Happy Birthday, DElight - DE blog completes one year!!!

DElight is a year old now! Thanks to all State Team Leaders and other coordinators from inidvidual states for bringing it to the present level.

Thanks to all readers for their encouragement and comments.

DElight has more in store for you.

Keep reading....

Adobe Youth Voices is 3 years old now!

Students and educators from a Delhi site with Ms. Kiran Bedi, Rashmi, Sanjay and Tarun

Adobe Youth Voices program recently celebrated the 3rd year end events in India in both geographies - Bangalore (30th june) and Delhi (2nd July).

In Bangalore, around 275 people were there which included the students of all schools, youth participants of all NGOs, educators of all 15 sites, employees of Adobe India, coordinators of AIF and partners from other NGOs and corporates.

Ms. Meghana, a popular Kannada film actress came as the chief guest and expressed her wonder about how kids of that age could create films of such high quality. Tridib Roy Chowdhry, Adobe representative from Bangalore said he can clearly see the difference in the quality of films between last year and this year. Prameetha, a Govt High School teacher was allowed to talk and she expressed that the project has built capacities of both students and teachers to such an extent that learning has become such an enjoyable activity now in her school. Educators and youth participants were given away prizes for their works.

In Delhi, Ms. Kiran Bedi was the chief guest of the event. She had witnessed the previous year's event too and was completely surprised to notice such a significant improvement in the quality of the films this year. She wholeheartedly appreciated the efforts of both the students and educators and expressed that there is so much now to learn from the youth and imbibe in our lives! Mr. Sanjay Sinho, CEO AIF expressed that students are able to provide such easy solutions to complex problems through these effective media. He also coined the idea that AYV project must be scaled up to include more DE centers across the country.

Press coverage

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Bangalore/Underprivileged-students-make-stunning-films/articleshow/4721982.cms

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/11961/echo-unheard-voices.html

To view the TV channel coverage, please click here.

Dell supported DE program launched

Mr. Mahesh Bhalla lighting the lamp to mark the beginning of the program

Dell supported DE program was launched in Bangalore on 27th June at Govt Higher Primary school, Munen Kolala. This officially marks the beginnning of the full service program supported by Dell India in 24 schools across the country. These schools are spread out in three cities - Bangalore (9 schools), Hyderabad (6 schools) and Delhi (9 schools).

On the occasion, Mahesh Bhalla, Director-Sales from Dell, represented and spoke about how important it is for the students to be using the Internet and technology tools for a better learning experience. Sundarakrishnan, Director DE program, represented AIF and threw light on what are the accomplishments of DE and what process do we follow during the three years in a school.

Mr. Ashwath Narayan Reddy, a local community leader and ex-minister, who has worked tirelessly for the good of this school was also present and said he would extend any support needed in making the program a success. The head teachers of other 8 schools were also present along with the AIF coordinators and facilitators.

Press coverage

http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/28/stories/2009062850080200.htm

DE-AYV kids in the US!

DE kids are going to be part of the AYV summit in the US this summer. AYV summit is an International platform for youth and educator participants of the Adobe Youth Voices program across the globe to share their learning with each other. About 100 youth and 66 educators will be part of this summit, happening between July 29th and August 2nd. From India 8 youth participants and 4 educators have been selected to represent at the summit.

This year AYV sites in India made remarkable films on social issues which were all screened at the recently concluded year end events in Delhi and Bangalore. Following are the youth and educators who have been selected to participate in the summit.

Vivekavardhini High School, Bangalore - Uma Devi (edu), Soumya and Karishma

Christel House, Bangalore - Dhanaraj (edu), Shiva Sagar Rudresh and Supriya

Akshay Prathishtan, Delhi - Ms. Anuradha Sethi (edu), Raj Kumar and Saurabh

Noida Public School, Delhi - Ms. Rajshri Raj Mohan (edu), Avinash and Randhir

Press coverage

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/10063/ayv-summit-two-selected-city.html

To view more press coverage, pls click here

To watch a TV coverage, pls click here

"Experiences from the ground" - article from Sundarakrishnan

Over the years, DE program has enriched the team members with several best practices and ground level experiences that have provided a wider insight into the ICT initiatives in education. The DE team members constantly interact with people belonging to other organizations sharing these experiences and also gaining their inputs for the betterment of DE.

Sundarakrishnan has recently authored an article "Experiences from the ground" - Digital Equalizer Program. The article talks about Technology in education in a generic sense and goes on to describe the DE philosophy and mantra and learning at an implementation level. The article concludes with the lessons learnt from the program.

A pre-print of this article being published in D-Content Issue: a South Asia publication on Digital Technology and Content for Development of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), can be found here.

AYV Archives - Pehla Nasha by Noida Public School

AYV Archives is an exclusive section dedicated to the exhibition of Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) media products made by Govt High Schools and NGOs, who are part of Adobe Youth Voices project. On a weekly basis, documentaries, animations and photo essays will be uploaded here from sites belonging to Delhi and Bangalore.

These films have been made during 2007 and 2008. This week’s blog features the documentary film, PEHLA NASHA made by youth at Noida Public School.

This docu-fiction film tells the story of a boy who is facing pressure from his father to do well in school. Because of his father’s harsh nature, the boy feels so down that he resorts to smoking. Perhaps if this boy’s father had encouraged him in a more constructive way, the boy would not have gotten into the dangerous habit of smoking. The film raises questions about parental involvement in a child’s education and the consequences of youth smoking.This film was made by youth at Noida Public School in Delhi as part of the Adobe Youth Voices program, in partnership with the American India Foundation.

DE kids' call to VOTE!

DE kids call out for the people of India to vote!! Sounds impossible but it indeed is true....

A brilliant example of empowerment through digital technology. Kids of Rani Dutta Arya Vidyalaya step up to wake Indians up in their own way.

Students had read a lot in the news paper about candidates from a party, voting percentage in different communities and other details. This inspired them to do something from their end, in a little way, to motivate people to vote during elections.

And what came out eventually were the following wonderful PSAs. What's more - these films would be screened on a local TV channel as awareness videos a day before elections (May 6th).

a. Vote for Country
The PSA is about a child asking his father the basis of selecting a candidate to vote. Is it Country or Caste.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcpVk31HXgQ

b. I Will Vote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xXqBXi0DoI

c. Vote for Progress
A PSA to motivate people to vote during for India Lok Sabha Election 2009.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woUFA-GWlLE

All of the above PSAs is made by students of Rani Dutta Arya Vidyalaya under Adobe Youth Voices program supported by American India Foundation (AIF). Please watch them and don't forget to post your comments!!