Digital Safari Multimedia Academy

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1 The Digital Safari Academy
- 1.1 DSA Awards and Honors
- 1.2 DSA's 10 Essential Skills for Success
2 External links

[edit] The Digital Safari Academy

The Digital Safari Multimedia Academy began in the fall of 1996 with 70 intrepid Mt.Diablo High School Juniors. What developed during those first two years was a learning environment based on student goals and desires. It was a place where students could create and communicate their thoughts, creativity & visions in ways previously not envisioned. "Community" became a code word for how things were done. Students, truly responsible for their learning, began to teach each other. Teachers became part of the community and learned along with the students.

The Academy was founded on a U.S. Department of Education grant to integrate vocational education with the core academic curriculum. Our goal was to do this with professional multimedia design tools. Instead of using educational software, we would attempt to make it. Thus, as students studied earth science, they would create interactive programs about the universe or geology. As they studied English they would create interactive book reports or web sites about their favorite poets. As they studied social science, they would develop web sites for model e-businesses or a CD-ROM about World War II.

Following that initial group of Juniors we have been blessed with some of the finest young people one could imagine. The level of our output has consistently improved and a positive legacy has developed that drives the current students to outperform the students of the past. Since 1997, we have won 18 awards in the California Student Media Festival. We have been featured on local news broadcasts. We have won several awards of excellence. In the spring of 2001, we were privileged to produce a 7 day webcast of the International Science and Engineering Fair. We now offer our design services to businesses, non-profits and other community organizations. Our project design methodology has been adapted by numerous programs around the country, and our annual eBizz business development project is a model for the involvement of the business community in the day to day management of classroom projects.

Since 1998 we have graduated over 300 students from the Digital Safari. A large majority of our graduates have chosen to continue their education beyond high school, choosing state and community colleges, graphic arts schools, or technical schools. The number of our graduates in the multimedia and technical industries is growing, as more and more former students finish their career training endeavors. After 11 generations of seniors, the Class of 2007 is the first one to complete a 3 year program.

[edit] DSA Awards and Honors

2004–DSA awarded California Partnership Academy Status by the state department of education.
2002–Digital Safari Native American site selected as a USA Today "Best Bet" website for the week of October 22- October 28, 2002 on their K-12 Education Website.
•A video edited by Digital Safari Students is one of two selected at the California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Programs (BTSA) state conference as one of two to represent California at the National BTSA Conference.
•Digital Safari selected as a Lighthouse program for the Career AcademySupport Network.
2001–The Digital Safari selected for inclusion in the permanent collection of the American History Museum of the Smithsonian Institutes History of Information Technology Exhibit.
2000–Steve Jobs CEO, Apple Computer nominates The Digital Safari for the Computerworld Smithsonian Honors.
1997–The Digital Safari was recognized as a Program of Excellence in Contra Costa County by the Association of California School Administrators.

[edit] DSA's 10 Essential Skills for Success

The DSA's 10 Essential Skills for Success, these skills provide the career focus and richness to their academic projects and are essential to their professional culture:

•Communicate ideas effectively orally, in writing and through multimedia presentations.
•Demonstrate ability to select and effectively use technology appropriate to the assigned task.
•Strive for excellence in all individual and group activities.
•Develop an awareness of the interdisciplinary and real world connections that exist in all topics of study.
•Accomplish goals and behave responsibly without direct supervision.
•Establish and maintain professional working relationships with all members of the academy and other people associated with the academy.
•Show accountability to self and team.
•Establish the ability to work within a schedule and meet specific deadlines.
•Demonstrate ability to read for information and application, to distill essential information from research oriented items, and to reapply into personal language.
•Analyze problems critically and propose innovative, original solutions.