21 September 2005

Dundee kids join worldwide storytelling session

PHOTO/PRESS CALL, 1.45 PM, THURSDAY SEPT 22nd. SATELLITE RECEIVING STATION, EWING BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE.

Classroom chatter will ricochet from St Peter and Paul's Primary School in Dundee to schools in Canada, Chile and Colombia today (Sept 22nd) as children from around the world are linked in an exciting project at the University of Dundee.

Computer and literacy experts from each of the countries have joined forces to establish the International Storytelling Forum research project, which will have multiple benefits for the children in each country.

Four children from the Dundee school will be at the Satellite Receiving Station at the University of Dundee, where they will become the eyes and ears of children at four schools in Canada, one in Bogota, Colombia, and one in Rio Bueno in Chile.

And the topic of conversation? One of the first things all our daily chatter tends to revolve around - the weather!

"Children from each of the different schools have been measuring the weather in their own countries and they will each give a short presentation direct to their contemporaries around the world," said Dr Nick Hine, of the Applied Computing Division at the University of Dundee.

"They can also ask questions of the kids in the other countries. The great thing we are seeing already is, I've heard the children in Canada doing some of their preparation and they’ve been saying that there's nothing remarkable about the weather in their own country.

"But the weather in Canada or Scotland is totally different to what it is in Bogota and Rio Bueno, so they will find major differences."

The project has a wide focus. It will examine how children accept different media, give them a deeper understanding of global culture and how their local culture relates to it, give them greater internet awareness and a sense of safe internet behaviour, and allow researchers greater insight into specific areas of educational technology.

"Underlying the project is the notion of social interaction and how it can lead to better learning," said Dr Hine.

"There is a completely different environment around learning than there was in the past. We are trying to explore how young people, the 'MTV Generation', handle all this information they now receive in short, sharp bursts and across all these different media and how they can reflect on and think about the messages being carried by these media."

By Roddy Isles, Head of Press 01382 344910, out of hours: 07968298585, r.isles@dundee.ac.uk