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Jan 18th, 2008 - 10:23:08 |
Mai
Tomorrow is the big day! We will finally have our B4B workshop, after much planning and anticipation. There have been many challenges and successes in creating this workshop. First of all, let's start with the good news: there will be two guest speakers, Larissa Jones from Toronto and Khuyen Nguyen from Vietnam who will be talking about youth with disabilities from an international context. We also have three wonderful ILRCs on board, St. Catharines, ON, Regina, SK, and Richmond, BC. Unfortunate circumstances caused St. John's, NFLD ILRC to pull out, however building from lessons learned from the B4B workshop CLC hopes there will be more opportunities for future collaboration!
Nov 21st, 2007 - 11:25:16 |
Mai
B4B Workshop - January 19, 2008
In partnership with the Plan Institute, Creating Local Connections, TakingITGlobal's national program, will hold a workshop for four Independent Learning Resource Centers (ILRC) in St. Catharine's, ON, St. John's Newfoundland, Regina, Saskatchewan and Richmond, BC. After key findings from B4B sessions held in five ILRCs a few months ago, the Plan Institute and TIG recognized a need to expose youth with disabilities to technology as social networking tools. A lot of youth from the past sessions did not feel comfortable or see the use of online communities.
Our CLC coordinators Karen, Bob and Nikki will be facilitating a combination of hands on/technology incorporated activities for youth with disabilities. Our aim is to open a dialogue on the sense of belonging. In addition, TIG believes social online tools can be used to foster belonging, decrease isolation and increase inclusion. The workshop includes a component where participants from four ILRCs will have the opportunity to interact with one another. In addition a 30 minute live chat gives the ability for participants to exchange ideas on strengthening their communities on a national level.
Jun 14th, 2007 - 11:00:07 |
Brian Smith
The session in St. Catharines was great. What an excellent group of people to work with, thanks everyone.
Next up will be our session in Richmond on July 6th. See you there!
bs
Jun 3rd, 2007 - 08:03:39 |
Brian Smith
Hi from Toronto,
Yesterday Kevin and I did another B4B workshop in Montreal. It was our first bilingual session and we could not have done it without Micele Leblanc.
Michele and others in the group did a great job of making sure that everyone was engaged and sharing their perspective on belonging in whichever language they were most comfortable.
Thanks to everyone at the session, once again we left enjoying sense of belonging we just generated and thus i hope to stay in touch with everyone.
Cheers,
Brian
May 10th, 2007 - 12:46:32 |
Brian Smith
This is early, but soon we will be launching a new project called Belonging Games. Here's the overview:
Belonging Games
Belonging Games is a team-based, game design competition. Youth-centric organizations and groups in the Greater Vancouver Region will be invited to enter a team. The winning team will receive a cash prize of $3000, with 2nd and 3rd place finishers each receiving $1000.
Who will win?
That will be up to an expert and star-studded panel of judges and yet revolve on this criteria:
1. The game is fun.
2. The game has the potential to foster a genuine sense of belonging among players.
3. Their game is playable by all young people – including youth with disabilities, street-engaged, and those otherwise at risk of being lonely and isolated.
4. Players’ social networks are broadened and/or deepened through their playing of the game.
5. The design team should be inclusive and not exceed 7 people – hobbyist and professional game developers are encouraged to join a team.
6. The game is fun.
7. The game has the potential to be taken to scale and therein marketed to a broader consumer base.
8. The game requires minimal financial investment.
9. Each team must:
• Submit their expression of interest to bsmith@plan.ca. Up to 20 teams will be selected to compete.
• Send at least two team members to one of two game design orientation and information sessions (i.e. August 23rd and October 9th).
• Submit a beta version of their game by November 1st.
• Present the final version of their game, in front of other competitors and the judging panel, on November 24th, in Vancouver, BC.
In support of all competitors, we will host two three-hour orientation and information sessions August 23rd and October 9th. These sessions will:
• give teams some basic knowledge and experience about social network games
• discuss possible game mechanics, including examples
• explore the meta-goal of creating games that can end peoples’ isolation by fostering a sense of belonging.
Our goal with the “competition” is win win win:
We want four things. 1) We want to explore gaming as a useful modality for social change. 2) We want the teams who compete to invent, or re-invent, cool, fun games that people will want to play. 3) We want the participants to be creative, learn, grow and connect to others through this project. 4) We want a society where everyone, regardless of similarities and/or differences, enjoys a healthy social network and sense of belonging.
