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The girls that are attending animation and multimedia classes at the Technology for the People Resource Center in Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad, have filmed and edited a digital story about their experience at this institute.
Here are the PowerPoint presentations made by the young women from the TFTP Resource Center. The girls chose a general theme (traditional arts and crafts), went and took lots of photos, and organized the photographs into a PPT presentation.
www.slideshare.net/themodernstory
Enjoy!
We are now in the second week of training with the young Muslim women at the Technology for the People resource center in Chandrayangutta. The training is well-attended and the girls are enjoying the curriculum immensely. They have already mastered the digital camera, and are now practicing the art of filming and video editing. Their first photo projects, which they are now finalizing in PowerPoint, explore a variety of traditional arts and crafts, many of them unique to the Hyderabadi Muslim culture, such as embroidery, jewelry manufacturing, or the design and painting of wedding cards. Stay tuned for their photos and presentations!
The lessons are moving along rather fast, since it is easy to teach these girls, given the complex software that they are already familiar with. They can work expertly in Photoshop, Corel Draw, 3DS, Flash and HTML, so teaching them film editing is not a difficult endeavor at all, and it is truly a pleasure working with them. Particularly because of their more advanced computer skills, I found that I had to modify the curriculum a lot, in order to make sure that I am catering to their needs and their learning styles. For instance, while teaching them about the digital cameras, I was explaining the correct way to insert the batteries (with the negative and positive poles), and, watching their expressions, I realized I am almost offending them by starting from such a basic level! I am very proud to work with them, and it is a pleasure getting to know them as well and to talk to them, whether it is about the Deccan Chargers or modern make-up or Hindu-Muslim relations. TFTP has done a fantastic job of molding these girls into confident, outgoing and extremely inquisitive young women, and I am happy that TMS now has the privilege to contribute to their education and development.
Ioana, Sujatha, Neha, Asma and Huma
Practicing with the video camera
An interview in the computer lab
The rocky way up to the TFTP Resource Center : an excellent picture taken by Huma
Tabassum is photographing the scenic view over the Old City
A little walk up the hill, to practice with the digital cameras
Ioana with four of her students, overlooking the Charminar area
Zakeera, Tabassum, Sujatha, Asma and Huma
At last, here are the fantastic and wonderfully witty videos made by our students at Elurupadu Government High School in AP’s West Godavari District.
The children were prompted to create and film a skit depicting an interaction with the political leader in their village. They then wrote and choreographed a Bollywood-style song expressing the same community issues. We were amazed to see how they came up with the lyrics and the dance moves, spontaneously, over the course of a single day! And the casting process for the choreography was adorable to watch: certain dance talents emerged and took over the choreography, testing out the various class members by offering them the chance to audition; the verdicts, delivered in a highly official manner, with a serious face and a hand supporting the chin, broke many hearts: “No chance”, “Try again next time”, “Good enough for the second row”.
The content of the skits is also very interesting, as it contains some amazingly keen and astute observations about the process of political action and representation, especially in rural areas. “You talked differently when you wanted our votes!”, the children accuse their “village leader” in the skit, and the leader snaps back “It is not in my hands. I have told the person responsible. What more can I do?”. These are political behaviors that the students have noticed in their communities, and the medium of the fictionalized skit gave them the chance to explore these issues within the safety of the distance afforded by the fictional enactment.
We hope you enjoy the videos!
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Over the past 6 months, I have been challenged to think about what students in under-resourced schools need most in order to succeed. We have worked in a range of schools, and have come to understand privilege and disadvantages in various ways. For students at Railway Girls High School in Secunderabad, barriers may include lack of technological access in the home. On the other hand, at Elurupadu High School in West Godavari District, drainage problems in the community may prevent students from even attending school. These experiences have reminded me of the need to think flexibly as an educator and programmer.
As I’ve taught non-traditional skills, I’ve been able to connect with students in a way that other teachers cannot. Be it due to the fact that I’m young or that I’m ‘foreign,’ I’ve been warmed by students’ interest in coming to class and working hard to produce final projects. As unoriginal as it may sound, for many students it seems that learning just needs to be made fun.
In addition to the satisfaction that comes with knowing that my students have in fact gained from my presence, I feel that I have learned even more from them. I’m convinced that getting to know youth is the best way to understand a community. Cultural gaffes seem less embarrassing and children’s straightforward nature allows for so much honesty!
While there have been many obstacles to achieving student success, I am convinced more than ever that The Modern Story engages students in all of the right ways. In order for a paradigm shift to occur in the field of education in India, students need to be exposed to new ideas and people. I’m so happy to have had this opportunity and wish next year’s Fellows the best of luck!
