Year: 2016

Announcing the April 1st Connect Chicago Meetup: Arts & Tech Training with Street-Level, Little Black Pearl, After School Matters

Denise Linn

At our next Connect Chicago Meetup, we will discuss arts & tech blended learning programs and best practices. We will hear from Little Black Pearl, Street-Level Youth Media, and the After School Matters Arts & Tech Fair. Lunch will be served.

Come join a cross-sector discussion about Chicago’s STEAM programming. Come meet and network with computer trainers, nonprofit professionals, teaching artists, technologists, and fellow residents who care about digital access & skills in Chicago.

Event: Arts & Tech Training with Street-Level, Little Black Pearl, and After School Matters

Where: The Chicago Community Trust

When: Friday, April 1st from 11am to 1pm

RSVP at this link. 

Special guests include:

  • Armand Morris, Little Black Pearl’s Technology Instructor
  • Daniel Marques, Production Manager for Street-Level Youth Media
  • Dan Godston of the April 9th After School Matters Arts and Tech Fair at Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center

Our first featured program is Little Black Pearl (LBP), a nonprofit serving youth in the Kenwood/Oakland, Woodlawn, and Bronzeville neighborhoods. According to Little Black Pearl’s website:

LBP works diligently to counter the challenges urban youth face by providing a safe environment, positive role models, and rigorous program and skill development activities and opportunities. Our 18-year history has successfully proven that it is possible to marry art and entrepreneurship through real life application of talent, interest and skills.

The second featured program is Street-Level Youth Media. Street-Level offers in-school and after-school electives, mentorship, multi-media workshops, and professional development.  Street-Level’s mission is rooted in the intersection of art, technology, and media:

Street-Level’s programs build critical thinking skills in youth who have been historically neglected by policy-makers and mass media. Using video and audio production, digital arts, and the Internet, Street-Level’s young people address community issues, access advanced communication technology, and gain inclusion in our information-based society.

The April 9th After School Matters Arts and Tech Fair at Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center will highlight programs and organizations across the city including Chicago City of Learning, Spoken Word Academy of Chicago, Smart Chicago, and the Level Up Robotics Team. The fair will also feature teen performances. Dan Godston will give the Connect Chicago Community an overview of the event and its mission.

Members of Chicago’s public computing and digital learning community come together every month to learn, share, and collaborate. Join us! Sign up at Meetup.com.

Arts + tech

 

 

The Case for Expanding Technology Programs in Arts Infusion

Suzy Connor

suzy connor headshotAt the risk of preaching to the choir, here’s the rationale for expanding the Arts Infusion programs to include technology, especially at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center.

Perhaps Van Jones describes it best in this brief video.

The demand for talented tech professionals with skills in coding, web and app development, cyber security, etc. affords unprecedented opportunity for digitally-native teens in a growing field that is also stressing both racial and gender diversity. The Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership has compiled profiles on five areas of job growth in the information technology sector here.

Based on this and other data, the Mayor and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) set a 5-year goal in 2013 to add computer science as a graduation requirement for all high school students. With the overwhelming support of the tech sector, this goal was attained years ahead of schedule when, on Feb. 24th, the School Board voted to institute the computer science requirement with freshmen entering high school this Fall. This makes Chicago the first major District in the nation to take this step, positioning the region as a potential hub for young people of color in tech.

Local tech companies and nonprofits are playing a key role in this movement by providing equipment, labs, boot camps, hackathons, internships, and incubators for enterprising teens with an interest in coding, gaming, website development, apps, and tech start-ups. Examples of these out-of-school offerings include: Youth-Led Tech, Blue 1647, Black Tech Mecca, and Coding While Black.

The Steering Committee of the Arts Infusion Initiative is committed to ensuring that our young people who are ensnared in the criminal justice system are not left out of this promising trend. Arts Infusion has proven the effectiveness of exposing teens at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center (JTDC) to digital music and other arts instruction that connects them to new skills and interests. The 5-year evaluation by the Urban Institute confirms that a common motivation for participants is the desire to translate their newly-acquired knowledge and networks into a career. Examples of successful Career and Technical Education (CTE) projects are gaining recognition, such as the Chicago Math and Science Academy students who recently launched Rogers Park Creators, a student-run web design and multi-media company. Teens are also eager to apply tech skills to problems they face, such as the two Holy Trinity High School students who won a national contest by creating an app designed to reduce teen suicide.

Inroads are also being made with adults at the Cook County Jail through a pilot project undertaken by Edovo which provides specially-designed tablets to inmates to expand digital learning with funding from the MacArthur Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust.

