News
07 Jan 2007: The black box learning project launches
Four young men from Don Valley School enrolled on an innovative learning project in a community recording studio in Doncaster. The students will be working with music industry mentors to make radio podcasts, edit digital videos, record music and learn DJ skills as part of a course that will see them achieve nationally recognised qualifications.
The Black Box Project has been set up at Higher Rhythm, a Doncaster community recording studio, to offer four fifteen year olds the opportunity to experience a completely different kind of learning environment and truly help engage them in their studies. The mentors involved will showcase the exciting environment of the recording studio and offer new learning opportunities to the boys. The course works in place of one of their GCESs or equivalent.
Gwyn ap Harri, Learning Consultant for the Black Box Project and Director of smartassess.com, has said, "We want to give these young people the opportunity to realise their passions and re-engage their learning in this exciting environment, one which is truly different to their usual school classroom."
The students will be given access to digital cameras, mobile phones, screenflash and internet technologies such as podcasting, video blogs and more as part of the programme. While some of this ICT equipment, was already available from Higher Rhythm, additional hardware has been provided by the South Yorkshire e-Learning Project plus software from smartassess.com. In order to track the students' progress and inform others of the benefits of this kind of project, the boys will also be using smartassess software to record their progress and share their learning experience with others through their online blogs and podcasts.
Alex Dean, of Higher Rhythm said, "One of the most interesting things about this project is that we haven't set the learning parameters by any particular qualification. We're letting the boys decide what they want to do and then we're going to take their end result and find a qualification that fits the achievement they have already made. They're getting the result by doing exactly what they want to do."
Anjam Aslam, Doncaster Local Authority Project Manager, said: "This project is going to let the boys find a niche interest and give them the opportunity to achieve pathways to Level 2 qualifications in just sixteen weeks. It is testament to what can be achieved when ICT is used innovatively."
Three weeks into the project, the group had started to explore the different applications open to them and plan to work together to design an online radio station. Each of the boys will take on a different responsibility, from making and recording the music on software Cubase to video editing the final product.
Gwyn said, "It's probably been a while since anyone of these students took work home to show friends or parents, but I can guarantee that when they get home after a session at Higher Rhythm, they're keen to show off their achievements."
You can follow both the learners and mentors black box experience by dropping into their collaborative website, www.blackboxproject.org.