Year: 2015

Digital Learning Environments: Teamwork Englewood

Smart Chicago

Note: this is part of a series of posts in our Connect Chicago program where we describe in detail digital skills learning environments throughout the city.

The 2015 Youth-Led Tech program was delivered in a second-floor space of Teamwork Englewood, which was formed in 2003 as part of the New Communities Program, sponsored by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and the MacArthur Foundation. Its goal is to unite the many organizations serving Englewood residents and work toward the common goal of building a stronger community.

The room was spacious, with ample tables and chairs to accommodate the youth and their computers.

Englewood Codes

We had a whiteboard:

Teamwork Englewood

And we were able to bring in a projector to do group work:

projector

Plenty of room to spread out for projects:

Teamwork Englewood

Outdoor space for breaks:

Teamwork Englewood

Here’s a full set of photos:

130 Chicago Youth Learn Web-based Tech and Earn Microsoft Laptops

Kyla Williams

YouthledTech-logo

Smart Chicago Collaborative in partnership with Get In Chicago and Microsoft will celebrate 130 student’s completion of the 6-week Youth-led Tech Program. A certificate of completion ceremony will be conducted at Microsoft’s Midwest District office located at 200 East Randolph Drive, Suite 200, Chicago, IL, from 3pm to 6pm today.

“Youth-led Tech | Summer 2015” is a pilot technology mentoring program in five Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and Roseland. This program is funded through Get IN Chicago, whose mission is to support programs that lead to a sustainable reduction in violence for individuals and communities most affected by violence and poverty. Youth who completed all of their learning hours will earn the Microsoft based laptop used during programming at the certificate ceremony.

The conceptual model for this program is “youth-led tech”, which means teaching technology in the context of the needs and priorities of young people. Youth learned how to use free and inexpensive Web tools to make websites and use social media to build skills, generate revenue, and get jobs in the growing technology industry. The youth also learned about other jobs in tech— strategy, project management, design, and so on. Additionally, the youth were provided introductory content about game design and app development.

All of the youth now know how to set up a website, have been exposed to sophisticated tech skills, and know how to find real customers and employers for their skills. “I am really proud of the commitment to learn demonstrated by the youth in this program”, says Smart Chicago Executive Director Daniel O’Neil. “It’s tough being a kid today, especially in some of these neighborhoods with significant safety concerns, but once these youth showed up for one class session, they were hooked and kept coming, kept learning, and most importantly stayed safe this summer.

 

 

Digital Learning Environments: Christ The King High School in Austin

Smart Chicago

Note: this is part of a series of posts in our Connect Chicago program where we describe in detail digital skills learning environments throughout the city.

Christ The King Jesuit College Preparatory School at 5088 W. Jackson Blvd Chicago IL 60644 is a Catholic Jesuit secondary school using the Cristo Rey model to serve young men and women from the Austin neighborhood and surrounding communities of Chicago’s West Side.

The building, opened in 2010, is impressive— full of light, well laid-out, and in pristine condition.

Christ the King, Austin Christ the King, Austin, Chapel

Sessions are held in room 105, right at the entrance. It’s named after Steven Biko:

Christ the King, Austin: Classroom 105 / Steven Biko

The classroom is equipped with a projector and laptop, great desks, and whiteboards. Youth-Led Tech, Austin

Each of the youth has their own laptop, provided by Smart Chicago through funds from Get IN Chicago.

Youth-Led Tech, Austin

There’s a great enclosed, outdoor space for busting out.

Christ the King, Stations of the Cross, Austin A great cafeteria space and a gymnasium, all on the same floor. Lunch at Youth-Led Tech, Austin

IMG_0733

Christ the King was a great location for Youth-Led Tech in Austin. Bonus: here’s a video I made of my recent visit: 

Digital Learning Environments: Dr. Elzie Young Community Center in Roseland

Smart Chicago

Note: this is part of a series of posts in our Connect Chicago program where we describe in detail digital skills learning environments throughout the city.

We conducted our Youth-Led Tech 2015 program in a portion of this community center in the Roseland neighborhood. The space was large, cool, and well-configured for group learning.

Roseland Youth-Led Tech

The youth were able to make the space their own:

Roseland Youth-Led Tech

And the parking lot was good for breaks:

Roseland Youth-Led Tech

See a complete set of photos here:

The 606 Advisory Council converts to Park Advisory Council

Smart Chicago

606_mapLast November we hosted an OpenGovChicago event on park district advisory councils. As OpenGovChicago founder Joe Germuska put it, this was part of our ongoing effort to “learn more about existing microdemocratic systems in Chicago”. More:

In dozens of locations, several times a year, citizens get together to make their local parks and schools better, or to better understand the public safety situation in their beat. We’d like to meet the people who are active in these processes, and also people who would like to participate but are not managing to get involved. Maybe there are ways that software can help these groups gather and distribute information, to learn from their peer councils around the city, and to involve citizens who aren’t able to physically attend the meetings.”

Since that meeting, we’ve continued to help gather and maintain info on Advisory Councils. Here’s a mega-spreadsheet. Many people have contributed to this— please add any info you know!

The 606 Trail is the City of Chicago’s newest park. The park district opened last week after almost a decade of work between the community and the city.

Originally, the 606 was originally a 2.7 mile elevated train line called the Bloomingdale Line that was abandoned in 2001. Train traffic on the line had been slowing since the 1990s and the City of Chicago had brought residents of the Logan Square neighborhood together to propose an idea to turn the train line into a greenspace.

That result of that discussion was the formation of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail – an all-volunteer organization formed to advocate on behalf of the local community around the Bloomingdale Trail Project. Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail then partnered with The Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit, to help bring together a coalition of groups to make the 606 a reality.

Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail is now an official Park Advisory Council.

For more information on how you can get involved in Park Advisory Councils, check out the Park District website here.