Connect Chicago Meetup Recap: Chicago Public Library Internet to Go Program

Denise Linn

Members of Chicago’s public computing and digital learning community come together every month to learn, share, and collaborate. Join us! Sign up at Meetup.com.

At the February Meetup the Connect Chicago Community learned about the Chicago Public Library’s Internet to Go Program, a Wi-Fi hotspot lending program that lets Chicagoans take Internet access home with them.

Representatives from the Cara Program, Safer Foundation, LISC Chicago, Instituto Progreso Latino, CompTIA, Microsoft Chicago, Comcast, the Smart Health Centers program, the Benton Foundation, and more gathered together to learn and collaborate. Michelle Frisque, Chief of Technology for the Chicago Public Library was our featured speaker for the Meetup.

The Internet to Go Pilot in Chicago was launched in 2015 and funded by the Knight Foundation and Google. The first three branches to receive Wi-Fi hotspots for lending (100 in each) were the Greater Grand Crossing Chicago Public Library Branch, the Douglass Chicago Public Library Branch, and the Brighton Park Chicago Public Library Branch. All of these pilot branches were in neighborhoods with below average broadband adoption.

Since the initial pilot, the Internet to Go Program has expanded. Here is Phase 2 of the program:

Phase 2 - Connect Chicago Internet to Go

Here is Phase 3:

Phase 3 Connect Chicago Internet to Go

This demand for technology lending speaks to the evolution of Chicagoans’ information needs and the changing role of public libraries in the Digital Age. Pew Internet & American Life has done some surveying on this very topic — highlighting citizens’ changing expectations for services at libraries and low-income Americans’ higher reliance on library resources.

Michelle overviewed the short and long-term goals of the Internet to Go program:

Goals Connect Chicago Internet to Go

Of course, access is only one piece of the puzzle. The Wi-Fi lending program itself is complimented training by other services offered at the Chicago Public Library.  CyberNavigator program, for instance, places digital trainers in branches for walk-in assistance. CyberNavigators provide one-on-one support and class support to patrons. This support ranges from assisting with resume building and job searching to helping with general online navigation.

There is also a website where residents can review the Internet to Go Wi-Fi hotspots. Here are a few samples of resident reviews:

Internet2Go Reviews

Chicago Public Library has tracked the lending data on Internet to Go as well as the Surface kits and Chrome kits available at the libraries:

Circulations Connect Chicago Internet to Go

Perhaps most interesting was the information that Michelle had to share about who used the Internet to Go Wi-Fi Hotspots. The largest portion of users made less than $25,000 per year.

Survey Income Connect Chicago Internet to Go

Thank you to everyone in the Connect Chicago Community – all trainers, program heads, coordinators, and advocates who enriched the discussion on technology access gaps and programming in our city.

Below are the resources from the February Meetup. Share and circulate!

  • The Meetup slides
  • The Chicago Public Library slides
  • Meetup notes including community announcements & call-outs (add your own!)
  • To learn more about the Internet to Go Program, see resident reviews, and or hold a hotspot for check out, go here.

Meeting 4: Notes from Police Accountability Meeting at Sullivan High School

Smart Chicago

The Smart Chicago Collaborative is documenting the four community forums hosted by the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force and held across the city in the month of February.

The purpose of the meetings were to provide residents the opportunity to speak or submit written comments on improving the accountability, oversight and training of Chicago’s police officers.

We sent a number of people to this fourth meeting, at Sullivan High School, 6631 N. Bosworth Ave.

One text documenter: see the notes here. These notes were later edited and improved by another documenter, working from the video.

Screenshot 2016-04-13 09.31.33

 Two videographers (Community TV Network, video here)

One photographer (Angel Rodriguez, images here). The meeting was conducted by the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force, and they used a portion of the video we created to prepare and post on their Youtube page as well. 

All of this material is posted under Creative Commons 4.0 license. You are free to use it for any purpose, with attribution.

When a public meeting is ended early

Here’s links to other coverage of this meeting from the the Chicago Tribune, DNAinfo, Associated Press, and Black Youth Project 100. Aldertrack compiled a Storify aggregation of Twitter posts.

About 49 minutes into the meeting, some people approached the stage (read a complete account here on our Medium post)

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The moderator moved from the lectern to address the crowd.

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Some attendees walked onto the stage.

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Task force members and protesters then left the stage and were replaced by police officers.

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Many protesters brought in signs that were small enough to not be detected upon entering (signs were not allowed in the meeting).

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After the meeting broke up, a resident sat by the lectern.

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The protesters continued their work outside.

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Meeting 3: Notes from Police Accountability Meeting at Benito Juarez Community Academy

Smart Chicago

The Smart Chicago Collaborative is documenting the four community forums hosted by the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force and held across the city in the month of February.

