Social Media for Teens Program Proposal

1. Create!: A Social Media Program for Young AdultsProject ProposaL Amy Ashmore LIBR 559M August 19, 2010

2. Introduction Create! is a proposed series of public library programs which will encourage young adults (13-18) to express themselves through the creation and sharing of their own digital content using social media applications. Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben-zvan-photography/468487548/#/

3. This program will... Encourage young adults to use the library Develop Library 2.0 services by encouraging young adults to see the library in a new way – a place where information can be found and produced using a vast array of tools Integrate Library 2.0 services within the physical library setting Encourage young adults to actively engage with the library as both producers and consumers of information Allow young adults to learn about a variety of social media tools and applications

4. This program will... Allow young adults to share their knowledge of social media tools and applications Allow young adults to explore how social media tools can be used for information seeking, information sharing, and the creation of original content Help young adults to develop media literacy skills Encourage young people to think about some of the issues and constraints of social media tools, including concerns about privacy and copyright Allow young people the opportunity to create and share their own content using social media tools

5. Why a Social Media Program? This program will address 4 important needs: Involving teens in the library in a way that is meaningful to them Promoting media literacy awareness and competencies Developing technological skills Engaging teens as both seekers and creators of information

6. “This is not a download only world. It’s an upload world. It means that our students are going to be creating the media environment of the future. They are going to be creating the content and the value and the information of the future. So we really have to be thinking about how we prepare our students to create this world.” (Michael Wesch, 2008)

7. Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaronschmidt/281619803/

8. Program Specifics 4 sessions, 2 hours each At least 2 staff members Set up should reflect the possibility for collaboration and working together – laptops if possible

9. Session 1 Introductions What do participants already do? What do they want to learn? Social Networking Blogging – creation of shared blog where participants can post content

10. Session 1 A recent Pew Internet study found that: 93% of US teens (12-17) are online 73% use social networking sites Twitter is a prominent exception to this Only 14% blog This is down half from 2006, when it was 28% (via: http://mashable.com/2010/02/03/teens-dont-tweet-or-blog/)

11. Session 2 Media sharing Digital storytelling Examples of digital storytelling projects: Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (http://www.davarts.org/art_storiesB.html) Digital Underground Storytelling for Youth (http://oaklanddusty.org/) Online animation tools – GoAnimate

13. Session 3 Screencasting Podcasting Vodcasting What are the benefits and drawbacks of using these tools? Test out one tool in groups or alone

14. Session 4 Participants will create something using their tool of choice Can be done alone or in groups Participants will share with others what they have created Content can be posted on the library website and the shared blog

15. Evaluation and Follow-Up Number of participants Reactions/discussion with participants Evaluation forms A one-time pilot run of the series could be used to explore feasibility of offering the program series at regular intervals

16. Conclusions The public library has a role to play in fostering engaged, self-aware, competent young adults This means being able to use information and media effectively Participants will be given a great deal of agency but also made aware of boundaries Young adults can develop new skills, gain new knowledge, and express themselves

18. References American Association for School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998). Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning. Retrieved 12 August 2010 from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/informationpower/InformationLiteracyStandards_final.pdf Bolan, K., Canada, M., and Cullin, R. (2007). Web, library, and teen services 2.0. Young Adult Library Services, Winter 2007, 40-43. Hamilton, B. (2010). Media 21 capstone project proposal and resources. The Unquiet Librarian [weblog]. Retrieved 12 August 2010 from http://theunquietlibrarian.wikispaces.com/media21capstone-buffy Holm, G., Daspit, T. and Young, A.J.K. (2006), ‘‘The sky is always falling’’, in Leccardi, C. and Ruspini, E. (Eds), A New Youth? Young People, Generations and Family Life. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 85-102. Livingstone, S., Bober, M., & Helsper, E. J. (2005). Active participation or just more information?: Young people's take-up of opportunities to act and interact on the internet. Information, Communication & Society, 8(3), 287-314. Media Awareness Network. (2006). Media Awareness: Make it Happen! [booklet]. Retrieved 18 August 2010 from http://www.medialiteracyweek.ca/downloads/Media_Education.pdf Parr, B. (2010, February 3). Teens just don’t blog or tweet [weblog]. Mashable. Retrieved 18 August 2010 from http://mashable.com/2010/02/03/teens-dont-tweet-or-blog/ Snowball, C. (2008). Enticing teenagers into the library. Library Review, 57(1), 25-35. University of Houston. (2010). Educational uses of digital storytelling [website]. Retrieved 19 August 2010 from http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/index.html Wesch, M. (2008). A portal to media literacy [lecture video]. Retrieved 17 August 2010 from http://umanitoba.ca/ist/production/streaming/podcast_wesch.html

19. Further Reading Daley, M. F. (2010). Free online tools for serving teens: Four verbs to live by and great technologies to try. Young Adult Library Services, 8(2), 23-25. McLean, C. D. (2010). Creating a curriculum unit on evaluation of social media. Knowledge Quest, 38(3), 18-27. Peowski, L. (2010). Where are all the teens? engaging and empowering them online. Young Adult Library Services, 8(2), 26-28. Stephens, Michael. (2010). Learning and teaching in flux. Tame The Web [blog]. Retrieved 18 August 2010 from http://tametheweb.com/2010/08/18/tech-trends-at-ala-techsource/