PH International Launches U.S Department of State Youth TechCamp at Champlain College

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Students work with Dr. Rob Williams at Champlain College in 2013.

• Students learning how to use digital media at Youth Tech Camp 2013.

BURLINGTON, VT (03/27/2014)(readMedia)-- Twenty six U.S. Department of State-sponsored International high school students from more than a dozen different countries around the globe, including Bangladesh, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Ukraine, will attend PH International's one-week Youth Tech Camp at Champlain College April 6-12, 2014. As the second component of the Global New Media Lab (GNML), the Youth TechCamp is designed to provide students with leadership and training skills that will enable them to facilitate social media for social change trainings upon their return home. Additionally students will meet with industry professionals and trainers to gain insights and understanding of real world applications of social and digital media, develop strategic action plans, and receive training on advanced social and digital media platforms and technologies.

Participating students are currently living in 17 different US states including Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin on three year-long high school exchange programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of States' Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs: the American Serbia and Montenegro Youth Leadership Exchange (A-SMYLE), the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX), and the Kennedy Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) programs.

Students were competitively selected to take part in the Youth TechCamp based on their participation in the GNML Online component of the program, a six month online training program facilitated by PH International, which guides students through the process of developing a Social Media for Social Change Campaign using the world's most powerful online platforms.

When they return home in June, this year's cohort of students will join Alumni of the 2013 Youth TechCamp in utilizing their training from the Global New Media Lab and Youth TechCamp to implement projects in their home communities that will cultivate positive social change and help strengthen communities around the globe.

Nathaniel Cooper of Liberia, a Youth TechCamp 2013 Alumnus, states, "After completing the Youth TechCamp and returning home, I started a youth group with 35 students from 5 different high schools and the local YMCA. Over 5 months I used the information I learned during the GNML Online and Youth TechCamp programs to teach my peers how to use social media for social change, how to improve their leadership skills, and how to serve their communities through volunteerism. The knowledge I acquired from the program goes with me everywhere. The 35 students I trained back home have now created a community organization, and they are teaching others how to positively impact the community through social media and volunteerism."

PH International is based in Waitsfield, Vt. since 1996. PH International has been actively engaged in technology development and training programs. Whether working with schools or with community groups, PH incorporates information technology and Web 2.0 tools as an indispensable tool for creating and nurturing an informed, civil society. PH International has helped establish more than 1,000 Internet access points in Eurasia, and facilitates hundreds of online forums that support professional development, cross-cultural exchange, and innovative solutions to community challenges. This access to information and expression, previously unavailable to the traditionally closed societies in which we work, brings infinite possibilities for education, intercultural dialogue and professional development. Programs focus on practical skills development, critical thinking and other 21st century skills.

For more information about PH International and Global New Media Lab, visit www.ph-int.org.

For information about U.S. Department of State-sponsored exchange programs visit www.exchanges.state.gov.

Media Contact: Stacie Clemens, PH International at Stacie.clemens@ph-int.org

or Susan Pittman, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at eca-press@state.gov

About Champlain College

Since 1878, Champlain College has provided career-focused education to students from its hilltop campus in Burlington, Vt. Champlain's distinctive educational approach embodies the notion that true learning only occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain offers traditional undergraduate and online undergraduate courses, along with online certificate and degree programs and eight master's degree programs. Champlain offers study abroad programs at its campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 378 Colleges: 2014 Edition. Champlain was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges and is ranked in the top tier of 2013 Regional Colleges in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.