Youth-Led Tech Curriculum is a 6-day program that teaches youth digital skills like blogging. Day 6 focuses on posting blogs to WordPress and how the Internet works. Activities include an icebreaker, learning about the history and infrastructure of the Internet, creating "About" pages, and publishing first blog posts. The goal is to build both technical skills and soft skills through team exercises that improve communication and collaboration.
Metanomics is a weekly Web-based show on the serious uses of virtual worlds. This transcript is from a past show.
For this and other videos, visit us at http://metanomics.net.
Even staunch cyberutopians are feeling beaten down. But is the Net as disappointing as we're constantly told. Let's look at four basic ideas about ourselves that the Net has changed...
Metanomics is a weekly Web-based show on the serious uses of virtual worlds. This transcript is from a past show.
For this and other videos, visit us at http://metanomics.net.
Even staunch cyberutopians are feeling beaten down. But is the Net as disappointing as we're constantly told. Let's look at four basic ideas about ourselves that the Net has changed...
“Youth-led Tech | Summer 2015” is a technology mentoring program in five Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and Roseland. As part of this program, we’re teaching various classes on digital skills. We’ve open sourced our curriculum through a series of blog posts.
This is the PDF Version of the file
By Aaron Smith, Senior Researcher, Pew Research Center, JUNE 5, 2013, www.pewresearch.org
Key figure:
"56% of American adults now own a smartphone of some kind; Android and iPhone owners account for half of the cell phone user population. Higher income adults and those under age 35 lead the way when it comes to smartphone ownership."
“Youth-led Tech | Summer 2015” is a technology mentoring program in five Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and Roseland. As part of this program, we’re teaching various classes on digital skills. We’ve open sourced our curriculum through a series of blog posts.
We cover an introductions to WordPress, Wordpress dashboards, themes, how to post, and how to add media to your WordPress site. We also have set time aside each day for students to work on their typing skills.
These are minute-by-minute guides on teaching the youth. If you want to start your own Youth-Led Tech program, this is the place to start. At Smart Chicago, we are dedicated to sharing all of our methods. Not just code published to Github (though we do that, too), but whole swaths of templates, resources, and guides that help spread the practice of community technology.
Presentation of the Analysis of the Eliminate the Digital Divide Grant Program
UIC Capstone Project - Fall 2014
Ta'Shona Griffin, Patrick Hastings, and Rachel Wagner
In October 2014, Smart Chicago Collaborative's application to the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Public Administration MPA Capstone program was accepted. The project revolved around research of Computer Technology Centers (CTCs) across the state.
As part of our Youth Led Tech Program, we’re teaching various classes on digital skills. We’ve open sourced our curriculum through a series of blog posts.
This is the first two weeks of curriculum in Word Format
By Laurenellen McCann. Edited by Daniel X. O’Neil.
Experimental Modes of Civic Engagement
in Civic Tech is an investigation into what
it means to build civic technology with, not for, real people and real communities. It answers the question, “What’s the difference between sentiment and action?”
The project was conducted by Laurenellen McCann, and it deepens her work in needs- responsive, community-driven processes for creating technology for public good.
This is a project of the Smart Chicago Collaborative, a civic organization devoted to improving lives in Chicago through technology. It was funded by a Knight Community Information Challenge Deep Dive grant given to The Chicago Community Trust by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Calc is the spreadsheet component of LibreOffice. You can enter data (usually numerical) in a spreadsheet and then manipulate this data to produce certain results.
Alternatively, you can enter data and then use Calc in a ‘What if...’ manner by changing some of the data and observing the results without having to retype the entire spreadsheet or sheet. Other features provided by Calc include:
What is Calc?
Starting a new Spreadsheet.
Saving Spreadsheets.
Entering data.
Editing data.
Social Media has blurred the boundary lines of how adult service providers can interact and communicate with youth participants in programming. This training seeks to present best practices for outreach activities to youth that includes engagement strategies, codes of conduct, organizational liability, boundaries, mandated reporting, and digital footprints.
We cover an introductions to WordPress, Wordpress dashboards, themes, how to post, and how to add media to your WordPress site. We also have set time aside each day for students to work on their typing skills.
