Three youth along with Mrs. Rahn participated in the program on Saturday June 28. This group of youth was some of the youngest present as most of the others were high school age. They felt a little intimidated at first but then jumped right in and had a great time.

The focus of this program was introducing the youth to community journalism using modern technology. They were divided up into groups and each group was responsible for doing a project about a resource in the community. Each group was assigned where they would visit. They had several goals that needed to accomplish that day in order to be successful. Our group was chosen to visit the new Champaign Public Library and discover and explain to the community what this resource had to the community.

Each group was given a handheld GPS unit and an I-Flip video camera to assist with this project. The group had to do video taped interviews and record their GPS coordinates. The finished project was to consist of an edited video downloaded to You Tube and a Google map both linked to each other. So that when someone clicked on the map they could view the videos about the location that the youth created. Or they could pull up the video on You Tube and be connected to the Google map.

The youth learned many new skills that day in podcasting and recording audio voice over’s, and well as using software to edit their videos and set them to music. They allow learned how to use the components of Google Maps. These 3 youth were so excited and full of ideas after the program they began making plans for next year. However if you ask them, the best part was that the group got to take home their I Flip video camera. Be sure to stay tuned to more exciting adventures in technology with this group of youth. If you would like more information on how to become a part of this group please call Kimberly at the Ford-Iroquois Extension office at 815-268-4051