New Digital Arts Alliance Program Helps Teachers and Students Document Social History

Facing History and Ourselves and Pearson Foundation Bring History and Digital Media Programs to Title 1 Classrooms Nationwide.

Atlanta (June 23, 2007) - Today at the National Education Computing Conference, the Pearson Foundation announced that Facing History and Ourselves has joined the Digital Arts Alliance, a consortium that promotes digital arts in K-12 education through fully funded and staffed programs delivered directly to schools and community centers nationwide. The Pearson Foundation is the founding partner in the Digital Arts Alliance, and part of Pearson plc, the leading educational media company.

Beginning this summer and extending through the 2008-2009 academic year, Facing History and Ourselves and the Pearson Foundation will provide digital-arts focused professional development workshops for teachers in regional workshops across the United States. These intensive hands-on sessions will enable teachers and staff who have adopted Facing History and Ourselves' innovative high-school curriculum to integrate digital arts and digital film-making into their classroom lessons. In specific Title 1 (high poverty) middle and high school schools, the Pearson Foundation will also supply consistent access to wireless, mobile computing labs as part of the initiative.

Teachers who participate in these workshops will also be eligible to have their students take part in Pearson Foundation hosted Digital Arts Alliance Classroom Residencies. In these week-long sessions, students making use of the same curriculum will have the opportunity to learn how to plan, produce, and present digital arts projects using the latest personal computers, digital video cameras, movie-making software. The results will be shared with teachers and students nationwide beginning later this year at the Facing History and Ourselves and Digital Arts Alliance websites.

The most intensive phase of this project will take place in the Boston Public Schools, where students and teachers will be developing digital films and other projects that document the history of the Civil Rights movement. Other school districts to be served during the coming school year include those in Memphis, Cleveland, and San Francisco.

"Facing History and Ourselves is pleased to be working with the Pearson Foundation, and pleased too to be part of the Digital Arts Alliance. Our mission is to engage students in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. Digital arts projects are an ideal way to do this. By joining this consortium of organizations we will be able to bridge the digital divide and bring our program to Title 1 schools that otherwise may not have access to this innovative way of learning," said Howard Lurie, Director of Program Technology, Facing History and Ourselves.

Mark Nieker, president of the Pearson Foundation, added, "For today's young people, success in school and in life requires educational experiences that meet the challenges of our new century. Digital arts projects provide that kind of experience. In Digital Arts Alliance, we strive to join with leaders in every aspect of education, media, and technology to offer exceptional digital arts programs and to foster confident school leaders. Members like Facing History and Ourselves give unique focus in terms of curriculum and in the way we hope to bridge the digital divide engage."

Each year, the Digital Arts Alliance makes it possible for more than 15,000 students and their teachers to experience firsthand how laptop computers, video production equipment, and the latest cellular-phone technologies are changing the ways young people can organize, present, and share information and issues that matter to them. Alliance members believe that using technologies to enhance personal expression creates an expanded kind of literacy, often referred to as 21st -century literacy, that people - especially young people - already use in their everyday lives.

Other Digital Arts Alliance members include Adobe, Nokia, the National Academy Foundation, Peachpit, and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

About the Pearson Foundation

The Pearson Foundation extends Pearson's commitment to education by partnering with leading nonprofit, civic, and business organizations to provide financial, organizational, and publishing assistance across the globe. The foundation aims to make a difference by sponsoring innovative educational programs and extending its educational expertise to help in classrooms and in local communities. More information on the Pearson Foundation can be found at www.pearsonfoundation.org

About Facing History and Ourselves

Based in Brookline, Massachusetts, Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. For more information please visit www.facinghistory.org


Contact:
For Pearson
Rod Granger
Pearson Foundation
212-641-6114

For Facing History and Ourselves
Caitlin Meyer
Public Relations and Communications Coordinator
Ph: 617-735-1641