Adobe Youth Voices Literature Review

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) received a grant from Adobe to conduct an evaluation of the Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) program. As part of the evaluation, EDC conducted a review of relevant literature to situate AYV in a broader context, provide stakeholders with a framework for understanding goals and outcomes, and frame and inform the evaluation questions. EDC reviewed scholarly articles, program reports and evaluations, and research studies that addressed youth media programs, youth development, teacher professional development, and other areas related to AYV's goals.Among the findings, the literature review includes 6 key points that speak to the AYV program:1. The goals of youth media programs most commonly cited can be grouped into several categories: Youth voice -- the capacity for self-expression Youth development -- the process of developing the skills and personal attributes that enable young people to become successful adults Media literacy -- the ability to analyze, evaluate and produce information in a variety of media forms Skill development -- such as communication, critical thinking, technology, and media production skills Social action or civic engagement 2. Outcomes and impacts on participants of youth media programs commonly found in the literature include: Improved skills Improved community perception of youth Positive youth development Increased social action and civic engagement 3. Outcomes and impacts on participants of youth development programs frequently cited include:Improved communication, critical thinking, and related skills Increased self-esteem More positive attitudes towards school and their futures 4. There is broad agreement that traditional educational approaches do not adequately address 21st century skills. Education must adapt to be more compatible with the ways in which young people think and learn, as well as the tools and media that are part of their environment.5. Student engagement in education has been associated with positive youth development and 21st century skills. Engaging instruction often includes inquiry- or project-based, multidisciplinary, and authentic learning activities.6. Educator professional development is believed to be a key step toward improving student outcomes. While there is little research that can demonstrate this connection, there is new focus on evaluating the effectiveness of professional development activities. Elements of effective professional development include learning communities and collaboration, ongoing support and assistance, and active or applied learning

Highly Stretchable, High-Mobility, Free-Standing All-Organic Transistors Modulated by Solid-State Elastomer Electrolytes

Highly stretchable, high-mobility, and free-standing coplanar-type all-organic transistors based on deformable solid-state elastomer electrolytes are demonstrated using ionic thermoplastic polyurethane (i-TPU), thereby showing high reliability under mechanical stimuli as well as low-voltage operation. Unlike conventional ionic dielectrics, the i-TPU electrolyte prepared herein has remarkable characteristics, i.e., a large specific capacitance of 5.5 mu F cm(-2), despite the low weight ratio (20 wt%) of the ionic liquid, high transparency, and even stretchability. These i-TPU-based organic transistors exhibit a mobility as high as 7.9 cm(2) V-1 s(-1), high bendability (R-c, radius of curvature: 7.2 mm), and good stretchability (60% tensile strain). Moreover, they are suitable for low-voltage operation (V-DS = -1.0 V, V-GS = -2.5 V). In addition, the electrical characteristics such as mobility, on-current, and threshold voltage are maintained even in the concave and convex bending state (bending tensile strain of approximate to 3.4%), respectively. Finally, free-standing, fully stretchable, and semi-transparent coplanar-type all-organic transistors can be fabricated by introducing a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonic acid layer as source/drain and gate electrodes, thus achieving low-voltage operation (V-DS = -1.5 V, V-GS = -2.5 V) and an even higher mobility of up to 17.8 cm(2) V-1 s(-1). Moreover, these devices withstand stretching up to 80% tensile strain

Universal Route to Impart Orthogonality to Polymer Semiconductors for Sub-Micrometer Tandem Electronics

A universal method that enables utilization of conventional photolithography for processing a variety of polymer semiconductors is developed. The method relies on imparting chemical and physical orthogonality to a polymer film via formation of a semi-interpenetrating diphasic polymer network with a bridged polysilsesquioxane structure, which is termed an orthogonal polymer semiconductor gel. The synthesized gel films remain tolerant to various chemical and physical etching processes involved in photolithography, thereby facilitating fabrication of high-resolution patterns of polymer semiconductors. This method is utilized for fabricating tandem electronics, including pn-complementary inverter logic devices and pixelated polymer light-emitting diodes, which require deposition of multiple polymer semiconductors through solution processes. This novel and universal method is expected to significantly influence the development of advanced polymer electronics requiring sub-micrometer tandem structures