Youth Development Insight

By Ann Nordby Fake news is an article that tells a lie. But calling an article “fake” doesn't mean that it's a lie. How can anyone tell the difference? By acquiring a few critical thinking skills and becoming a savvy media consumer. My colleague Jessica Russo has blogged about the importance of civil discourse . I couldn't agree more. In addition to being able to discuss their differences, young people also need to be able to decipher the media messages they are receiving. It’s a myth that anyone with common sense is media literate. Nobody is born with this skill, just as no one is born knowing how to read. Media literacy is the ability to understand media messages, how they are constructed and why they are being sent. It’s a 21st century skill , essential for participating in the workforce and a democracy. Sadly, a recent Stanford University study revealed that most young people in the U.S. don't have this skill . In an 18-month study of middle school, high sc...

By Ann Nordby Next week I'll co-present at the National Urban Extension Conference about 4-H online adventures. It's a model we're developing for delivering hands-on experiential learning online. The seemingly opposite ideas of "hands-on" and "online" are actually very compatible. If you've ever searched on Youtube for how to prune hydrangeas or change a tire, you understand the value of video for teaching. If you've ever shared your own video on Facebook, you probably did it because it explained something better than you could do in words. You may also have experienced how online games can do more than entertain –  they can teach and enlighten . Our team still has many questions. For example, we’re still discovering how best to integrate evaluation, what are the best dosage and duration of a learning module and how to take it to scale. None of our questions has to do with whether to move our program online. There are compelling reaso...

By Ann Nordby Anyone who has been around teenagers in the last five years knows that they are constantly online. 91% of them use smart phones daily . These devices are like extensions of their bodies. How should youth workers respond? Your impulse might be to ask youth to put their devices away to avoid distraction but what if you harnessed them as learning tools? The internet has been disrupting institutions for about 20 years now, and youth programming is no exception -- when people have computers in their pockets, they get to decide what to pay attention to. Since we’re in the business of facilitating interest-driven learning, this is not a bad thing. In past 10 years, those of us who design online learning environments have come to realize that online learning shouldn't stand apart from face-to-face youth programming. Nor must it be a solitary activity. It can be integrated with the myriad learning resources that youth have -- mentors, books, interest groups, videos and e...