Teacher workshop on creating content for children

On 29 November 2019, the German Book Office and Avid Learning organised the 11th edition of Beyond the Book: Jumpstart, an annual congress of content creators, aimed at facilitating capacity development in the childrens content space. Ms Martina Roy represented The Indian School at the workshop which sought to promote understanding of how a plethora of content creators for children can interact, learn and brainstorm together in the field of childrens content and pedagogical tools.

While the Jumpstart programme has so far completed 10 editions with the participation of 181 speakers from 13 countries, comprising 30 masterclasses on myriad topics, the session this year focussed on crafting synergies between publishing and writing for young adults. As teachers contribute immensely in shaping a childs future, the series of masterclasses looked at not just the contents for young minds but also on how to encourage children to write creatively.

Jan Weitendorf Von Hacht, Head of publishing at W-1 Media, addressed publishing professionals on how to create content for children that remains relevant at all times. While the session primarily addressed publishing houses and authors, the presentation by Jan was a great learning experience to understand how publishers can and should attract audience towards the printed work.

What followed was a brief session by Devashish Sharma, Country Head of Wattpad India, who introduced the audience to his internet community for readers and writers. The community publishes original user-generated content in different genres. The presentation shed light on Wattpads 80 million readers and writers, emphasising how everyone can use the platform to share their own stories.

The last session of the day was on creative writing for young adults by author, Ken Spillman. Citing examples from his personal experience, Ken said how he started writing from the age of 8 and how, while writing a fiction story, it is important for everyone to live it first through the lens of the character. Quoting Libby Gleeson he said that there is never a perfect time to write and that children and young adults must imbibe the habit of writing from an early age. Ken elaborated how writing is like a practice of being what you are and that one must take ones own morsel of ideas to create their own imaginary worlds through a story. What followed was a nail biting exercise wherein he gave the participants some cue words and asked them to pen their own stories. Ken then requested the audience to share some of their writing so that one could learn from each others styles, techniques, ranges, imaginations and storytelling abilities.

The fest proved to be a great exchange platform for a dissemination of knowledge in the field of childrens content. The day-long session and series of masterclasses were not just enlightening and highly instructive but also an eye opening experience about the finer details of digital education and how combined resources, ideas and content can bridge the learning gaps.

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