These are minute-by-minute guides on teaching the youth. If you want to start your own Youth-Led Tech program, this is the place to start. At Smart Chicago, we are dedicated to sharing all of our methods. Not just code published to Github (though we do that, too), but whole swaths of templates, resources, and guides that help spread the practice of community technology.
“Youth-led Tech | Summer 2015” is a technology mentoring program in five Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and Roseland. As part of this program, we’re teaching various classes on digital skills. We’ve open sourced our curriculum through a series of blog posts.
This is the PDF Version of the file
By Aaron Smith, Senior Researcher, Pew Research Center, JUNE 5, 2013, www.pewresearch.org
Key figure:
"56% of American adults now own a smartphone of some kind; Android and iPhone owners account for half of the cell phone user population. Higher income adults and those under age 35 lead the way when it comes to smartphone ownership."
“Youth-led Tech | Summer 2015” is a technology mentoring program in five Chicago neighborhoods: Austin, Englewood, Humboldt Park, North Lawndale, and Roseland. As part of this program, we’re teaching various classes on digital skills. We’ve open sourced our curriculum through a series of blog posts.
We cover an introductions to WordPress, Wordpress dashboards, themes, how to post, and how to add media to your WordPress site. We also have set time aside each day for students to work on their typing skills.
These are minute-by-minute guides on teaching the youth. If you want to start your own Youth-Led Tech program, this is the place to start. At Smart Chicago, we are dedicated to sharing all of our methods. Not just code published to Github (though we do that, too), but whole swaths of templates, resources, and guides that help spread the practice of community technology.
Presentation of the Analysis of the Eliminate the Digital Divide Grant Program
UIC Capstone Project - Fall 2014
Ta'Shona Griffin, Patrick Hastings, and Rachel Wagner
In October 2014, Smart Chicago Collaborative's application to the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Public Administration MPA Capstone program was accepted. The project revolved around research of Computer Technology Centers (CTCs) across the state.
As part of our Youth Led Tech Program, we’re teaching various classes on digital skills. We’ve open sourced our curriculum through a series of blog posts.
This is the first two weeks of curriculum in Word Format
By Laurenellen McCann. Edited by Daniel X. O’Neil.
Experimental Modes of Civic Engagement
in Civic Tech is an investigation into what
it means to build civic technology with, not for, real people and real communities. It answers the question, “What’s the difference between sentiment and action?”
The project was conducted by Laurenellen McCann, and it deepens her work in needs- responsive, community-driven processes for creating technology for public good.
This is a project of the Smart Chicago Collaborative, a civic organization devoted to improving lives in Chicago through technology. It was funded by a Knight Community Information Challenge Deep Dive grant given to The Chicago Community Trust by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Calc is the spreadsheet component of LibreOffice. You can enter data (usually numerical) in a spreadsheet and then manipulate this data to produce certain results.
Alternatively, you can enter data and then use Calc in a ‘What if...’ manner by changing some of the data and observing the results without having to retype the entire spreadsheet or sheet. Other features provided by Calc include:
What is Calc?
Starting a new Spreadsheet.
Saving Spreadsheets.
Entering data.
Editing data.
Social Media has blurred the boundary lines of how adult service providers can interact and communicate with youth participants in programming. This training seeks to present best practices for outreach activities to youth that includes engagement strategies, codes of conduct, organizational liability, boundaries, mandated reporting, and digital footprints.
We cover an introductions to WordPress, Wordpress dashboards, themes, how to post, and how to add media to your WordPress site. We also have set time aside each day for students to work on their typing skills.
These are minute-by-minute guides on teaching the youth. If you want to start your own Youth-Led Tech program, this is the place to start. At Smart Chicago, we are dedicated to sharing all of our methods. Not just code published to Github (though we do that, too), but whole swaths of templates, resources, and guides that help spread the practice of community technology.
(short) presentation I gave at DIBI Conference on April 28 in Newcastle, UK. It's a bunch of "How?" and "Why?"'s on how to prepare for the next 10 years as a designer.