The purpose of the meetings were to provide residents the opportunity to speak or submit written comments on improving the accountability, oversight and training of Chicago’s police officers.

We sent a number of people to this second meeting, at Benito Juarez Community Academy at 1450 W. Cermak Rd., Chicago, IL 60608

One text documenter: see the notes here. These notes were later edited and improved by another documenter, working from the video.

Screenshot 2016-04-13 08.53.30

 Two videographers (Community TV Network, video here)

One photographer (Daniel X. O’Neil, images here, download them all here in hi res). The meeting was conducted by the Chicago Police Accountability Task Force, and they used the video we created to prepare and post on their Youtube page as well. 

All of this material is posted under Creative Commons 4.0 license. You are free to use it for any purpose, with attribution.

Setup for a public meeting

At Smart Chicago, we’re interested in civic engagement. That’s a phrase people toss around quite a bit, often thoughtlessly, or in abstract terms. We seek to expand the practice of civic engagement, making it more common, more civil, and capable of delivering justice.

One way we try to do that is to document with specificity modes and methods of civic engagement. That’s why we published the book, Experimental Modes of Civic Engagement in Civic Tech, and it’s why we showed up at these meetings.

Here’s a look at the setup for this particular meeting. Many of the systems (lectern, stage, moderator, etc) were shared by all of the forums.

The basic setup was a series of chairs organized in rows with a center aisle. In this instance, the meeting was held in the central auditorium of the high school.

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As usual, the CTVN apprentice was there taping the proceedings.

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All participants received a brochure as they walked in:

Police Accountability Task Force Brochure

Police Accountability Task Force Brochure 2

Plenty of space separated the audience from the stage:

 

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Tensabarriers create an aisle (also pictured is Governor Deval Patrick):

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And plenty of staff with yellow-lanyards were on hand to make the process go smoothly:

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A moderator at each meeting helped the speakers be heard. Each comment was allotted two minutes. The moderators also read the cards of people who didn’t want to speak in person.

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City Bureau was in the house.

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One aspect unique to this meeting was the addition of translators. They set up a booth in the back.

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More connections to, and resources for, the youth who need it most

Suzy Connor

Since the shocking murder of Fenger High School student, Derrion Albert in Sept. 2009 (which was not an incident of gun violence), Chicago’s public/philanthropic community has responded by investing more than $100,000,000 in new initiatives aimed at curbing youth violence. One Summer Chicago, Get In Chicago, and Becoming A Man (BAM) are just a few examples.

Yet with all this attention and investment, the statistics remain discouraging more than six years later. Most of the providers of these programs agree that the biggest challenge is attracting and engaging the teens and young adults who are already headed down the deadly path of gang involvement, especially those that have already been arrested.

This is not meant to diminish the value of the public and nonprofit programs that are successfully engaging thousands of teens on the south and west sides of the City in positive/creative youth development programs. Data show that involvement in the arts, sports, and tech activities – particularly when combined with mentoring – will likely help the participating youth avoid violence and make healthier life choices if it is sustained over time. (See “The Crime Lab study finds youth employment program has impact on violent crime arrests“)

The after-school and summer programs are helping concerned parents find safe spaces for their teens and exposing the participants to skills, such as digital media, web design, performing arts, and visual art.

The Urban Institute evaluation of the Arts Infusion Initiative holds some promising insight into engagement strategies that are effective with the more challenging (and more challenged) teens who have already been arrested and are statistically far more likely to be either the perpetrators or the victims of violence.

The “expose, inspire, connect” approach that began with grants to  nonprofits like Storycatchers Theatre, Young Chicago Authors, Kuumba Lynx, Free Write Jail Arts and a digital music lab for residents at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC) has reached more than 4,000 incarcerated teens since 2010. (Hear their voices here.) Most report that they are being exposed to the equipment and instruction for the first time.

One explanation for this is the still-limited availability in low-income areas, but the disconnect is also caused by these young men’s (and it is almost all male) loss of connection to school and their inability to travel safely around their neighborhood or to feel welcome at after-school programs that emphasize safe spaces. Those released teens and young adults who connected with the Arts Infusion organizations were just as likely to travel outside of their immediate neighborhood and often sought out instructors who taught at facilities on the North Side, such as Street-Level and Kuumba Lynx.

Offering the information to every teen leaving JTDC in a format that makes the “connect” process easier for them needs to go beyond adding another piece of printed material to the already overwhelming release process. For this reason, Smart Chicago retained Greater Good Studio to develop a USB DRIVE. You can read more about how it worked here.

Drive