JOURNALISTS AND FILM MAKERS OF THE FUTURE GO DIGITAL
22 schools across East and West Cheshire were recognized at an awards ceremony at Chester University on Wednesday 7th July for their part in a project which has given over 300 schoolchildren the opportunity to develop their skills as digital journalists.
The National Academy for Digital Citizens Project, spearheaded by schools’ ICT provider MGL and now in its second year, was set up to engage with pupils, teachers and families across the nation on the themes of the Every Child Matters agenda through the production of digital media.
The project encouraged children from secondary, primary and special schools to develop their own creative ideas for, and produce, a short film, animation or pod cast based one of the main themes of: be healthy, enjoy and achieve through learning, staying safe, making a positive contribution to society and achieving economic well being. Groups were guided in the production of their film, animation or podcast by MGL consultants and specialist trainers from Apple.
The children found creative ways to bring to life broad recurrent themes such as bullying, healthy eating and friendship with some children focusing on specific local issues such as plans for a new incinerator that they felt were affecting the quality of life within their neighbourhood.
The ceremony was hosted by Granada reports anchor, Lucy Meacock who presented awards for the best submissions against each of the key Every Child Matters themes along with a number of other awards including one for enterprise and one for the most positive contribution to society. Lucy also spoke to the audience about how new media has changed the way journalists work.
The awards ceremony was also attended by Professor Tim Wheeler, Vice Principal of Chester University and Ann Moore, Head of Achievement and Well-Being in Cheshire West.
Lucy Meacock said of the event:
“We have a whole new generation of reporters and presenters here. It’s fantastic to see their talents being put to such good use. We rely very heavily on material supplied to us by viewers whether it’s footage from digital cameras or mobile phones. The media is changing beyond all recognition, we live in exciting times and it’s good to see our schools in Cheshire are embracing that. In the last three weeks Granada Reports has signed up 10 thousand viewers to our Facebook site so they have a direct input to our programme. It’s all come a long way since I started out in a newsroom with no mobile phones or computers!!”
John Mann MGL’s chief executive said:
“In the future the media will be in the hands of today’s schoolchildren so it’s fantastic to see so many of them getting to grips with difficult issues and embracing the digital tools available to journalists and documentary makers.”
All the entries can be viewed at www.digital-citizen.com.
ENDS