The book summarizes the Chicago School of Data project which included a scan of our local data ecosystem from 2013 - 2014 and a convening we built on top of that scan. Typical with other Smart Chicago projects like CUTGroup and the Array of Things Civic Engagement Project, we also included “meta” sections in the Chicago School of Data book — specific details about how we executed our projects, what tools we used, and the logic or guiding principles behind our program design decisions.
http://www.chicagoschoolofdata.com/
You're invited to a presentation + community conversation about putting urban sensors to use for the public good. Join the operators of the Array of Things project to learn more about their urban sensors, how they can be used, and how they can be put to use to help measure or solve neighborhood challenges like air quality, noise pollution, etc. Learn more about Array of Things at arrayofthings.org
This curriculum, tailored to senior learners and set up for turn-key use for digital trainers, is an introduction to online safety and security. The curriculum overviews information about scams and give tips for how to avoid them.
This document layouts out an introduction to Microsoft's DigiSeniors Curriculum and gives information to prospective instructors/trainers for how to leverage it in their classrooms.
You’re Invited to a Community Technology Forum at the Windsor Park Lutheran Church!
When: Saturday, May 20, 2017 from 1pm – 4pm
Where: 2619 E 76th St.
What: Join community members and local advocates for a civic conversation about the technology in South Shore. What do you love about your community and what is working well? ¿Qué te gusta de tu comunidad? What technology resources do you use a lot and appreciate? ¿Qué recursos tecnológicos utiliza mucho y aprecia? You’re invited to share your ideas and help design solutions that leverage what works to improve what doesn't. This Community Technology Forum is hosted at the Windsor Park Lutheran Church in partnership with DePaul University, the Smart Chicago Collaborative & Connect Chicago. Lunch & refreshments will be provided! Sign up for more information and RSVP at bit.ly/chitechforum2.
The Juvenile Expungement Help Desk can help expunge (erase) your juvenile arrests and delinquency findings from law enforcement and court records.
Located at the Cook County Juvenile Court Center at 1100 S Hamilton, Chicago, Illinois.
For the 28th Civic User Testing Group (CUTGroup) test, Smart Chicago Collaborative tested the redesigned homepage of the City of Chicago’s Open Data Portal. The Open Data Portal allows users to find resources and various datasets regarding the city of Chicago. The City of Chicago Department of Innovation and Technology is working with Socrata to redesign the Open Data Portal, focused currently on the homepage, to be more user-friendly while representing multiple data and technology initiatives and applications created with open data.
On Wednesday, November 30, 2016, Smart Chicago Collaborative, Mikva Challenge, and LAF Chicago presented to The Chicago Community Trust staff about juvenile expungement, Expunge.io, and upcoming changes relevant to the House Bill 5017 being passed. This document is our combined presentation.
On Monday, November 7, 2016, Smart Chicago Collaborative held the first CUTGroup Collective Community call. The goal of the CUTGroup Collective is to convene organizations and institutions in cities to help others establish new CUTGroups, create a new community, and share and learn from one another. For our first community call, we want to highlight CUTGroup Detroit’s story. Over the last few months, a collaboration across multiple entities invested in Detroit– the City of Detroit, Data Driven Detroit, and Microsoft– recruited for and conducted their first CUTGroup test. On our first call, the team involved will talk about their successes and challenges in building CUTGroup Detroit.
Slides were created by the CUTGroup Detroit team, which includes the City of Detroit, Data Driven Detroit, and Microsoft.
For our twenty-fourth Civic User Testing Group (CUTGroup) session, we tested OpenGrid– an open-source interface developed by the City of Chicago that allows residents to search for, interact with and visualize City of Chicago’s datasets.
Presentation and meeting guide for the first Connect Chicago Digital Skills Road Map Working Group hosted at the Chicago Community Trust on September 9, 2016. This working group formed out of conversations from the Connect Chicago Meetup events. Find out more about the Meetup at http://meetup.com/connectchicago
1. Youth-Led Tech Curriculum
Day 6: Wordpress Posting & How the Internet Works
Content Goals: Youth will learn how to post a blog post on WordPress and
learn how the Internet works.
Leadership Goals: Teambuilding exercises that focus on team communication
Materials: Confusion worksheet, pens, paper, markers, projector
10:00 AM Sign-in
Use the online attendance sheet to mark students as present and
note any issues.
10:05 AM Mood Check/Icebreaker Question
It’s important to start every session with an opening activity, such
as a Mood Check-in, where students state their mood on a scale of
1-10. We often pair this with an icebreaker question that each
student answers.
