The Verizon Tech Savvy Awards recognize outstanding educational programs that demystify technology for parents so that they may better support their child’s academic and social growth in an increasingly complex 21st century. The awards, established in 2007 by the National Center for Family Literacy, the Verizon Foundation and former First Lady of Iowa Christie Vilsack, are the first national awards given to promote intergenerational digital learning.
According to the 2005 report, Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds, young people spend an average of 6 ½ hours a day using media, or 44 ½ hours per week. Most of this time occurs outside of school. The Verizon Tech Savvy Awards are designed to promote and support programs that meet parents’ and caregivers’ goals of being their children’s first and best teachers by increasing their knowledge and understanding of how technology benefits learning. In order to create a 21st century learning environment in the home, these two generations must learn about and use technology together.
Congratulations to the 2009 Verizon Tech Savvy Winners:
There are more than 740 American Indian tribes in the United States, but only about 175 languages have survived. It is estimated that in less than 10 years, these endangered languages and knowledge will be lost to future generations.
Today, thanks to technology, the Indigenous Language Institute of Sante Fe, N.M., is using a program called Ancient Voices, Modern Tools (AVMT) to address this critical deficit by empowering community teachers, families and students with technology tools and skills to develop their own materials in their native language.
But it’s about more than preserving language. Research indicates that marginalized youth who have strong ties to and knowledge of their heritage are self-assured and perform better in school and society. Knowledge of and literacy in one’s heritage language builds this self-confidence. Storytelling was a means to teach history and traditional knowledge about science, medicine, environment and philosophy. Traditional stories that have gone untold for generations can now be passed on to future generations using this new technology.
AVMT teaches families, students and teachers how to use technology to develop Native American language materials in all media to support language learners in schools and homes so that the heritage languages can once again become a vibrant component of everyday life.
The program has served 329 people and 130 tribes and taught them to use many different forms of technology (Windows Movie Maker, Media Player, Audacity, GIMPshop, iMovie, iDVD, Languagegeek keyboard, digital video, computer film editing technology, digital camera, scanning technology).
The parents and grandparents understand the value of technology in this race against time to preserve and perpetuate the languages while the elder speakers who hold the knowledge are still with us, making this a truly multigenerational effort.
And, it’s strengthening everyday life. A community in California reported that program participants taught staff in the economic development and health departments in the tribe to create brochures, newsletters and other materials in their Native language. The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma has reported similar results creating a professional training curriculum for school teachers for its tribal Head Start programs.
Neighborhood House’s English Language Learner program serves more than 600 people each year. Learners use computers and other technology, such as digital cameras, LCD projectors and scientific calculators.
The Neighborhood House ELL program has one of the highest learner advancement rates in the St. Paul Community Literacy Consortium, and its curriculum is commended as a best practice by the Minnesota Department of Education.
ELL staff help adult learners become confident and comfortable with technology by making it a regular part of the ELL curriculum. Through this initial technological foundation, adult learners discover that the ability to support their children’s education is within reach. As learners gain technological skills in class, they become able to access their children’s school records, learn about homework assignments and support their children in finding reliable information sources on the Internet. Learners gain the ability to communicate with educators through online communication tools, ultimately taking an active, collaborative role in their children’s education.
Through ELL instruction, students realize that computer and technological knowledge combined with English skills open doors to further education for their children and themselves.
The families of Mary’s Center Even Start have an unemployment rate of 36 percent. Ninety-four percent of families fall at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and 80 percent of the adult students have less than a 10th grade education.
Even Start trains adult learners to use a variety of media tools and offers five levels of computer instruction. As a result, they more actively participate in their children’s education, are empowered to find resources to help themselves, and increase their career potential. This technology training allows families to create healthier and more productive futures.
By learning to advocate for their rights and interests, parents become role models for their children. Using Microsoft Word and e-mail, Even Start students wrote letters and postcards to members of Congress initiating a dialogue about education issues important to them. The school received an award from National Council of La Raza recognizing the students’ advocacy work. This initial advocacy has led to additional student-initiated activities such as neighborhood petitions and follow-up letter-writing campaigns advocating for families and services. Claudia Ramirez, an Even Start student in the Advanced English as Second Language class, organized and led a rally to protest against the deportations of immigrant parents of American born children. The “Keep Families Together” rally took place on April 25, 2007, on Capitol Hill.
Neighborhood House’s Even Start saw the following outcomes for adult students who had 60 hours or more of instruction in 2007:
- 70 percent improved one level on an adult student assessment (compared to 37 percent improvement rate nationwide)
- 70 percent of the students who had the goal of obtaining or retaining employment accomplished their objective
- 87 percent obtained a library card
- 84 percent attended parent-teacher conferences
- 77 percent increased their typing 3-8 words per minute
- 90 percent of preschoolers and 93 percent of toddlers and infants progressed in three or more areas including: gross and fine motor skills, general cognitive skills, emergent literacy skills, and social and emotional skills
- 96 percent of parents demonstrated increases in: contact with school/children’s teachers, visits to the library or other related field trips, and knowledge of community resources
- 97 percent of parents demonstrated increases in: frequency of reading to/with child, and involvement in child’s future success, and types of reading materials in the home
Project Accessible Hollywood (PAH) is a nonprofit organization that brings digital empowerment to individuals and communities by educating people on using simple digital media while encouraging them to express themselves artistically. Created in 2006 by television and film director Christopher Coppola, PAH uses technology education to bring people together and help them uncover their creative voice and engage with the people and culture within their own neighborhoods.
The Project Accessible Hollywood Digital Film Festival (PAH-FEST) has been created to educate and engage parents and children in the use of new digital media. Through this new kind of film festival, PAH teaches digital technology skills, fosters community engagement and promotes the production of fictional and documentary videos, which will be shared and enjoyed globally through the PAH Nation online community. These events engage and educate individuals and communities with little or no access to digital technology, while expanding the knowledge and skill level of those already familiar with the media. Participants acquire confidence in handling digital cameras and computers, and learn how to use this technology to teach, tell a story or portray their community. Participants get hands-on experience shooting, editing, posting and sharing their videos with the global PAH community. By actively participating, parents, in particular, learn the value of digital media and visual storytelling as an education tool — one that will have an increasing role in their children’s educational experience.
Parents are able to take their new computer and digital media skills with them into their personal and professional lives to conduct research, access important information, communicate more effectively and help their children with their homework.
The Fisher Middle-High School library helps parents and students use gmail accounts along with Google docs to write reports, create presentations and keep in touch with teachers and administrators. They will also use MP3 players, webcams, SKYPE software and cell phones to relay information to teachers, students and other parents.
By seeing and using a variety of technology along with their children, parents and guardians become aware that knowledge can be learned and presented in a variety of ways. This provides a deeper understanding of subject matter than traditional learning methods can provide. In addition, parents learn that technology such as iPods, cell phones, e-mail and computer games have educational value when used in the classroom.
As parents work on technology assignments with their children, they build a connection between generations that allows both groups to teach each other. Students who are tech-savvy provide instruction to their parents, while the older generation provides an insight into local and family history.
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