Fall semester 2008 saw the third exploration in social media directed to community engagement with a unique collaboration between UWM's Cultures and Communities Certificate Program, PSOA's Conceptual Studies Program, and Milwaukee's child advocacy organization, Kids Matter, Inc. This is the first part of our year long collaboration with Kids Matter, Inc., and we learned much in our class about foster care, social media, and the vicissitudes of free software -- our Google Site went down for two days right before the final projects were due. Our community partners and the students were resourceful, resilient, and good humored throughout it all. This project was constructed primarily by students learning the nuts and bolts of multimedia "writing" for the first time. In an era when media tools seem to proliferate daily and are becoming increasingly pervasive, it is important that both the access to tools and the knowledge of how to use them is available to all. A special shout out to Megan Bruzan at Kids Matter and Dale Kaminski our ever patient and skillful tech assistant. As always, my students were an inspiration throughout the semester. I have included a few of their photos in this photo collage with some of my own. At the bottom of this page are links to each student's project. Vicki Callahan other Film 150 sites to check out: Professor Shelleen Greene's 2008 class: and my Spring 2007 class: |