied researchers, and funders creates the optimal environment to address hard problems and to create sustainable change. We continually ask challenging questions and we believe we move closer to solutions by discovering, analyzing, and elevating outstanding field work.

We launched a similar initiative in 2014. SCE partnered with expert practitioners and a team of top researchers to design and implement the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Challenge. The two-year Challenge shed new light on how afterschool programs can equip teens with valuable social and emotional skills by improving the intentionality and impact of skill building and assessment. Our field guide Preparing Youth to Thrive: Promising Practices for Social & Emotional Learning attempts to offer a practical roadmap of activities, practices, case studies, and assessment tools.

SCE believes that in order for the next generation thrive as individuals, professionals and citizens in a rapidly changing world, they must become motivated, thoughtful lifelong learners, while becoming fluent in the new language of digital literacy. Our next initiative will bring together a  community of leading program practitioners, researchers and evaluators,  HR professionals, and digital product developers/distributors to explore important questions about what it means to be a 21^st century citizen.  This effort aspires to gain and share knowledge about how digital tools and practices can promote the development of skills for the workforce and positive community participation.

WHY DIGITAL LEARNING?

Technology has changed how we view, interact with, and shape the world. We have shifted from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, where anyone with access to the Internet can, under the right conditions, tap into an endless supply of information and connect with citizens all over the world. Technology has also transformed how we work. Workplaces require professionals who can quickly adapt to new roles and master new tools, responsibilities, and jobs while communicating and negotiating across companies, sectors, and continents.

While technology has increased access to knowledge and opportunity, there is evidence of a widening digital divide for low-income individuals, families and communities. Obsolete tools, uneven internet access and mindsets around innovation in education often hinder the development of learning the skills critical to success in today’s knowledge economy. SCE’s previous investments in organizations like Common Sense Media, Games for Change, Hive Chicago, PowerMyLearning, Gooru and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop have focused on these issues.

Over the last few years, there has been an increased focus on using digital media for learning in non-school settings as supported by MacArthur’s Digital Media and Learning initiative, the research on Connected Learning Theory, and the growth of HIVE Learning Networks. The initiatives support kids to build, produce and remix, instead of passively consume, media. These ‘makerspace’ programs provide hands-on learning using digital tools in safe spaces where youth can explore their interests and cultivate their passions while building 21st century skills. Most importantly, makerspaces represent a ‘mindset’: makers create something out of nothing by exploring their own interests. The most successful of these programs are able to draw connections between the program activities/skills and opportunities and obstacles that exist beyond the boundaries of the program. Here, the concept of ‘citizenship’ is a powerful one: it empowers youth as agents of change in their own communities.

Through our work in the digital learning arena and consultation with field experts, we have learned that the decentralized, local nature of afterschool programs often makes it hard for technology developers and distributors to fully grasp the dynamics of their intended markets or to reach scale. These findings are further supported by a large body of research that advises that a top down, one-size-fits-all program is not the solution. It is for this reason we are interested not only in the specifics of these kinds of digital learning programs, but also about the place-based context of this work.

Eligible applicants for this initiative do not necessarily call themselves ‘makerspaces’ or a ‘civics’ program per se, but we do believe that these skills and concepts are important for 21st century learners. We wish to elevate exemplary digital media programs that promote the development of 21st century skills and understand the process by which they overcome challenges specific to their population or community using limited resources.

Check back for next week’s blog: SCE’s BIG QUESTIONS

SCE is pleased to announce YOUmedia as a 2016 Venture Grant partner! Venture Grants proactively target thought leaders and creative organizations on the leading edge of the field. Through this initiative, we build partnerships with innovative groups working to solve key challenges aligned to our strategy.

YOUmedia is a dynamic 21st century teen learning lab located in 12 Chicago Public Library branches across Chicago—and also serves as a national model that has informed the work of similar spaces in more than 30 libraries and other public spaces throughout the country. Drawing on the Connected Learning approach—which emphasizes youth-driven, project-based learning led by mentors—the program empowers teens to create digital media, music, literature, fashion, and art that opens new pathways to college, career, and civic engagement.

Check out this video or visit the YOUmedia website to learn more.

In 2015 SCE partnered with Games for Change and the Institute of Play to support the assessment of the NYC Games for Change Student Challenge. Middle and high school students in 12 NYC public schools were challenged to create original games that addressed social issues in their own neighborhoods. There were 500 students who enrolled in game design courses. Three hundred of those students completed the course and there were 95 students who submitted 61 games. In a ceremony in June 2016, 26 winners were awarded prizes. Check out this great video on the challenge.

The goal of the assessment was to measure 21st century skill growth among the students who designed and developed games for the Challenge. Using a pre/post-test, teachers evaluated the following key skills in their students:

• Communication
• Collaboration
• Tenacity
• Agency
• Empathy
• Adaptability
• Socio-Emotional

Researchers found that of the students who participated in the challenge grew most in communications (12%), collaboration (16%), creativity (12%), and socio-emotional (10%) skills, but all areas showed an improvement. This led the researchers to conclude that game design does have a positive impact on 21st century skills in the population evaluated. This assessment is a great step in evaluating the link between game design and the development of 21st century skills and we hope to see more research that evaluates this connection.

Important to the success of the program was the focus on professional development and student meet-ups/network building. Prior to the start of the challenge, there were three days of training for the 20 teachers participating in the challenge. Here the teachers learned how to implement a structured game design curriculum and the basics of game design. Teachers and students were supported by professional game designers to who visited the classes at least once a month to provide creative feedback, play test the students’ games, help the students integrate theme content into their games and share insights about the game design industry. Additionally, students joined meet-ups at partner locations like the NYTimes and the Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation that helped bridge their in-class work to real world scenarios.

SCE was a proud partner of the G4C Student Challenge and look forward to their continued success as they expand to Pittsburgh and Dallas in the 2016 school year. For more information about the challenge, please visit the website.

In 2015, SCE partnered with the the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and First Book on a year-long study that explored ways of improving access to digital media among low-income communities. The findings provide a research-based context to help the field better understand how to develop high quality, sustainable, marketable tools for underserved youth. Read the full report here.

Recent research on digital media use points to two important gaps in educational opportunity for low-income families with young children. First, there is an access gap. Second, there is what scholars refer to as a participation gap, in which digital resources are not well guided or supported to ensure educational progress. Despite these barriers, many low-income families are using media and new technologies in creative ways to support their children’s pathways to success and to strengthen family relationships. In this Joan Ganz Cooney Center report, media and policy expert Victoria Rideout and Rutgers University scholar Vikki Katz explore the current uses of digital technologies to help promote educational opportunities for all through a national survey of nearly 1,200 low-income parents of school-age children and in-person interviews with lower-income, Hispanic families in three communities located in Arizona, California, and Colorado.

Download the full report here.