Do'Wizard Multimedia & Digital Designs

21st Century Academy of Technology& Multimedia

Proposal

Submitted by:

Barry V. Dow

21st Century Academy of Technology & Multimedia Proposal

Bridging the Gap of the Digital Divide

The 21st Century Academy of Technology & Multimedia is a pilot after school training program of technology and multimedia serving the underprivileged youth of the Mission and Bayview-Hunters Point communities.  Many of the youth from these neighborhoods have great potential and are naturally creative.  Too often though, they are misguided, misunderstood, or misled by negative influences within their environment, the lack of adequate training, or access to the most current technology and multimedia tools.

            The 21st CATM provides an innovative educational environment that will greatly impact the future of each participant of the program.  The primary objective of the program is to Bridge the Digital Divide between the underprivileged students and their more affluent peers, by providing training and a safe environment to promotes the collaboration of individual creativity and technology.  The curriculum is developed to expose the learners to the most current technology, tools, and techniques being used in the real world

Avenues Created by Technology

      People from all over the world come to San Francisco because the city has developed a reputation for being a diverse Melting Pot of people from varying cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. San Francisco is famous for being a leader in developing social networks which support and perpetuate diversity, creativity, liberal lifestyles and attitudes. The proximity of the city to the Silicon Valley, Genentec, Lucas Films, Sega, and other kinds of technology using businesses has had a great impact on the entire region. Northern California is becoming a haven for many new occupations and opportunities associated with technology and multimedia.

      The rapid growth and emergence of technology has greatly impacted the majority of the citizens of the city, in all aspects of their living and communicating with each other. In a survey conducted at John O’Connell High School of Technology in San Francisco, over 60% of the students responded that they have computers in their households. The students expressed great interest in the new learning modalities and practices that have evolved since the emergence of the Web 2.0 technologies and the new opportunities.  Many of the students are discovering ways in which they can benefit from the new opportunities that are created from the accessibility to the World Wide Web and its numerous resource

            Most adolescents who live in the low-income neighborhoods of San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point (BVHP and Mission districts do not have the access to the computers and other Web 2.0 tools and technologies to be competitive with their classmates from some of the more affluent neighborhoods of the city. The appropriate training and accessibility to State-of-the-Art equipment and resources will create a new avenue for these disadvantaged youth to develop the knowledge and skills that they will need to go into college, compete for jobs, and be contributors to our society in the 21st century.

      Due to a lack of computers and staffing for an afternoon program at John O’Connell, many of the targeted students do not have enough ‘Hands-On’ training to develop their skills by working with high tech equipment and applications.  Even though there are several similar programs that are established in the area, such as Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), Bayview-Hunter Point Center for Arts & Technology (BAYCAT),  and Teachers Improving Learning with Technology (TILT), they do not address all of the needs of the students. 85% of the students surveyed replied it would be too difficult for them to commute to a different neighborhood after school.  Many of the adolescents emphasized that the learning environment and relationship between the instructor, the student, and the peers of the larger programs are less personal due to the larger enrollment. The other programs do not promote the nurturing relationship between the instructors and students which are embedded in the 21st Century Academy of Technology and Multimedia’s mission statement, goals, and objectives of ‘Bridging the Gap of the Digital Divide,’ for the participants of the program, their peers, and their future.

Construction a team of technology

            In 2007, a group of minority educators, computer designers, and local artists from the San Francisco Bay Area, formed a coalition to develop the 21st Century Academy of Technology and Multimedia (21st CATM). The curriculum for this after –school program focuses on multimedia and the use of technology.  This program was designed to empower the youth of two San Francisco’s underprivileged communities, Bayview-Hunters Point and the Mission districts with the tools and technological training to take advantage of the rapidly emerging technology that is greatly impacting the lives of everyone in today’s Digital Age.

            21 CATM is a collaborative effort of six independent entrepreneurs, Barry Dow, an instructional designer, Waymon Olivier, a graphic artist, Michelle Gomez, a music performer/producer, Nyesha Chevon, an artist, Vincent Wong, a computer programmer, and freelance model / photographer Shemika Jenkins. After several informal discussions the six business owners recognized a need to provide the adolescents from these diverse multi-cultural communities with the same computers, software applications, audio/video equipment, and access to Web 2.0 technologies that have made significant impacts on their personal businesses.

            All of the Board members of the 21st CATM, are currently operating their own successful businesses in these poorer sections of the city. After conducting several needs assessments on the youth from their targeted neighborhoods, the members of the board realized that in order to effectively teach the participants of the program, some teaching credentials and experiences would be necessary.  Currently, the members who plan to work directly with the students are taking courses to get California teaching credentials through the College of Education at San Francisco State University. The board members decided to hire credentialed teachers to develop and implement the framework developed for the program, to work as an intern with the credentialed teachers, and eventually take over as the primary teachers with an anticipated completion of the credentialed program in May 2009,

            The members of the group have divided the duties among themselves to file all of the necessary documentation to become a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization with the State of California and Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to begin looking for funds, and also drafting proposals.  The board members hope to begin recruiting students during the fall semester of 2008, from the San Francisco Unified School District, for classes that will start in January 2009.