Background
Description of Belonging Games:
We plan to bring youth with disabilities together with youth whom don’t live with disabilities.
While together they will test and then develop a mix of online and in-person games and other play-based interactive methods for building inclusive community, collectively solving problems and meeting goals.
Objectives of the games will include:
o Identify, celebrate and build on strengths and virtues of young individuals;
o building relationships between youth, based on common experience and shared values;
o establish healthy social networks and communities of interest;
o work together toward a shared sense of belonging and inclusion.
The goal of this project is to engage with young people, some of whom have disabilities, so that their future will include a sense of belonging, a healthy social network of friends and family, a positive sense of their own strengths and characteristics.
Here’s how young people will be involved:
• 5-7 youth will serve as an advisory panel to develop this project in their vision.
• 50 youth will engage in a series of testing and development focus groups turn workshops.
• 2-3 youth will serve as co-facilitators to design and deliver the workshops.
• 1/3 of the youth participants will have disabilities.
• All youth will be compensated for their time, energy and insight with modest honorariums.
• These workshops will take place at various sites around Vancouver.
Here’s why:
Youth with disabilities are among the most isolated and lonely of all marginalized people. Arguably their isolation is their greatest handicap. Without an adequate, healthy social network of friends and family young people with disabilities are in danger of making ill-considered decisions that could include drugs, alcohol and other circumstances that could negatively affect their emotional and physical health.
This project is important for at least two significant reasons:
1. Young people will have a new exciting and engaging opportunity to explore, expose and build on their strengths of character. They will do this with other youth in a setting and process that involves minimal threat of judgment and disrespect.
2. The youth involved will be working to develop brand new ways of engaging with other youth. Play-based interactive problem-solving is thus far uncharted territory in the social and health justice sectors. Youth will identify and develop playful methods for involvement of more and more youth with and without disabilities.
This past December saw Bridges to the Future – a youth program involving kids from Muscular Dystrophy Canada, BC Paraplegic Association, Cerebral Palsy Association and Spina Bifida - test this concept of using gaming to build on the strengths of young people. The youth called their summit “Live Out Loud” and here is a quote from the Final Report:
“The most important observation made from the delivery of these workshops, is that youth with physical disabilities are feeling isolated. They are completely under represented, under advocated for and feel they are alone…. [and] that gaming is an effective way to motivate youth to participate and take ownership of their lives. Gaming created a safe atmosphere where everyone was on the same page regardless of their disability.”
This is what makes this project unique:
Games. We want to play games and we want to have fun!
Most youth workers perceive games and play as unproductive, even counter-productive, when it comes to emotional and physical health and development. With this project we want to take that perceived barrier to youth engagement, citizenship and healthy decision-making – namely games and “playtime” – and turn it into a productive moreover meaningful learning opportunity and growth experience.
Youth are telling us that they want to play games and they want to have fun. This project is intent on hearing those desires and turning them into opportunities even experiences of belonging. Here is another quote from the Final Report of Live Out Loud – the summit organized by Bridges to the Future:
“…[w]e discovered that the youth involved with the Bridges Program were heavily involved with gaming as a means of recreation and play. Games are a dominant force for youth today. Gaming provides youth with Physical Disabilities a level of support and training that puts them on the same playing field as their able bodied counterparts. We chose to create a youth leadership summit that would involve gaming as a tool to help youth connect and learn how to create an action plan that was motivating and achievable.”
With “fun and games” will come friends and community. With friends and community will come confidence in one’s strengths and virtues, as well as peer support and informed decision-making. With confidence, support from their peers and informed decision-making young people can not only stave off unhealthy drug and alcohol use they can make contributions to our communities.
This is our timeline:
This project will begin in June 2007 and run for approximately six months with a final report produced in January 2008.
These are our success markers:
We will know that we accomplished what we wanted to, if:
• young people provided advise and guidance in the design, implementation and evaluation of this project;
• we meet the expected numbers of participants as per defined above;
• we have tested, developed and agreed upon a series of immersive games and/or interactive play methods that are:
o facilitative in strengthening and celebrating young peoples’ gifts, contributions, character and virtues;
o supportive and safe while bringing young people together to play with a healthy balance of co-operation and competition;
o accessible and inclusive to kids that have different body types, abilities and characteristics; and,
o fun to play, thereby truly engaging for other youth and other youth organizations to build on the model.
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