maryelizondo7: Can Pals help kids get their voices heard (video)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Can Pals help kids get their voices heard (video)

Message from Me isn't the only way Carnegie Mellon's CREATE Labis helping kids communicate. The lab's Hear Me team has come up with Can Pals, a clever twist on the tin can phone that helps students share their stories with the world. Kids record their non-fictional tales on computers or via mics brought in by the Hear Me team, who will edit and upload them to the site and transfer them onto the electronic cans. Afterwards, kids can draw a picture or add some text to a label, which is adhered to the outside.

The Hear Me team then brings them to another school, where the stories are shared with other students, who can pull off the labels and respond to the speakers. The group has also designed CanEX displays that are already at some businesses around town, letting customers catch a glimpse into the lives of local children. CREATE calls it an "empowerment tool for advocacy" -- we can't help but refer to it as This American Life or The Moth for kids. Either way, pretty cool.

Gallery: Can Pals help kids get their voices heard