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What is Teen Tech Week? Teen Tech Week is a national initiative sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association and is aimed at teens, their parents, educators and other concerned adults. The purpose of the initiative is to ensure that teens are competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries such as DVDs, databases, audiobooks, and videogames. Teen Tech Week encourages teens to use libraries' nonprint resources for education and recreation, and to recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology. Teen Tech Week began in 2007 and has a general theme of Get Connected @ your library.Teens’ use of nonprint resources has increased dramatically in recent years, yet more teens are doing this from home instead of the library. According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, in 2005, 86% of youth aged 8-18 have a computer in their home, and 74% have Internet access in their home. On average, 8-18 year olds spend 6 hours and 21 minutes per day using media (including TV, video/DVDs/movies, video games, audio media, computers and print media). Furthermore, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 71% of teens report that the Internet is their primary source for completing school projects. Yet multiple studies have shown that the majority of teens lack the critical thinking skills and technical expertise to use the Internet and other electronic resources effectively. Teens need to know that the library is a trusted resource for accessing information and that librarians are the experts who can help them develop the skills they need to use electronic resources effectively and efficiently.
About the Theme: Teen Tech Week 2009 is about connecting teens with different technologies, especially those available through the library. Teens can literally press play on digital devices such as mp3 players, DVD players, gaming controllers and more. Press Play @ the library can be interpreted broadly to make it work for you in your own library. One way to interpret the theme is to emphasize the word "play." Play can be about teens creating and sharing their own content for the fun of it, like videos, music, and digital artwork. Play through games can be encouraged with tournaments, tech trivia contests, and video games. The theme can also take a more educational direction. Teens can "press play" on various digital devices to learn more about the world around them. They can press play to watch film documentaries, listen to an audiobook, get online homework help, learn a new language and more. YALSA encourages librarians and educators to be creative and take the theme in a direction that works for them and their teens!
TTW Activity Ideas Internet Scavenger Hunt : Have teens complete an internet scavenger hunt, in which they use a combination of suggested resources and open searching to answer a series of reference questions. Create questions that introduce teens to recreational and educational websites and databases, and for open search questions you can gather information about their favorite ways to search online. Hand out raffle tickets for correct answers, and at the end use the scavenger hunt to impart searching strategies they could have used to find the answers more efficiently. Literary Remix : Print first paragraphs from teen books onto printable magnet sheets and cut them into individual words. Challenge teens to create new works from the old, but without having a single word left over. Poster Polls: Put up posterboards with open questions and let teens respond to them. Create questions that make teens think about the role of technology in their lives (e.g., "How do you listen to music?," "What is your favorite online game?," "Who is your favorite game character?," or "What are the best movie adaptions?") or give teens the opportunity to create posters asking their own tech-specifici questions. You can also add online polls to your website through Snappoll.com or Pollpub.com. Procrastinator's Toolkit : Do you have a lot of teens waiting until the last minute to do their homework? Show off your "open 24 hours" web resources with a folder full of flyers that highlight the databases and online resources most useful for teens. Market it as the "procrastinator's toolkit" and add blank pages with a template for teens to add their own favorite resources. Book Trailers : With your free video software of choice and Flickr's Creative Commons library, your teens can promote their book of choice (for an example, see the book trailer for Meg Cabot's Airhead). Add a cheap microphone and access to such sites as SoundSnap and the Freesound database, and all your sound needs will be met! Image Contests : Using Photoshop or Photo Booth, teens manipulate photos they've taken. A committee of teachers, peers, or the librarian can choose the winner. Or, download the Spore Creature Creator and have students create and enter their creatures in a contest. Use categories like "scariest," "funniest," etc.
Why Celebrate Teen Tech Week? In order to gain the skills necessary to compete in today's job market teens need access to digital and online information and trained professionals who can help them use these resources effectively, efficiently and ethically. Librarians and educators know this and work with teens on a regular basis to ensure they develop these skills. Teen Tech Week is a chance for libraries to throw open their physical & virtual doors and show their communities all the great things they're doing for teens with technology.
Teen Tech Week 2009 ''Press to Play" March 8-14, 2009
