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	CHANNEL 4 EDUCATION NEWSLETTER APRIL 2009
TALKING TO TEENAGERS Routes Channel 4's online game Routes has finished its live run, but will remain online for young people to discover and for teachers to use in the classroom. Routes tackled issues around genetics, with a murder mystery playing out across the website and social spaces. Over 50,000 people viewed the videos on YouTube, there were millions of plays on the flash minigames and players have been blogging about the live events. To find out more click here.
TALKING TO TEENAGERS Battlefront Filming is under way for the next run of Battlefront TV programmes in May. Our campaigners and mentors are building their campaigns with some great awareness-raising stunts. Ever wondered what happened when Skins met Battlefront? Take a look at the E4 website to see how Naomi got on when she joined Down with Tuition Fees campaigner James Greenhalgh for a spot of campaigning. Anti-gun and knife crime campaigner Alexander Rose is being supported by the Mirror newspaper who want to help him with his latest campaign idea. 17 year old Zuhal Sultan is campaigning for a National Youth Orchestra in Iraq. Zuhal lives in Baghdad, and she's just been interviewed there by CBS News. She'll be in London to perform at the Wigmore Hall on 2 April. Check out the Battlefront website.
TALKING TO TEENAGERS Year Dot It's half way through YearDot and our fifteen are continuing to work hard chasing their dreams and goals. Stand up comedian Simon Jenkins bagged the biggest gig of his career so far at the Comedy Store when he performed in the final of the Paramount Comedy Student of the year. Aspiring politician Claire Hazelgrove has been asked to write one of the founding blogs for the new Labour Women blogspot. To follow the other Yeardotters click here.
TALKING TO TEENAGERS 1066 Hardy Pictures in collaboration with Preloaded have created the web-based 1066 The Game to coincide with Channel 4's 1066 documentaries. 1066 The Game puts the player into the muddy boots of the English, the Vikings and the Normans, to play through the actual battle situations of Fulford, Stamford Bridge and Hastings. Using historically accurate troop formations, battle styles, troop makeup and featuring a voiceover by Sir Ian Holm, 1066 The Game is educational and battle strategy gaming at its very best.
TALKING TO TEENAGERS x48 Channel 4 Education joined forces with Microsoft's academic department and the University of Derby to create X48, a 48-hour game creation challenge. Over two days in March, 80 independent and student game makers collaborated and competed to create fully playable games from scratch. A panel of judges were there to encourage and critique the results. The event was themed to challenge the students to develop games beyond the traditional puzzle or first person shooter and to create new conversations around gaming. To find out more click here.
PEAK-TIME EDUCATION Secret Millionaire The documentary series with a social conscience returns with a new batch of wealthy benefactors seeking to change the lives of others for the better. Each week a millionaire takes on a secret identity and immerses themselves in a deprived area for ten days. They become part of the community, working and volunteering with locals, while they consider who they would most like to help with gifts of thousands of pounds of their own fortune. Through their experiences the millionaires meet some extraordinary people trying to beat the odds inside deprived communities. As well as highlighting the positive financial and emotional impact of modern-day philanthropy, the series offers an insight into the social problems in modern Britain.
PEAK-TIME EDUCATION Henry VIII To mark the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne, Dr. David Starkey presents a vivid four part biography of this pivotal figure of British history: Henry VIII: Mind of a Tyrant. 500 years ago the English public was thoroughly fed up with its government. They were ruled by a dour and gloomy individual with a reputation for meanness. All eyes turned to the heir apparent, the tall handsome, athletic and intellectual Prince Henry, who promised a thorough regime change. Yet when Henry died 38 years later, he had a reputation as a blood-stained tyrant as well as a monarch who had transformed his realm from a continental appendage into a world power. TX begins Mon 6th April at 9pm
PEAK-TIME EDUCATION 80 Trades Economist Conor Woodman was a high-flying City market analyst until he decided he wanted to leave his job and trade real things that he could touch and smell. With £25,000 from the sale of his flat, Conor travels across four continents and 13 countries trading in all kinds of products; animal, mineral and vegetable, with the aim of doubling his money. Despite his city trading experience, Conor discovers that international trade proves a lot harder on the ground. Unperturbed, his audacious deals include selling 4,000 bottles of South African chilli sauce to India, horse trading with cut-throat dealers in Kyrgyzstan and investing £5,000 in Chinese jade. Will he blow his £25,000 or will he succeed in doubling his cash? Around the World in 80 Trades TX begins Thursday 9 April at 10 pm
PEAK-TIME EDUCATION Life and Death at 18 Throughout its 60 years, the NHS has delivered longer, healthier lives to each generation; until now. Alcohol abuse and obesity are just two factors threatening to reduce the life expectancy of this generation of teenagers, and this series illustrates the cost of teenagers hitting the health self-destruct button to an already stretched NHS. Filmed in hospitals across the Midlands, three films take the temperature of the NHS today through portraits of the teams treating young patients for obesity, self-inflicted accidents and teenage pregnancy.
PARTNERSHIPS Schools Partnering We are working to increase the use of two of our biggest online projects in the classroom as part of the 14-19 curriculum. Battlefront is ideal for the new Citizenship GCSE, and YearDot can be used for PSHEE or the new Creative Media Diplomas. We're working with QCA advisors and ACT to develop classroom resources for Battlefront and YearDot. If you'd like to help us develop these resources, or use them in your school, then please email Matt Locke. We are continuing to explore potential partnerships to support the further development of Education projects. We are currently in discussions with the Big Lottery Fund, UnLtd and the Citizenship Foundation, and in April we will host a joint event with the Central Office for Information to explore opportunities to partner with Government agencies. If you are interested in knowing more about partnering with Channel 4, email Steve Moore.
PARTNERSHIPS All Together Now Over fifty percent of Channel 4 Education's target audience of 14-19 year olds are students in Further Education. On 26 March we hosted a one day seminar on behalf of Siôn Simon, Minister for Further Education at the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills, to discuss how FE might harness new forms of participatory media for students. The seminar brought together over one hundred leading policy makers and practitioners to discuss how colleges and other FE partners could extend their engagement with new platforms for learning, including projects such as Channel 4's YearDot and Battlefront.
CREATING DEBATE NEW TALENT Games based learning Generation Next Games Based Learning 2009 was a conference on all aspects of games in learning. Alice Taylor, Commissioning Editor for Education spoke on the subject of games-based learning in practice, and talked about Channel 4's BAFTA-winning game Bow Street Runner. Other speakers included Tom Watson, MP and Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari. The Generation Next scheme is open for applications until 13 April 2009. Channel 4 is offering six 10-week placements starting in July. These offer great opportunities to get in-depth work experience and learn from professionals across our business, from television to advertising to new media and strategy. To learn more click here.
For more information about any of the projects, programmes or events detailed here please contact: Rachel Postgate, email: rpostgate@channel4.co.uk, Telephone: 020 7306 8282 This email was sent to %%emailaddress%%. If you no longer wish to receive these messages from Channel 4 Education you can unsubscribe here. To forward this mailer to a friend click here.