View high resolution

I just heard about Readathon 2012:

12 publishers, 24 bloggers and several people across the world are joining hands to get thousands of kids reading over 6 weeks this Summer. This Readathon, for the youngest and emerging readers, is powered by MeMeTales Reader app and website. Every week, kids get access to a free book they can read and have fun with. Parents enjoy a new activity pack with a host of relevant activities, carefully prepared by educators and publishers every single week.

More…

(Source: mediabistro.com)

Teens, kindness and cruelty on social network sites →

In our survey, we follow teens’ experiences of online cruelty – either personally felt or observed – from incident to resolution. We asked them about how they reacted to the experience and how they saw others react. We asked them about whether they have received and where they sought advice – both general advice about online safety and responsibility and specific advice on how to handle a witnessed experience of online cruelty on a social network site.

(Source: gjmueller)

February Fourth: The inaugural Take Your Child to the Library Day →

View high resolution

Lady Gaga to Officially Launch Born This Way Foundation

Born This Way Foundation to partner with The John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment, Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Harvard Graduate School of Education on event

Los Angeles, CA (January 19, 2012) – Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, announced today that they will officially launch the Born This Way Foundation (BTWF) on Wednesday, February 29th, 2012 at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. Lady Gaga will be joined by some very special guests as she personally unveils BTWF before a crowd of policy makers, non-profit organizations, foundation leaders and youth themselves who are working to create a kinder and braver world. The one-day event will be co-hosted by BTWF, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and The California Endowment.

“My daughter’s foundation was born out of her passion to create a better world where people are kinder and nicer to one another and are accepted for who they are, regardless of how different they may be,” said Cynthia Germanotta. “She has experienced many of the struggles that our youth encounter today, and identifies with the lasting effects they can have without proper support. Together, we look forward to creating a new movement that will engage and empower youth and accept them as valuable members of our society.”

The foundation has partnered with the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The California Endowment and The Berkman Center at Harvard to explore the best ways to reach youth and create a new culture of kindness, bravery, acceptance and empowerment. […]

more: www.BornThisWayFoundation.org

Reimagining Learning, Literacy, and Libraries: A Few Moments with Amy Eshleman

As Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Planning and Partnerships at the Chicago Public Library, Amy Eshleman oversees all aspects of the library’s YOUmedia project, an innovative, 5,500-square-foot learning space focused on providing a multimedia, multipurpose center for Chicago teens. The space allows youth to hangout, explore new media, and develop a greater awareness of the library as a resource. YOUmedia’s design concept stems from extensive research conducted by Mimi Ito’s Digital Youth Project, which found that students thrive in an environment where they are encouraged to not only consume media but create it as well. In the next year, a dozen new 21st century learning labs will be constructed in libraries and museums across the country. As the YOUmedia project approaches its third anniversary, we sat down with Amy to ask her about how the space has changed over time and what it means to her personally to reinvent learning resources for today’s teens.