Continue reading »]]> Future Creators – run in conjunction with the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) – has recommenced with a new group of teenagers from the Liberties area of Dublin.

Future Creators gives young people an opportunity to develop digital media skills while exploring their creative potential and the second run of the initiative kicked-off on Tuesday, 23rd October 2012.

The initiaitve will see 25 young people, ranging in age from 13 to 16 years old, attend classes at The Digital Hub on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They will develop digital media skills, explore creativity and build self-confidence in an atmosphere of collaboration, trust, challenge, fun and friendship.

The emphasis of Future Creators is on self-directed and group-based learning within an informal setting. Modules on the following areas will be covered:

• Digital  image manipulation
• Blogging
• Animation
• Digital 2D & 3D print
• App design
• Video editing
• Sound editing

The Future Creators participants will be guided by Lead Tutor, David Cotter, who holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Art & Design Education (National College of Art & Design, Dublin) and has extensive teaching experience across primary, post-primary and learning environments outside of mainstream education.

45 second-level students applied to participate in the Future Creators programme, and the final group of 25 young people were selected following an interview. Theses participants are students in CBS Synge Street, CBS James Street, Presentation Secondary School Warrenmount, St Patricks Grammar School and St Pauls CBS, North Brunswick Street.

The Future Creators programme is a collaboration between the Digital Hub Development Agency and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD).

Continue reading »]]> The Digital Hub in association with the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) brings you the Future Creators where eligible 13-16 year olds will learn to develop 21st century digital skills in a fun and creative environment.

The Future Creators programme is in its second year and is a course that takes place twice a week in an informal setting which aims to give young people the chance to develop digital media skills while exploring their creative potential. Students learn how to create apps, make videos, develop skills in visual communication, animation and games.

Using a project-based learning approach, our future creators work in teams to complete complex tasks in their chosen digital media field.  They have an opportunity to develop skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, communication, and responsibility.

The course is delivered at The Digital Hub and students participate in the NCAD Access Programme.  Our Future Creators work on selected digital media projects for which they will receive academic credit.  They are selected to participate based on their passion and interest in using technology to create digital artefacts.

Please contact learning@thedigitalhub.com if you would like to apply or for further information

Continue reading »]]> Apps that help you find the best curry in Ireland or tell you all you need to know about the boy-band One Direction are amongst the work produced by a group of teenagers from inner-city Dublin, who have just completed a pilot after-school programme aimed at improving their digital skills.

The programme – Future Creators – was developed by the learning team at the Digital Hub Development Agency (DHDA) and delivered over the past academic year in collaboration with the National College of Art and Design (NCAD).  All participants were local teenagers from the Liberties area of Dublin, in which The Digital Hub and the NCAD are based.

Attending after-school sessions on a weekly basis, participants learned how to build and launch their own digital products and services.  The majority of the 20 participants chose to develop iPhone apps, with others opting for film, gaming, photography, audio and digital embroidery projects.

Speaking today (21.06.12) at a showcase of Future Creators work at the NCAD, 14-year-old Darragh Byrne – one of the programme participants – said: “I really enjoyed taking part in Future Creators.  We learned how to make apps, websites, short films and online games.  It was totally different to the type of stuff we learn at school.  I made an app about curry because I’m a bit obsessed with finding the best curry in Ireland.  You can use the app to find restaurants in your location that sell curry and to review and rate them.

“Before I started Future Creators, I was already interested in digital technology and, obviously, I knew how to use computers and iPhones and stuff like that.  But this course has taught me lots of new skills and made me much more interested in creating my own digital products.  Now, I think this might be something I’d like to work at when I’ve finished school.”

How Future Creators Can Inform the School Syllabus

At today’s event, Dr. Stephen Brennan, Director of Marketing and Strategy at The Digital Hub, said Future Creators provided a blueprint for the teaching of digital skills.
“The model we developed has proven to be very successful and can provide useful insights for the Department of Education, which is examining how to incorporate Computer Science and digital tools into the secondary school syllabus,” he said.

“For Future Creators, students were invited to self-select for the programme: they applied based on their existing interest in digital.  Then they voluntarily attended weekly after-school classes, which were delivered in an informal environment, with an emphasis on students collaborating and figuring out new skills for themselves under the guidance of qualified tutors.

“Our initial evaluation indicates that participation in Future Creators led students to perform better in the regular school environment.  Their teachers have pointed to increased levels of commitment from students who might otherwise have been at risk of early school-leaving.  Furthermore, the students remained highly motivated and committed to completing the Future Creators programme over the past nine months.  Over 80 per cent of those who began the course in September are receiving certificates of completion today.”

Tackling Ireland’s Digital Skills Shortage

According to Dr. Brennan, the mainstreaming of programmes like Future Creators – and the integration of digital into the school syllabus – is vital to address skills shortages in Ireland’s ICT and digital industries.

“As we all know, unemployment levels in Ireland are painfully high at present but, at the same time, the digital and ICT industries are struggling to find employees with the requisite skills.  Frequently, digital businesses recruit employees from outside Ireland because, at present, our education system is failing to produce candidates with expertise in areas such as coding, computer programming and app development.

“Future Creators shows how the teaching of these much-needed skills can be integrated into a secondary-school environment.  The success of this pilot programme will, we hope, influence the Department’s deliberations on the new Junior Certificate syllabus.  We need to build on young people’s innate knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for digital, and provide them with educational opportunities that allow them develop skills that make them highly employable.”

Topics covered by the Future Creators programme included:
Editing digital photographs using programmes such as Pixlr and Adobe Photoshop.
Recording and editing podcasts using Audacity.
Publishing content online using WordPress blogs.
Developing iPhone apps using Xcode.
Planning, filming and editing short films using Comic Life and iMovie.