10:15 AM Confusion!
Students work on their communication and teambuilding skills by
working on a set of tasks.
Play-by-play
1. Hand each student a copy of the “Confusion!” handout.
2. Explain that students must go around and ask one another
to complete the tasks listed on their handout, and then
have their peers sign when they’ve completed the task.
3. Give students a time frame in which to complete this
activity. The student who completes their “Confusion!”
handout first may get a prize.
2. 2
10:45 AM Introduction to How the Web Works
This module will teach students the basics of how the web works
including the concept of ‘The Cloud”, the World Wide Web,
DNS/Web Addresses, and how content appears in the browser.
Part One: The History of the Internet
Let’s say you wrote a really cool song on your computer. Without
the internet the song would just stay on your laptop. To share it,
you’d have to have somebody come over and look at your laptop -
or you’d have to download it onto a floppy disk (What they had
before USBs) and physically carry it over.
This is how computers used to work. And it was a bit of a problem
for scientists trying to work collaboratively. Instead of shipping
documents from universities on the east coast to the west coast, it
would be a lot easier if one computer could just pick up a phone
and call the other.
Which is exactly what they did.
In 1965, a professor at MIT used a phone line to call up a computer
at UCLA and send information back and forth. This was the first
(very small) network. The government saw value with this and
funded an experiment called ARPAnet. Computers from across the
country were added to the network becoming a ‘web’ of
computers.
But, this network had a problem. It began to grow large enough to
where one computer couldn’t find another specific computer.
Imagine that you want to visit a friend’s house for the first time,
but there are no street numbers. You’d get lost pretty easily.
To solve this, Vincent Cerf and Robert Kahn created the TCP/IP
protocol. TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol. It had four ground rules:
Each distinct network would have to stand on its own and
no internal changes could be required to any such network
to connect it to the Internet.
Communications would be on a best effort basis. If a packet
(information) didn't make it to the final destination, it would
shortly be sent again from the source.
Black boxes would be used to connect the networks; these
3. 3
would later be called gateways and routers. There would be
no information retained by the gateways about the
individual flows of packets passing through them, thereby
keeping them simple and avoiding complicated adaptation
and recovery from various failure modes.
There would be no global control at the operations level.
The protocol also had a system for giving each device connected to
the network an address called an IP Address.
Activity: Address Numbers
Everyone take out their phones or laptop. Google “What’s my IP
address”
Now, notice that if you’re not on the Wi-Fi your address is different
from mine. Every internet connection has it’s own address. Every
website also has an address too.
Now, go into the address bar and enter 173.252.110.27
See, it really works - that’s Facebook’s address on the Internet
About DNS
The problem with the IP address is that nobody can remember all
the numbers needed to get everywhere on the web.
So, they developed services called “Domain Name Servers” that
give addresses like 173.252.110.27 names like “Facebook.com”
DNS servers act like Google Maps for your computer. It works like
this:
1. You tell your browser that you want to go to
“mikvachallenge.org”
2. Your computer calls up a DNS server to ask for directions to
mikvachallenge.org
3. The DNS servers looks through all the addresses in all of the
internet and find: 67.202.93.0
4. The DNS tells your browser where to find the site. Your
browser then points itself to 67.202.93.0
5. www.mikvachallenge.org pops up in your browser!
4. 4
Web Hosting
The other problem with the early network is that those computers
had to be on and connected all the time to work. It also became
hard for a lot of people to try to access the same file on a single
machine all at the same time.
Could you imagine 500 people trying to call you at once? Doesn’t
work that well.
The people who were building the Internet needed a way to serve
the information to a lot of people at once. The answer became
dedicated computers that would ‘serve’ people information called
servers.
YouTube has hundreds of server room that hold thousands of cat
videos. When you point your browser to the funny video of your
choice, the server ‘serves’ your video to your web browser.
Not everyone has to have a server room to host their websites.
Expunge.io uses a service called “Amazon Web Services” to borrow
their server. (Yes, you really can order everything from Amazon.”
11:30 AM Break
11:45 AM Two Thumbs and a Lie
In this activity, students to get to know each other in a fun and
challenging way.
Play-by-Play
For large groups (e.g., 30+), it is best to split into smaller group
sizes.