The Modern Story strongly believes in the vital role of partnerships in the human development sector, and one of the local organizations we appreciate most, and whose work we had the pleasure of seeing, is Technology for the People (TFTP), an NGO founded by Mr. Rajen Varada in 2003. As I have mentioned in a couple of my previous posts, TFTP identifies young Muslim girls who dropped out of school and who are skilled at henna (mehendi) art and embroidery and teaches them the technique of animation, including utterly complex computer software like Photoshop, Flash and HTML. After undergoing a full-time, yearlong training, the girls graduate from the program with a professional certificate and a valuable hi-tech set of skills that are unique in their communities.
However, because of the conservative social norms that dominate their cultural milieu, their families do not allow them to accept work in the professional environment of the animation companies, and their ambition and skills are lost as they return to spending their entire day doing domestic chores within the confines of their own homes.
In comes The Modern Story. Recognizing the social importance of TFTP’s endeavors and identifying a clear potential for further development, TMS has joined forces with TFTP and will be training the young girls in digital storytelling (photography, filmmaking, editing, and more) in addition to the multimedia skills they already have. After the rigorous training is finished, the girls will get the chance to apply what they have learned and teach digital storytelling in government schools, alongside the more experienced TMS fellows. This way, they can earn an independent income from a highly respectable and enriching job, while continuing to learn and to develop this unique set of skills.
We are extremely excited about this collaboration, and we believe that, beyond their technical and pedagogical abilities, these young girls would make excellent role models for our government school students. Their hunger for learning is so inspirational, and their desire to improve themselves and enhance their knowledge is proof that circumstances alone do not determine one’s path in life. If they could instill into our students even half of the drive, spirit and determination that they have, I would be content in knowing that we have changed these schoolchildren’s paths forever.
The Modern Story recently partnered up with the Byrraju Foundation to organize a weeklong digital storytelling workshop in a rural school in the West Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh. In accordance with their mission of rural transformation in AP, the Byrraju Foundation has been actively implementing projects in the areas of education, information and communication technologies (ICT), public health, women’s empowerment and civic awareness in more than 800 villages across Andhra Pradesh. One of their most efficient and inspiring programs is called Project Chetana, and aims to train local villagers in the use of video cameras and editing software, so that they can produce community media of local relevance that is then screened in the respective villages. Under the direction of Mr. TLS Bhaskar, the Project Chetana staff – which is entirely made up of trained young residents from those villages – identifies critical social, political and cultural issues in their areas, and then films, edits and presents the videos to the villagers themselves.
In order to extend the benefits of gaining these skills to the children of these villages too, TMS teamed up with Project Chetana to offer a photography and videography workshop to the 8th class students of the government high school in Elurupadu, West Godavari district. Vidya, Danny and myself were the main instructors, and we were aided by Project Chetana staff, who helped bridge the language divide, since the students were studying in a Telugu-medium school.
In total, 80 students participated in the workshop (i.e. the entire 8th class at the school), which were broken down in two groups of 40 students each. Each group was then further divided into 2 batches of 20 students, in order to foster a more intimate learning environment and to be able to give personal attention to each student in the group, which is one of the key features of the TMS teaching style.The students learned the basic functions of the still camera and the video camera, and were able to practice these skills by engaging in special projects. The most significant video project they worked on was to create and film a skit that depicted their interaction with the village leader. The skits addressed issues such as drinking water, sanitation, drainage, old age pensions, lack of educational opportunities, etc., and the children then created Bollywood-style songs and dances that tackled the same issues in a different way. Writing the lyrics for these songs and then making up the choreography were some of their favorite activities, and the results are at once hilarious, original and impressive. Using the highly recognizable Bollywood song and dance aesthetic to tackle real problems like drainage and sanitation, beyond being extremely enjoyable for the students, is an innovative way to get them thinking about critical issues in their community and to enable them to express their own opinions in regard to these important matters. The videos are now in the process of being translated into English and subtitled, so stay tuned!
For a complete description of the workshop, and some excellent (and really cute) pictures, please check out our slideshow on slideshare.com:
Mr. Prabhaker addresses TMS students
The full TMS team: Vidya, Danny, Ioana, Remy and Piya
Railway HS Student D.T. Navya makes an emotional speech about TMS
Here are some more photos from Piya and Remy’s visit to Hyderabad! Although time was short and rickshaw rides long, Piya and Remy managed to make the most of their time and, apart from their trip to Railway High School, they were also able to visit and meet the staff of the Byrraju Foundation and, respectively, Technology for the People, two inspiring and ambitious local nonprofit organizations that are making a tremendous contribution to ICT education in Andhra Pradesh and beyond.
The TMS team at the HQ of the Byrraju Foundation in Hyderabad
At a meeting with Mr. TLS Bhaskar and Mr. VSN Raju from the Byrraju Foundation
TMS has partnered up with the Byrraju Foundation for a weeklong digital storytelling workshop in the rural areas of the Godavari District in coastal Andhra Pradesh, and we certainly hope to expand this collaboration in the future. The workshop was impressively successful – stay tuned for pictures, videos and more details in the next post – and we all feel extremely excited about the opportunity to introduce the TMS curriculum and mode of teaching in these rural schools, which are perhaps most in need of this educational encouragement, both in terms of soft and hard skills.