Encouraging Students to Consider Third-Level Education

Commenting at today’s event, Professor Gary Granville, Head of Education at the NCAD, said: “An ‘added extra’ for programmes like Future Creators is that they encourage young people to consider third-level education and to pursue studies in areas in which they have a strong interest.

“Historically in the Liberties, there have been low levels of educational attainment, with many local people not finishing secondary school, never mind going on to third level.  Working on projects such as Future Creators allows the NCAD to establish connections to potential future students and also to introduce local young people to the college – to give them a glimpse inside its walls, so to speak – so that they can see that third-level education isn’t intimidating, isn’t beyond their reach, and can offer them the chance to study and ultimately work at something which they really enjoy.”

Sean Sherlock TD, Minister for Research and Innovation, attended today’s event and presented the Future Creators participants with certificates of achievement.

A video featuring interviews with some of the participants is available to view at The Digital Hub’s YouTube Channel – www.youtube.com/thedigitalhub

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Date: Thursday, 21st June 2012
Time: 3.00pm
Venue: Harry Clarke Lecture Theatre, National College of Art and Design, 100 Thomas Street, Dublin 8.
RSVP: Louise Morgan | 01 4806200 | learning@thedigitalhub.com

This showcase will celebrate the achievements of the young participants on the Future Creators programme which had been taking place at The Digital Hub since last October.  The event will highlight what they have learned and created at their weekly classes and field trips. On display will be their app and film.

Each participant will be presented with a certificate from NCAD to mark their completion of the programme. Two of the participants will also speak about their experience of attending classes, what they have learning and their plans for future study and careers. If you would like to attend this event please RSVP to Louise Morgan at The Digital Hub by email, learning@thedigitalhub.com or telephone 01 480 6200.

About Future Creators

Future Creators is an afterschool programme for 13 to 16 year olds run by the Digital Hub Development Agency in partnership with The National College of Art and Design. The programme gives young people an opportunity to develop digital media skills while exploring their creative potential. The ultimate aim of the programme is to encourage students to pursue a career in the digital media or technology industry – an area where Ireland needs the next generation to invest their future. Participants of the Future Creators programme gain hands-on experience in app and game development, digital content production and social media tools.

Read more about Future Creators.

Continue reading »]]> The Future Creators programme is now in it sixth month of classes at The Digital Hub.  The participants are really getting to grips with the software tools they are using to create Apps and videos – So  XCode, Javascript, Audacity, Final Cut Pro, Comic Life, & Photoshop. The students are also gaining a great insight into what options for further study are available to them after secondary school and into what a career in digital media might hold for them.

The participants on the Future Creators programme have split in two groups. One group is focusing on app development and the other on video production.

The app developers have decided what type of apps they would like to create – music and film apps which will be available for download in the coming months. The video producers are at the storyboard stage and are using Comic Life software.  The coming weeks will see the video producers on location, fully equipped with their pro kit to shoot their video.

Pictured, above right, are some of the Future Creators participants creating an app at The Digital Hub’s learning facilities.

The Future Creators group recently visited the Visual Communications Department at the nearby National College of Art and Design, who are a partner on the Future Creators programme.

The group were given a demonstration of the Roland Printer/Plotter. The workshop at NCAD involved a brainstorming session amongst the Future Creators to complie a list of words they associated with the project.  An NCAD technican then demonstrated how to print these words with the Roland Printer/Plotter. The outcome from this workshop at NCAD will be showcased at their end of year show.

Pictured, above left, are students from the Future Creators programme learning to use the 3D printer at NCAD.

About the Future Creators Programme

Run by The Digital Hub Learning Programme in conjunction with the National College of Art and Design ( NCAD), the Future Creators programme is giving young people an opportunity to develop digital media skills while exploring their creative potential.

The aim of the programme is to encourage students to pursue a career in the digital media or technology industry – an area where Ireland needs the next generation to invest their future.

Through the programme, the 13-to-16-year-old participants gain hands-on experience with app and game development, digital content production and social media tools. The collaborative nature of the project also offers a chance for students to develop key career and life skills, such as problem-solving techniques, communication skills, and how to work as part of a team.

Continue reading »]]> By Grainne

grainnebx123.wordpress.com

*In the backround: Gotta Be You.

My name is Gráinne and I am gonna talk about real music! ONE DIRECTION!

This band is made up of 5 boys: Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayne Malik and Louis Tomplinson.

The boys released an awsome new album called Up all night. The album includes Gotta be you, What makes you beatiful, I wish and lots more amazing songs.

They weren’t originally a band, they were 5 solos that were put together in bootcamp by Simon Cowell! Thanks Simon….

The band came third in X factor 2010 losing by Rebecca Furgenson and Matt Cardle and were featured in the X factor tour and 2011′s Charity single Wishing on a star.

*In the backround: I Want.

They are doing a tour around England and Ireland. Which I am going to see. YAY!!!

Ever since X factor they have been on a lot of television shows like the late late show and grahem norton show.

Theyre new single Gotta be you is in the charts now so buy it on Itunes now!!! OR ELSE!!! BYEEEEEEE 

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By Erin  &  Sarah .

Myself and Sarah are doing our podcasts together!

We our doing ours on X Factor,The Contestants and Judges. 

And backstage goss from this years series!!

Her blog is here >>>> http://sarahg1234.wordpress.com

Were gonna write about:

• It we thought the judges were better or worse.
• Who we thought was going to win,from the start?
• What we thought of all the drama with Frankie!
• Did we like the charity single?Does it mean that the quality is dropping because One Direction and JLS preformed with the finalasts?
• And last but not least,Were we happy with the overall winner?

Watch this space for updates!