TIGblogs - Mandeep Atwal's TIGBlog

Robben Island and Experience Pavilion

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:04:00 -0400

A trip to Cape Town is not complete without an excursion to Robben Island Museum. Some members of the SHOUT team spent Thursday afternoon visiting the museum gaining real insight into history of the newly democratic South Africa.

Here is a little extract explaining the history of RI from www.robbenisland.org

People lived on Robben Island many thousands of years ago, when the sea channel between the Island and the Cape mainland was not covered with water. Since the Dutch settled at the Cape in the mid-1600s, Robben Island has been used primarily as a prison.

Indigenous African leaders, Muslim leaders from the East Indies, Dutch and British soldiers and civilians, women, and anti-apartheid activists, including South Africa's first democratic President, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and the founding leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, were all imprisoned on the Island...

For more information on the history of the Island please see visit the following link: http://www.robben-island.org.za/index.php?option=com_contentview=articleid=9Itemid=46

The evening was spent at the Experience Pavilion. SHOUT had a dedicated booth that allowed teacher’s to come and see a demo of the site, ask questions, and learn more about SHOUT. It was a great opportunity to muster up excitement for the SHOUT workshops the following day.

The Experience Pavilion also proved a wonderful opportunity to meet our fantastic DeforestACTION pilot teachers. Having met them in ‘real’ life and hearing their DeforestACTION stories really helped generate momentum for what will truly be an AMAZING SHOUT journey.

Official launch of SHOUT at WWIEF 2010

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:25:00 -0400

Mteto Nyati, managing director of the South African subsidiary of Microsoft welcomed everybody to Cape Town. Mteto shared with the 500 plus audience a little about his unprivileged upbringing, his inspirational story proved ‘education’ as the key tool that changed his life for the better.

The official opening keynote of the conference was led by Anthony Salcito, and he presented the new Microsoft education framework and vision. He had some previous winners of the Microsoft Innovative Educator awards share their experiences, and then officially announced the Shout program.

He invited Michael Furdyk, Claudine Brown and Mark Sparvell, the principal of Kadina Primary (one of the schools that have been part of the DeforestAction pilot) to take part in a SHOUT QA.

After the official announcement, the SHOUT team headed upstairs and had an hour-long press conference with some general QA. This was followed by two hours of 1:1 interviews, with about 8 different writers and one TV interview with NDTV from India. The evening was spent having dinner with all the media members.

A special mention must go to our very own inspirational presenter, Mr Furdyk, who wowed and won the hearts of everyone. Unanimously all left eager to find out more on SHOUT.

Orientation in Toronto

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:29:00 -0400

Young Voices and 80+1 A Journey Around the World!

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:09:00 -0400

Young Voices and Georg von Peurback Gymnasium school (Linz Austria) joined forces to work on a project called lsquo;lsquo;80+1 a journey around the world.rsquo;rsquo;Both schools worked on the theme lsquo;Cultural Diversityrsquo; and then virtually showcased their work through a live-online connection to the main city of Linz on 22^ndand 23^rdJuly 2009 to thousands of students worldwide.

nbsp;The aim of the project was to take a virtual trip around our planet in 2009. Twenty schools in Linz linked up with 20 schools worldwide to jointly address the most important questions affecting our future. The project was hosted by Ars Electronica, Voestalpine and Linz09.

nbsp;What did we do?

Both schools conveyed the concept of Cultural Diversity using the labyrinth of Chartes as a playfield. Students from both schools collaborated on themes such as music, art, food, fashion, religion, education, sports etc and presented their work in various visual and auditory ways (images, sounds, short movies etc). Students were able to virtually walk through the labyrinth and discover elements of each other behind each field.

quot;gt;quot; /gt;

nbsp;It was a great opportunity for students to connect and share real life experiences with students from all over the world making them truly 21^stcentury global citizens. nbsp;

nbsp;

Young Voices at Birmingham ArtsFestival

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 11:43:00 -0400

This year youngvoices took part in Birminghamrsquo;s biggest and most vibrant cultural festival lsquo;ArtsFestrsquo;. Youngvoices presented their dance piece lsquo;Diversity at Carnivalrsquo; with the help of urban Latina Company Element Dance.

Led by Nickelia, students rehearsed all week long to perform on the Emirates beach stage, located just outside Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

The performance was one to be remembered. nbsp;There were moments of fear, anxiety and nervousness but the downpour of rain did not stop these dancers dance their hearts out to the beats of carnival. They literally bought the area to a standstill with onlookers captivated by their enthusiasm and spirit.

It was an amazing moment and one where everyone involved should be very proud.nbsp;

nbsp;

Introducing Young Voices

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:40:00 -0500

Youngvoices aims to raise religious/cultural awareness and sensitivity at a local, national and international level, its goals to lead the celebration of multiculturalism and aid community cohesion.

Youngvoices offers students a central role in supporting cultural diversity through lsquo;Student Voicersquo; channels, online collaborations and lsquo;YV eventsrsquo;, inspiring young people to work and participate together in a supportive and harmonious environment.

Youngvoices emphasises that as a society, it is important for young people of all ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds to share their experiences in the hope of developing tolerance and acceptance.

nbsp;Quotes from students:

lsquo;lsquo;youngvoices is a great place to tell people who am i, where i come from and what it means to be a student at Shireland, as well as a member of my community.rsquo;rsquo;

lsquo;lsquo;youngvoices gives us a chance to celebrate our culture and religion and the opportunity to inform others about it. If we did not come across this lsquo;voicersquo; then maybe we wouldnrsquo;t have had the opportunity to explore and celebrate everything that represents US and YOU!!rsquo;rsquo;

School background:

Shireland Collegiate Academy nbsp;is an inner-city school based in Smethwick, Sandwell (England).

Sandwell has been described as the 11^thmost lsquo;deprived boroughrsquo; in the country. The Windmill Lane and Cape Hill (Smethwick) neighbourhoods have high crime rates and anti-social behaviour. Unemployment rates in Smethwick Town are high compared to the Sandwell average.

The largest ethnic community groups are Pakistaninbsp; (28.6%) and Indian (23.3%), whist 9.4% of the population is African Caribbean and the white population is 28.4%. Smethwick Town has a generally younger age profile than the Sandwell average, with a higher proportion of residents falling under the age of 40 lsquo;groupsrsquo;.

As a consequence SCArsquo;s youngvoices has been established to provide future generations the opportunity to voice and share their concerns and views. The Young Voices interactive portal is a great way for our young people to communicate, collaborate and learn inside and outside of the classroom. Empowering young people to effect change will only create a better and successful future for all.nbsp;

Look out for examples YV projects...nbsp;