Tony Streit and Kate Goddard delivered a professional development training in New Delhi to 23 Adobe Youth Voices educators from six Indian states and nine countries—East Timor, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Romania, Russia, Uganda, and Thailand. While the educators teamed up on multimedia projects central to facilitating youth media-making, the training provided a rare opportunity for face-to-face collaboration. In this post, Streit shares his thoughts on the experience:

Our Adobe Youth Voices curriculum is now being used by thousands of educators in 50-plus countries, but to get to this point, we’ve had to almost exclusively reach participants through online means. This is a great testament to the power of technology, but as program developers, we’re always wanting to witness the real impact. The gathering in Delhi gave us a wonderful first-hand account of what educators are discovering as they integrate media into their schools and youth programs.

Through the training, not only were we able to learn firsthand their challenges and successes, but by incorporating site visits, we were able to engage educators and youth alike in communicating the value of self-expression through media. More than anything, it was wonderful to rise above constraints of resources, regulations, time, and testing, and instead focus on what we as educators care about most—inspiring young people to love learning and to care for their world and each other. It was 10 days of sharing and discovery that I doubt technology will ever be able to replicate.

Learn more about how we are:

• Helping Educators Prepare Students for Careers
  
• Supporting Youth as Designers of Learning Resources