WAIMEA — Offered exclusively to administrators, teachers and students — including those in home schooling programs — PBS Hawaii will host a free presentation from 4-6 p.m. Sept. 27 at Hawaii Preparatory Academy’s Gates Performing Arts Center. It will focus on their statewide digital learning initiative and student news program.
The HIKI NO team will share sample stories from Hawaii Island schools, outline the HIKI NO process, explain how to get started and the training and support they provide. Hawaii Island teachers and students already participating will talk about their HIKI NO experiences, and PBS Hawaii will share information about curriculum for a statewide HIKI NO elective course currently being piloted. A networking reception will follow.
PBS Hawaii’s HIKI NO (Can Do) statewide student news network is the only digital learning initiative of its kind in the nation and the world. It premiered February 2011 and has been building momentum ever since.
HIKI NO staff and their team of professionals from Hawaii’s digital media industries train teachers from 90 public, charter and private middle and high schools across the state in the art and technology of digital storytelling. Three elementary schools also participate currently.
In turn, these teachers mentor their students in the production of 100 percent-student-created news features. Through long-distance, online critique sessions, students revise their stories based on feedback from industry professionals. The stories are revised until they reach PBS standards for journalistic integrity, storytelling and production values. Once the stories meet the high PBS standards, they are compiled into a weekly, half-hour program that is broadcast to the entire state every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. on PBS Hawaii and posted online at pbshawaii.org.
As a result, stories from far-flung communities across the Hawaiian Islands are shared with the world through the eyes of Hawaii’s young people. All story topics are chosen by the students.
The primary objective of HIKI NO, however, is not to train the next generation of broadcast journalists. It is to develop within Hawaii’s students the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century workplace: communication, collaboration critical thinking, creative problem-solving, receiving critical feedback and organization. A recently completed study by the San Francisco-based education evaluation firm of Learning for Action proves HIKI NO’s efficacy in all of these areas.
PBS Hawaii wants to air stories from Waimea and its outlying communities as told by their young people. HPA has been an active participant since the inception of HIKI NO, but would like to see all Waimea and nearby schools involved. There are no fees connected to joining HIKI NO — just a commitment of time, effort, some basic equipment and a passion for teaching young people the skills they will need to HIKI NO Can Do in the 21st century.
The deadline for teachers and administrators to RSVP to attend the event is tomorrow. To do so, email Phyllis Kanekuni at pkanekuni@gmail.com. HIKI NO is supported by a generous grant from the Richard Smart Fund of the Hawaii Community Foundation.