The Powerful Voices for Kids program is a university-school partnership program designed to increase the motivation, engagement, and literacy achievement of children in Grades K - 8 using digital and media literacy. The program strengthens their ability to think for themselves, communicate effectively, and use their powerful voices to contribute to the quality of life in their families, their schools, their communities and the world. A short video about our 2009 program captures the spirit and energy of Year 1 learning experience for children ages 5 to 13 and their teachers.

There are several components of the program:

Teachers who participated in the 2009 program described the Powerful Voices for Kids summer institute as an unparalleled experience that transformed their teaching practice. In a dynamic summer seminar experience, they explored the practice and pedagogical principles of media literacy in the context of elementary education and developed their own skills in media composition. Compared to all the other staff development programs they had ever experienced in their career, participants rated it a 9.50 on a 10-point scale.

Children participating in the summer program benefitted from the combination of play and learning about media, popular culture, and digital technologies. They learned about the different purposes of media messages—to inform, to entertain and to persuade. Children used Flip video cameras to create over 140 videos and used simple wiki software to create web pages. They critically analyzed a wide variety of media genres, including news, advertising, drama, reality-TV programming, and online media.

Children increased their confidence in using technology as tools for learning, and felt increased comfort in expressing their ideas and working in a team. These are essential components associated with literacy competencies needed for the 21st century.

Thanks to the Verizon Foundation

and the Lenfest Foundation

for their support of this program.