Outcomes
Launched in 2001, WiredWoods has made early strides in sparking
a passion for technology and giving children a new perspective
on themselves and their opportunities.
Ronnie is just one example of our success stories:
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During Summer 2003, Ronnie – a 15
year-old Latino – joined Madison Park’s/WiredWoods’ joint
program to learn web development. A graduate of Madison
Park’s Technology Goes Home program, he had already
earned a computer for his family. While taking WiredWoods,
he had so much fun and learned so much that he used part
of his summer stipend to purchase Microsoft FrontPage
to continue developing web sites on his own. |
| His first “job” was a web site
for his Uncle’s bodega (market). And based on the
program’s discussion of technology opportunities,
Ronnie transferred to TechBoston Academy in the fall.
Thanks in part to Madison Park and WiredWoods, Ronnie
has even greater opportunity. |
And to quote one of our funders:
“I
was very impressed with your program. Your hands-on
projects help so many young people develop not only
their skills, but also their enthusiasm for science
and technology. [They] were so focused and engaged.”
– Jan Binda, Massachusetts Public Affairs Manager,
Sun Microsystems
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Through 2004, we impacted over 1,000 participants
and made significant progress towards our goal of providing
a high quality, enriching technology experience that
- Teaches children how to be active
producers, rather than mere consumers, of technology
- Enables year-round
development
- Catalyzes children to envision new education
and career opportunities
Since inception, WiredWoods has used
an evaluation methodology developed by a professional
external evaluator to measure performance against these
goals and specific objectives. Some of the results gathered
through pre/post surveys, interviews and blogs include:
1 - Active producers,
not just consumers
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- If you don't know how to
do something on the computer, how confident do
you feel that you can figure it out? 67% answered
extremely or very confident
- Pre-WiredWoods, their
top three computer activities were surfing the
internet, playing video games and downloading music.
Post-WiredWoods, their top computer activities
were making websites, showing others their websites
and playing games
- 80% said they were extremely
or very confident making a web page (91% with a
digital camera)
- 84% rated their pride in their
work at 8 or higher (on a scale of 1-10) with an
average of 8.9.
- Their blog comments included things
such as: “I
enjoyed working with my group, we all have something
to contribute and it was FUN! I truly had a great
time creating today.” – Zakiya(13)
- And finally, Look what they
accomplished in just
15-20 hours!
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2 - Enable year-round
development
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WiredWoods runs year-round as part of
schools, after-school programs and summer camps. We
also offer workshops for our alumni where we reinforce
their learning, add to their digital portfolio and
encourage them to do more with technology. Examples
of workshops include:
- WiredWoods Connects v1.0 and
v2.0 at Roxbury and Dorchester Boys & Girls
Clubs
- Citizen Schools National WOW convention
- Spring
Girls Get Connected Conference at Simmons College
- Holiday
Multimedia card creation at Boston Neighborhood Network
- Group
visit to The Intel Computer Clubhouse at the Boston
Museum of Science
- Digital photography workshop at
New Bedford Community Economic Development Center
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3 - Envision
new career/education opportunities
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• 43% were interested in having
a job that used computers
• 92% wanted to take a computer class if their school
offered one
• They wrote comments in their Blogs like:
“I
never thought I would do that; [I felt] proud of
myself.”
“It’s real cool
that you could do that [make web pages] because a
lot of kids don’t
believe that you can make your own web page….you
can have more goals in your life.”
”I
learned that I can do whatever I put my mind to.”
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