Not bad for a bunch of kids, eh?

Pamela Travers talked of connecting individuals with the community. Chris Bigum believes schools are well placed to make this connection by acting as knowledge producers:

The one thing that a community can, and increasingly will need to have expertise in, is knowledge about itself. In a world which appears destined to be increasingly shaped by financial and information forces which operate globally, having a rich source of knowledge about itself will provide a local community with a good basis on which to read and act on the global influences that it encounters.

Schools are already producing knowledge about their communities:

• In Vermont, Hector is busy collaborator in The Community Digital Storytelling Collaborative which aims to work together with high school students "to create inquiry-based digital stories about community issues."


• In Australia a group of year seven students have produced an oral history quilt using interactive multimedia. As someone commented "Not bad for a bunch of kids, eh?"

Update: Barbara blogs about "new localism" and the role of social software and local government.