PH International and Champlain College host U.S. Department of State Youth TechCamp

26 Department of State-sponsored International high school students focus on new media strategies to implement positive change

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International students attending the Youth Tech Camp join Champlain College students Samuel McGuire and Katie Arnoldy,founders of Edike Ayiti, a social business formed to help children in Haiiti.

BURLINGTON, VT (04/24/2013)(readMedia)-- International high school students from more than a dozen different countries around the globe – Russia, Yemen, Liberia, Turkey, Armenia, Serbia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Bangladesh, India, South Africa, and Ukraine – are attending PH International's one-week Youth TechCamp at Burlington, Vermont's Champlain College, learning skills in new digital media, leadership, strategic media advocacy, and grassroots campaign-building.

The students are currently living with American host families and studying in high schools across the United States on three high school exchange programs sponsored by the 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.

The Youth TechCamp, which began Monday, April 22 will conclude Friday, April 26 in Champlain College's Roger H. Perry Hall, is the culmination of a six-month Global New Media Lab (#GNML) online training program supported by the U.S. Department of States' Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, facilitated by Waitsfield-based nonprofit PH International, and hosted online by Champlain College's new "Third Planet" interactive web platform.

"We are thrilled to have PH International's GNML students on our campus for an entire week of collaborative new media learning," explains GNML lead instructor Rob Williams, who also teaches Core and Communications courses at Champlain College. "Our students have worked hard online for many months, and to bring 26 of them together for a week of advanced media strategy sessions with some of our cutting-edge experts is an exciting prospect."

GNML students will develop skills in advocacy and social media grassroots campaigns as part of the Youth TechCamp. In addition, students will develop individual action plans which they will take back to their home countries to organize workshops to train others how to use social media for social change and greater civic engagement.

While at Champlain, students will also tour Burlington's downtown neighborhoods and experience spring in Vermont, and be advised by a number of Champlain College faculty and staff, with support from PH International's GNML team, led by program manager Stacie Clemens.

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 Global New Media Lab and Youth TechCamp, visit www.ph-int.org.

For information about U.S. Department of State-sponsored exchange programs visit www.exchanges.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 377 Colleges: 2013 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