            Barry Dow, founder and primary instructional designer of the 21st CARTM mission statement and ideology, is a former classroom teacher from the San Francisco and Oakland Unified School Districts, and the California Juvenile Educational Systems.  Mr. Dow is also a professional performing artist, with several successful music recordings and videos that were produced on New World Music Videos (1990-1995), a San Francisco Viacom music video show.  Besides being the host of the show, Barry performed and produced several local artist and shows.  While employed with the San Francisco Unified Schools, Mr. Dow worked as the head teacher with at-risk students from several of the low economic communities of San Francisco.  He also worked in two of the district's special programs, IRISE, an Afro-centric instructional program which trained teachers who worked directly with at-risk students in the San Francisco Unified School District, and the Student Training Employment Program (STEP) programs.  These programs were created to assist the youth from the less affluent minority communities of San Francisco with the training and equipment to pursue their educational endeavors.

            The other board members of the 21st CATM are specialists in their respective fields.  Waymon Olivier, established his graphic and printing firm, Oliv & Associates, over ten (10) years ago, and has been contracted by the San Francisco Mayor's Office, Muni, and the Chinese community for various flyers and posters, Chinese New Years Memorabilia, and other Multicultural clothing designs have contracted Mr. Oliv.  In 2001, Nyesha Chevon and Shemika Jenkins formed the Do'Wizard School of Arts and Photography, which helped several youth from the Bayview-Hunters Point and Mission Districts pursue aspirations of working in the Fashion & Design Industry.  In 2005, their organization sponsored five students from their program on a two week tour of two prestigious black universities, Howard University in Washington D.C. and Hampton University in Virginia.  Three of the five are currently enrolled at Hampton.  Vincent Wong, from Visual Expressions has designed numerous album covers and promotional materials for Jaz Cat Innovations and Black Butterfly Records, two independent record companies in Oakland and Sacramento, respectively.

            The members of the board, several parents of students from the targeted neighborhoods, and the local community leaders agree that this type of program would create avenues for voices of the youth to create and reflect their values and cultural differences through the technological mediums that are more accessible and less expensive than in the past. The 21st CATM will provide an educational facility where the members of the staff could teach, nurture, and mentor the adolescents in their fields of interest in technology and multimedia.

            Even though the 21st Century Academy of Technology and Multimedia is a pilot program, the need for this type of program is essential for the youth of these neighborhoods to excel in the work force of the Digital Age.  Initially, nine students from each neighborhood will enroll in the program. The board members and staff of the 21st CATM will help 'Bridge the Gap' between the present and the future in the lives of the youth who participate in the program.  By providing real world experience, training, access to State-of-the-Art technological tools and methods, the participants will be empowered with an equal opportunity to be contributors to the society, in the 21st century. 

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Exploring new paths

To improve access and availability of technology to the youth in two underprivileged neighborhoods of San Francisco (Bayview-Hunters Point, Mission)

To diminish the Digital Divide between the youth of San Francisco’s low economic neighborhoods and the adolescents from the city’s more affluent areas.

To expand the knowledge of technology and multimedia for at-risk youth from two San Francisco neighborhoods.

Pivotal Milestones

            * After completing 40 hours of instruction in the Photoshop courses, 85% of the students enrolled will be able to digitize an image, and change the image’s background and contents.

            * 50% of the participants in the Sound Design section of the 21st CATM will be able to perform a simple song using the Macintosh Garage Band audio software-editing program, after completion of 40 hours.

            *& Of the 18 adolescents recruited into the 21st Century Academy of Technology and Multimedia, 75% will be able to create and publish a video of professional quality, at the completion of the video production program.

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Paving the way to success

            San Francisco is known as a magnet for immigrants who settle, interact, and create a new identity in their adopted homeland.  One-third of the immigrants living in the city are Hispanic, most of who reside in the Mission district of the city.  The Bayview-Hunters Point section of San Francisco is where the highest concentration of African American youth live.  The youth from these communities are overrepresented in the media as criminals, and often they lack the adequate resources to represent their own point of view, their own beliefs, and their own values.  The decision-makers who chose which images are exploited to the public often convey this misconception.  Empowering the youth of these under represented neighborhoods with the tools and training to create and produce materials will allow them to express their ideas and feelings, to represent their lifestyles and culture, and to show how they view themselves in society, through the mediums of multimedia.

            The 21 CATM is bridging the gap between the students of the two targeted neighborhoods of San Francisco by designing an instructional program that provides training for the development of computer skills and Web 2.0 open source technologies, such as Wikis and Blogs. and several of the numerous open source applications that are available via the Internet.  The learners will become familiar with social networking communities like YouTube and Myspace, and will participate in several online surveys and interviews.

            Sixteen at-risk students will be nominated by a teacher from one of the middle schools in the school district, or by a church or community leader from the neighborhood.  Secondly, the potential student will be required to write a 500 word essay explaining their rationale for applying to the program.  The final phase of the selection process will involve an interview of the applicant by a designated interviewing board, a teacher and a volunteer from the community.  All applicants that are not selected for the first semester will be re-evaluated for consideration for the 2009 fall semester.

