Afterschool Program: Short Circuit

Short Circuit is a program of a multidisciplinary character, where participants have the opportunity to explore materials (from paper to pixels), imagine possibilities and create products both individually and collaboratively.

The program runs from 3:30pm-6pm 4-days per week (M, T, Th, F), and participants may elect to come for 2, 3 or 4 days of the program. During the first 30 minutes, participants are given the opportunity to work off extra energy by engaging in supervised physical activity, ranging from playing Dance, Dance Revolution to Wii Yoga; from playing a game of tag to capture-the-flag. From 4-6pm, participants work with mentors on art, design and digital media projects, supporting their creativity, technology know-how and collaboration skills.

Short Circuit has been designed to support a range of national STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) standards. Sample projects include creating a paper scarecrow with a built in speaker and sensor that scares pigeons as they pass by, designing a t-shirt that lights up, or creating paintings that tell a story at the touch of a button. The program is being partially funded by the Gates Foundation, as a pilot site for youth-led programs centered on creativity and innovation.

Digital Citizenship at Q2L
As noted above, Short Circuit is designed to help students develop design expertise and digital literacies with a focus on mobile creativity. In addition to a focus on producing digital media, students will also engage in explicit conversations about the knowledge, skills, and processes involved in the creation of new media messages. Short Circuit has outlined a developmental framework for New Media Citizenship, which emphasizes the ultimate goal of our program, to prepare students for a productive career, prosperous life, and civic engagement in the 21st century. Short Circuit's new media citizenship (NMC) framework, developed by Nichole Pinkard and her team in Chicago, is based on three interrelated dispositions toward new media that together ensure that students will develop and use digital media skills to meet their personal goals and the programmatic objectives of Short Circuit. New Media Citizens are critical consumers of new media; constructive producers of new media, and social advocates for better futures.

Check-out what happened last year after school at Q2L!

Short Circuit is developed and run by Institute of Play.