Spotlight MacArthur Foundation

YOUmedia Mentors Challenge Chicago Students: “It pushes the art forward.”

Produced by Ben Wolff at 3:07 pm on June 29, 2010 in Libraries, Social Media, StudentSpeakLeave a comment

StudentSpeak Webisode 8/ View more Spotlight videos

In this StudentSpeak webisode, we get to know Mike Hawkins—aka Brother Mike—and Sannya,  both from Harold Washington Library’s YOUmedia space for teens in Chicago.

Hawkins, YOUmedia’s lead mentor, spotted a budding photographer in Sannya, a Chicago high school junior, and challenged her to a photography battle.

“I think it’s a healthy thing for students to be able to challenge mentors, and mentors, in this case, to challenge students,” says Hawkins.

Hawkins asked Sannya to take 10 photos and write captions for each one. He did the same, and the two competed for the judgment of students in the YOUmedia community and beyond.  The work was posted on the program’s social networking site, which has a debate feature that allows youth to vote up which photographs they liked better.

“As a mentor, I can learn from a student who actually has some training in this and can say ‘that’s good, but—.’ I think that’s the type of critique that we look for and we push each other on,” Hawkins says. “We can push each other and have that relationship because of the skills that we both bring to the table.”

“It’s fun to be challenged, and you create a higher level of art,” Sannya says.

Can Sannya beat her mentor? Watch and see for yourself. Apparently a rematch is in the works.

Related: For more on YOUmedia see Remixing Libraries and Anywhere, Anytime Learning at Spotlight.

StudentSpeak, a video series produced by Spotlight, goes behind the scenes to show how teens use digital media in their daily lives. View previous webisodes here.

Next: "I Love Being Around Poetry": Digital Media Inspires Teens to Launch Open Mic at Chicago Library > >


< < Previous: Teens Turn Hands-On Learning Experience into Teaching Moments at Robotics Competition

Save or share this post

Bookmark and Share

Tags

Tags: mike hawkins, photography, youmedia

Comments (0)

No comments yet.

Robust discussion/debate is encouraged. Comments are reviewed before posting to ensure they are on topic and do not promote commercial products or services.

Add a Comment

Name
Email (required but private)
Location
URL
Comment
Please enter the word you see in the image below:
Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?

Search Spotlight

Blog Archives | Behind the Research Archives

About Spotlight

Spotlight magazine showcases the projects and people funded by the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media and Learning Initiative and covers the intersections of technology and learning.  We go beyond the research to show how digital media is being used in classrooms and programs around the world.

Spotlight welcomes guest posts and reader suggestions and comments. Learn more and meet the Spotlight team.

View Spotlight videos and interviews on Vimeo.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Enter your e-mail address to receive our periodic e-newsletter of Spotlight highlights.

Subscribe to Feed

Enter your e-mail address to receive daily updates.

Follow Spotlight

Follow Spotlight on Twitter