Cable & Wireless Childnet Academy Canada

ABOUT

What is the Cable & Wireless Childnet Academy? The unique week-long Academy provides specialist web support, leadership training and technical advice to a group of ICT savvy young people from around the world. Throughout the week, participants are given exclusive access to a team of Internet experts & mentors drawn from the world of education, business and the public & voluntary sectors. Participants will also be given the chance to learn from previous winners. The Academy is run on annual basis by Childnet International in partnership with Cable & Wireless.

How can I win a place at the Academy? You can win a place at the Academy by entering the annual Academy Competition, which is open to young people aged 18 or under. If you have developed an online project (website) or you are using the Internet innovatively (or if you have an idea, enter the New to the Net category) to really benefits other young people worldwide then enter now!

On this website you can read about the criteria for the competition. If you think your work is eligible you can enter your project (or idea) via the online entry form. This will be considered by the international panel of judges and the final decision will be announced in January 2005.

If you enter the competition, you will have to confirm that your project has been developed mostly by young people – although it is possible that you will have received limited support from an adult.

The deadline for entries is 6 December 2004.

How does the Academy differ from the Cable & Wireless Childnet Awards? The Academy has grown out of the highly successful Cable & Wireless Childnet Awards, which rewarded 70 innovative web projects over 6 years. The Awards were open to young people, teachers and not-for-profit organisations; however the Academy programme is just for young people 18 years and under.

Think about whether you want to enter a fully developed project or a new idea. If you are entering a project you must have an existing website which the judges can see. If it is an idea, then describe the idea the best way you can and the judges will take into consideration what resources you may or may not have and how young people will benefit from the proposed idea. Read the criteria page. This tells you what the judges are really looking for and how they will judge your project or idea. The judges aren't necessarily looking to reward just "cool" or "flash" sites but are interested in: Is your website or idea exciting and imaginative? How can other children around the world participate in your online project or idea? What will other children get out of going to your site – in other words how does it make a difference to other young people? Has your website been developed mostly by young people themselves? Think about which category you want to be in. For example if you have developed your project primarily in school – enter the Schools category. If you have developed your project outside of school or club either at home or in hospital or with friends – enter the Individual category. If you have a great idea but haven’t started to develop it yet then enter the New to the Net category. Go to the entry form and fill it out and submit online. The project will be judged in January 2005 and the final decisions about the winners will be made in February 2005.