Empowering children through technology

Remy Mansfield and Piya Kashyap are the co-founders of The Modern Story, a programme that seeks to make more powerful use of education technology investments in classrooms in India and around the world by supporting student-centered learning opportunities. One of the key roles in the programme is that of The Modern Story (TMS) Fellows: educators who have the opportunity to lead TMS programmes in India for six months at a time. Fellowship applications for this programme are due on March 2. Here’s what Remy and Piya have to say about their programme.

How do we empower youth to believe that they can change the world? As educators, this question is at the core of our work. Perhaps, because our education became truly valuable for us when we found a way through digital storytelling to explore our own identities, our relationship to our communities and our beliefs about the world. We knew that in order for our students to amplify their voices and exercise their agency, they needed to learn to read the story of the world around them and to actively envision and produce the next chapter.

This quest to empower students and educators through technology and storytelling began seven years ago when we launched the educational organisation, The Modern Story, in the city. We observed low income government schools that were recipients of major grants that were equipped with computer labs, but had minimal support by way of teacher training and curriculum. Most of the labs were manned by one computer graduate alone, who was not a teacher by training and focussed on teaching students about the parts of the computer and how to make colorful PowerPoints. The digital divide was being addressed. But what new skills and educational methodologies did the students have access to?

We knew that for true transformation to take place for any student, and particularly for students in the so-called ‘third world’, their education had to facilitate a process of observing, questioning, analysing and affecting the world around them so they can fully participate in an increasingly globalised world. If youth cannot investigate, understand and problem solve in responding to how society functions, then how can they truly wield their own destiny?

So we developed a model that capitalises on the hardware that schools were receiving to introduce a curriculum in which students use technology as a tool to learn about and interact with the world and their position in it. To emphasise the global nature of a 21st century curriculum, we launched a fellowship programme. Our TMS Fellows are young professionals who are experienced with youth media production. They work for six-month semesters with local teachers to implement a project-based curriculum through which students produce films that explore issues of personal, social, and environmental importance. Storytelling is the gateway for developing crucial 21st century skills including critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and digital media production

Since 2008, The Modern Story has worked with more than 800 students to create over 180 short films about topics ranging from ‘Being a Girl in India’, to ‘Ultimate Superheroes: Fighting Pollution’. Through The Modern Story teaching fellowship, 8 cohorts of fellows have worked in 16 schools in India and the US.

Our students in India and in the US ask crucial questions, why do fewer girls go to school? What causes food shortages? How can I inspire my community to change? Who am I, and what do I believe?

At The Modern Story, our story is one of every child and her vision for transforming herself, her community, her world.