LOCATION(S): South Africa

In November 2010, the Smithsonian launched a collaboration with Microsoft Partners in Learning in CapeTown, South Africa. Shout was a multiyear global education initiative offering webinars and projects for both educators and students, inviting educators and students to take an active role in global environmental issues. SHOUT was supported by TakingITGlobal and Microsoft Partners in Learning.

SHOUT included a web portal that provided access to additional tools and resources to support a range of “student challenges” – calls for deeper involvement that ranged from capturing and sharing scientific data to developing youth-led initiatives for positive change. Together, these components supported a number of environmentally themed “Shouts” to frame our understanding of our relationships and interactions with the natural world: Live, Study, Change, Sustain, Value and Celebrate. Each Shout connected students and teachers to a live event, teacher networking, and student collaborations focused around a specific theme, and presented students with challenges designed to deepen their learning and engagement. Shout was at once a program framework and a call to action.