This past weekend, I had the honor of MCing a fun panel discussion among educators in three locales in the US on the topic of fostering youth voice in local learning networks. If you are a local educator and looking for ways to better serve your youth community, I recommend that you check out the…
Category: Civil Society
They Set Us Up the Bomb: Police Repression, Bomb Threats, & Digital Democracy in Ukraine
Today was so strange I don’t even know where to start. I’m in Ivano-Frankivsk, a small city in Western Ukraine, where I was brought by the US Embassy to lead some trainings in digital media for local NGOs. I’ve done a few of these technology trainings for civil society organizations around the world, and had…
Cal Academy Teens Launch Environmental Social Media Campaign: “Put A Cap on Plastic Use”
I'm happy to share the news that yesterday a group of teens, as a result of their participation in a California Academy of Sciences program, launched a social media campaign to educate the public about plastic waste. Called "Put a Cap on Plastic Use," their campaign focuses on three social media tools: An Instagram Photo Challenge…
Mind in the Gutter: Thankful for the Sewage System
It's pouring rain outside… has been for a couple of days now. As I go about my morning ablutions and dishwashing, preparing for splashing around in the muck, I am feeling thankful for my city's sewage system. It's one of the unseen wonders of civilization that we've come up with a plan to deal with…
Barry Joseph Leaving Global Kids, Leading Digital Learning at American Museum of Natural History
I'm excited to share the news that my friend, mentor and former boss at Global Kids, Mr. Barry Joseph, will be leaving his post after 12 years to take on the position of Associate Director of Digital Learning at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. I could not be happier for him. Barry being…
B-boying for a Better Life in Uganda (video)
Here's a pretty dope story about b-boying (not "breakdancing") in Uganda and how it changed the life of one young man, and how he is trying to spread the dance across the country to other disadvantaged youth. Breakdance Project Uganda is a grass roots organisation, founded in 2006 by Abramz Tekya, working with disadvantaged young people…
Learning about The Cal Academy’s Amazing Expedition to the Philippines
Tonight I got around to watching "Reefs to Rainforests," the documentary about the 2011 scientific expedition to the Philippines organized by the California Academy of Sciences. It's a really amazing story about the largest expedition ever organized by the Academy in its 158 years of existence, with about 100 participants from the Academy and…
My First Maker Faire: Geeking Out at the Mecca of Makers and Hackers
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of experiencing my first Maker Faire , an annual gathering of 10,000+ DIY enthusiasts, hackers, crafters, artists, cosplayers, and citizen scientists at a huge fairground pavilion in San Mateo. Described as a "festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement," Maker Faire is a…
Hack-A-Thon for Youth Health March 31 in San Francisco
Attention Bay Area coders, designers and tech innovators! On March 31, TechSoup.org and ISIS are co-sponsoring a "hack-a-thon" on youth health in San Francisco. You can help design an app that can save the lives of young people. Here's the details: ISIS is hosting our first ever hack-a-thon, together with our partners TechSoup. A hack-a-thon…
Collect, Curate, and Share Images and Links with Pinterest
I've been playing around with a new web service called Pinterest that bills itself as a place to "organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web." That sounds suspiciously like a lot of other web services out there, like Delicious, wikis, tumblr, etc. What makes Pinterest stand out is the way…