Summary: Imagine out-of-school learning spaces where museum and library educators create digital access for youth. The discussion focuses on students as makers rather than as consumers. Organizational partners discuss ways in which YOUmedia Network has impacted educators’ commitments to teen learning.
Original Date of Publication: July 9, 2015
Listen to the Show
Duration: 1 hour
Excerpt from the Show
Marika Staloch, a youth services coordinator at the Saint Paul Public Library, discusses how her institution has changed as a result of having developed the space, CREATECH:
“It wasn’t about feeding a bunch of technology to the kids; it was about creating spaces with mentors in them where the kids would feel welcome and that is a very different model [from ways] libraries, at least in Saint Paul, have been operating in the past. This has really changed how we’ve done things at the Saint Paul Public Library. As opposed to having huge programs that we spend money on and get a fair attendance, we are creating spaces for our teens and putting most of our money and time and resources into those spaces and making sure that teens have an ongoing place they can hang out.”
Related Resources
- A Park in Your Backyard: Summer Youth Programs & More at the National Park (NWP Radio)
- Teaching in the Connected Learning Classroom
Original Source: National Writing Project, http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/4420