Explain that in this activity each person must come up with two
truths and a lie about themselves and then we will try to guess
each other's lie. The goal is to: a) convince others that your lie is
truth and vice versa. The second goal for participants will be to
correctly guess other people's lies.
1. Allow approx. 5-8 minutes for writing 2 truths & a lie
a. This isn't easy for a lot of people - there will some
scribbling out, etc. The slower people will probably
need to be urged along to "put anything you can
5. 5
think of" down. You will probably need to urge people
along.
2. Gather together in a circle. Start with one person who reads
their three statements aloud (to remind everyone).
3. Read the statements again, stopping to allow a vote for
each one. e.g., "I am Turkish. Who thinks that is a lie?
[Vote] I am vegetarian. Who thinks that is a lie? [Vote] I
have a metal pin in my right leg. Who thinks that is a lie?
[Vote]. OK, my lie was "I am vegetarian."" The facilitator
will need to help each person out, especially initially until
the basic format is understood. The facilitator may add
drama and reinforcement, etc. for correct guesses, tricky
statements, etc.
12 NOON Lunch
1:00 PM Line Up
Play-by-play
1. Ask students to get in a line.
2. Once they are in a line let them know that they now have to
be completely quiet, no talking, no mouthing.
3. They have to rearrange the line so that the youngest person
is in front of the line and the oldest person in the back of
the line.
4. Give them 3 minutes to complete the activity.
1:15 PM Typing Club
Logon http://youthledtech.typingclub.com
Allow youth to practice/develop their typing skills
This could be a useful time for facilitators to catch up on
paperwork or setup for the next activity
Facilitators can track the students progress to make sure
that they are actually on the right site
2:00 PM Break
2:15 PM Creating Content
Students will learn how to create a blog post on WordPress
1. Video: https://ithemes.com/tutorials/wordpress-posts-vs-
pages/
Debrief with group:
6. 6
When might it be best to just make a post?
When might it be best to create a page?
What kind of content makes a good post?
What kind of content makes a good page?
Activity
2. Distribute pen/markers and paper
3. Youth will create an About page for their site (15 mins)
4. Mission statement
5. What will the user gain from the site?
6. Youth will give their About page to a partner for peer
edits/questions (5 minutes)
7. Allow youth to discuss and clarify their partners feedback (5
mins)
8. On a new sheet the youth should synthesize what their
original work and their partners feedback to make a new
About page (10 mins)
9. Share out (20 mins)
10.Collect the About pages from the youth. Make sure they
write their name on it.
Create a Post
1. VIDEO: https://ithemes.com/tutorials/creating-a-wordpress-
post/
2. Youth should log onto their WordPress site
3. Create a post (7 minutes)
4. Remind the youth that the post should be true to their
About page
5. Youth should email you a link to their first post
6. Share some of the posts via the projector
3:45 PM Reflection
This is the time to ask for youth input and evaluate sessions.
Reflection can also be some kind of affirming activity where
students congratulate or compliment each other on their
contributions to the group.
3:55 PM Sign Out
Make sure all youth are accounted for.
7. 7
Confusion!
Find a different person for each task listed and once you/they complete the task,
have them sign their name next to it.
1. Get someone to do five push-ups
1. ____________________________________________
2. Stand on one foot with your arms
outstretched for 20 seconds and have
someone time you
2.______________________________________________
8. 8
3. Leap frog over someone 5 times
3.______________________________________________
4. Get someone to whisper the pledge of
allegiance
4.______________________________________________
5. Play “Ring around the Rosy” with two
other people
5. Person 1:______________________________________ Person
2:________________________________________
6.____________________________________________ Nursery
9. 9
6. Get someone to recite a nursery rhyme Rhyme:_________________________________
7. Shake hands with someone you do not
know and continue holding hands while
debating the merits of your favorite ice
cream flavor
7.______________________________________________ Favorite
Ice Cream:_________________________________
8. Have someone teach you a dance step
(even if they make it up)
8. ____________________________________________
9. Find someone with your same shoe
size, make sure to include the shoe size
9.______________________________________________ Shoe
Size:______________________________________
10. 10
10.Find someone with the same zodiac
sign
10.___________________________________________
Zodiac Sign:_________________________________________