            The courses will be divided into three main sections, which will be taught in three 40-hour modules.  Each class will be taught daily for two hours: At the end of each four week module the participant will be assessed and advanced to the next part of the program.  After completing the three courses, each student will be required to create and produce a creative work using the tools and new skills they developed from their participation in the program. 

            The training for the development of computer skills and Web 2.0 technologies courses will be divided into three 40-hour modules:

            * Module 1 - Photoshop will focus on the Adobe application Photoshop CS3.  The instruction will include several basic photo manipulation techniques, such as cropping images, resizing photos, cloning and changing colors of images.  The module will also provided the students with practice restoring and enhancing damaged photos and images.

            * Module 2 - Audio Design will introduce the learner to the Apple audio editing software, Garage Band 3.  This will allow the student to work with recording virtual and real instruments, editing and placing the sound in real-time and also creating and processing wave files.  The learner will be exposed to a variety of digital synthesizer, recording microphones, and audio processing reverb and echo units.  At the end of the course the learner will be able to create synthesized and ambient sounds to create a mood using sounds.  Keys 2 Digital Music, an on-line music instructional plan created by Barry Dow in 2007, is used as an outline for the course.

            * Module 3 - Video Production will be the third component of the program offered.  In the video production class, Mr. Wong will teach the iMovie HD video editing program, featured in the iLife applications program by Apple.  The learner will be introduced to the basic video concepts and production, HDD digital movie cameras, lighting, and storyboarding of a script for a vignette.  The culminating project for the class will be a video representation in the day of the live of the student in their community.

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Building Blocks

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Enduring the long journey

            The 21st CATM proposed plan would require much commitment and dedication from everyone associated with the program.  The participants need to feel safe and free to explore their own inner thoughts and feelings.  The learners also need to know that the board members, the community, and volunteers support the program.

            The six board members of the 21st CATM have made a commitment to conduct several on-going fund-raising campaigns like,

            1) Soliciting potential community sponsors, volunteers, and support.

            2) Conducting quarterly campaign drives for donations.

            3) Continue seeking grants from foundations and other potential sponsors.

            All of the board members have also agreed to solicit support for the 21st CATM from their business associates, friends, or other resources. If necessary, each of the board members have offered $5,000.00 to help the program maintain stability and working capital, pay the general operating costs and the rent for up to six months.

Assessing the adventure

            The evaluation plan used to determine the effectiveness of the 21st Century Academy of Technology and Multimedia will consist of the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data. The success of the program will be contingent on the participants' abilities to create original multimedia creative works. After completing a twelve week program, each participant will create a multimedia project that combines the use of still photos, video, and audio. The three modules of the program will be

conducted simultaneously with six students participating in two-hour workshops daily, for a total

of forty hours or four weeks. All data will be collected, analyzed, and evaluated by the instructors and Program Director.

            The following six criterions will be used to monitor and assess the successful completion of the program.

             * At the beginning of the program, each participant will be assigned a mentor instructor, who will conduct an over the phone or in-person interview with the parents of the students, to pre-assess the skills.

              * The instructors will conduct informal and formal observations of the students in the class, during one on one instruction and in small groupings.  Each student will be given a pretest at the beginning of the module.  They will also be quizzed, randomly, throughout the entire twelve weeks of the students’ enrollment by

    * Each student will be required to post a daily Blog entry on Blogger.com, with reflections concerning the topics of the day. The reflections will be monitored

by the instructor.  The instructors will use the student's reflections on the Blog to clarify any questions or correct any mistakes that the student might post.

    * At the end of each module, each participant will be graded on his or her final presentation to the class.

    * Each participant will post a daily assessment of thetopic on a Wiki at Wetpaint.com.

* Participants will complete evaluation forms following each module, giving feedback on its content and delivery.

* The students will be required to do a self-evaluation of their successes and failures of the program. 

• During the program and at the end of the twelve-week session, the learners will meet weekly to give feedback and participate in discussions about the program and the instruction.

* At the end of the twelve week course each participant will present a culminating creative work at a commencement ceremony.

Steps to the future

            The 21st Century Academy of Technology & Multimedia is a pilot after-school technology and multimedia training program in the Mission and Bayview districts.  The 21st CATM is committed to providing training that will enhance the technological skills of the underprivileged youth from these deprived neighborhoods of San Francisco.  The program will provide access to the most current and innovative technological applications and multimedia tools being used in the Digital Age.  The program is designed to train, mentor, and provide each student with the tools and opportunities necessary to optimize their individual creative ideas.  By providing a learning environment with real world experiences and appropriate training the participants of the program will become contributors to the society in the 21st century.

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Barry V. Dow, M.Ed - Program coordinator

21st Century Academy of technology & Multimedia (21st CATM)

1600 Holloway Ave. - BH 170

Phone: (415) 571-1538

Dowizard@gmail.com