As you may remember, I have written about the activity of Technology for the People in a previous post on this blog, mentioning how impressed I was with the way they are using animation and computer skills to empower young Muslim women in the conservative Charminar area of Hyderabad. Since the TMS directors also shared my feelings of admiration and awe towards the work of TFTP, we are currently looking for ways to cement this collaboration in a manner that will maximize the benefits for both our TMS students and the TFTP girls.
The young women studying animation and computer skills at the TFTP Resource Center
The Modern Story also organized a fundraising and awareness event at Kalakriti Art Gallery, to coincide with Piya and Remy’s visit. The exhibition consisted of photography and video documentaries made by the students of TMS since the inception of the program, and was extremely well received by the public. Guests included representatives from the American India Foundation, the University of Hyderabad’s School of Media and Fine Arts, Google Hyderabad, Video Volunteers, Microsoft, Monster.com, the Rotary Foundation, and many more. Thank you all for your continued support!
Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad
The Modern Story directors, Piya Kashyap and Remy Mansfield, visited Railway Girls High School during their trip to Hyderabad at the end of February. Here are photos of the event that Mr. Prabhakar, the school administrator and physics teacher, put together. Students showcased their video poems and audio-visual newscasts on issues ranging from women’s issues to race and education in India.
TMS Young Women's Spoken Word
Vidya pointed out to the girls how far they’d come by contrasting our first and last day together – the first day most girls were too shy to participate in the ‘bust a move’ activity where students introduced themselves with a dance; by the last class students came prepared with a choreographed routine, unprompted spoken word poetry, speeches, and a skit written and rehearsed completely on their own. It was incredible to mark the difference and see the change happen before our eyes.
Mr. Prabhakar commented on The Modern Story’s impact on his students, noting improvements in their confidence, English skills and public speaking abilities. He also expressed his gratitude to the Head Mistress. She stood by TMS throughout the year, accommodating the program to fit in between other teachers’ classes. In his speech, he expected even better performance next year as the class may begin earlier in the summer, become a more regular part of the girls’ schedules, and integrate the hard and soft skills TMS teaches into his own classroom.
TMS on the silver screen at Railway Auditorium
“Although I haven’t noted a sea change in our girls, as this is just the beginning of TMS at our school, I most certainly have seen it benefit our students’ confidence, improve their computer skills and their minds – even in my own classroom,” concluded Mr. Prabhakar during his address to TMS directors and the assembly of 8th and 9th class at Railway Girls High School in Hyderabad, India.
The Crew
I am extremely proud – and perhaps a little sad – to announce that the girls at Railway High School have successfully completed their final projects! Since they have a definite inclination for poetry, they decided to present a collection of different video-poems for their final project. I cannot help but be amazed at how natural it came to them to write these poems, in spite of the fact that it required the use of a very lyrical English, and the incorporation of rhyming schemes, measure, rhythm and other poetic elements that we discussed throughout the term. All these concepts, and the very language needed in order to write a successful poem, are not easy; however, our students felt stimulated by this new form of expression and the results are really amazing and awe-inspiring.
Furthermore, as an educator, I found this exercise to be extremely catalyzing, efficient and enjoyable for the students: while the act of writing in poetry was fun and inspiring for the girls, it also perfected their English and acquainted them with many new and useful linguistic concepts. And the process of turning the written poems into visually intriguing videos is an excellent exercise in creative expression – while some of the poems, due to the meaning of their lines, lent themselves to an easier translation into visuals, others proves much more challenging, and required outstanding imagination and creative thinking.
And while I was blown away by the girls’ “soft” skills (creativity in both poetry writing and storyboarding), I was equally impressed with their “hard” skills (filming and editing). Working on PCs facilitated the editing process to a great extent, as the girls were more comfortable using this platform and they quickly became excellent editors. However, what impressed me most was the way in which they went beyond what I had taught them, exploring all the different features of the software by themselves. This is apparent in their choice of title animations, video transitions and video effects, but also in the way they incorporated external elements into their films. For instance, Navya, who wrote and recited an excellent self-portrait in poetry, managed to find a music sample from Beethoven on the school computer (it was one of those sample tracks that you find on any PC) and skillfully imported it into the editing program and laid it on top of her narration, perfectly syncing it with the time breaks in the poem.
See her poem, and more, in the YouTube links below, and also on our vimeo site: http://vimeo.com/themodernstory
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If you have enjoyed the videos and would like to comment, please feel free to do so and we will make sure to pass on the comments to our students. They really appreciate receiving these comments and it is such a strong encouragement to them, as they are gaining more confidence in their creativity and power of expression with each and every day. Thank you!
