Fitzroy Computer Clubhouse

The Clubhouse is guided by four principles:
* Learning By Designing - The Clubhouse focuses on “constructionist” activities, encouraging young people to work as designers, inventors, and creators.
* Following your interests - The Clubhouse encourages youth to work on projects related to their own interests.
* Building a Community - The Clubhouse aims to create a sense of community, where young people work together with one another with support and inspiration from adult mentors.
* Respect and Trust - The Clubhouse is dedicated to offering resources and opportunities to those who would not otherwise have access to them. At Clubhouses, young people are treated with trust and respect - and are expected to treat others the same way. At the Clubhouse, the goal is to create and environment in which participants feel safe to experiment, explore and innovate. Youth are given the time they need to play out their ideas; it is understood that ideas (and people) need time to develop.
The Computer Clubhouse gives participants the opportunity to become designers and creators–not just passive consumers–of technology. The Clubhouse provides the resources, materials, and tools for young people to develop projects in the following areas:
* computer simulations
* multimedia creations
* electronic music
* computer game design
* electronic publishing
* computer-controlled devices
* three-dimensional design
* developing World-Wide Web pages

Rather than playing games with computers, young people learn how to use professional software for design, exploration, and experimentation. In the Clubhouse, young people can try for themselves what it is like to be an architect, engineer, composer, artist, journalist, scientific researcher, computer programmer, and a wide array of other professions in the modern workplace.

When young people first visit the Clubhouse, they are able to choose among introductory exploration activities, including designing their own dream house, mixing their own digitized music, experimenting with image processing, and building a computer-controlled amusement park ride. As they continue their involvement in the Clubhouse program, participants begin to develop more in-depth projects, either individually or as part of a project team. The Clubhouse provides many youth with their first experience devoting themselves to the development of a project over a period of weeks or months.

Activities in The Computer Clubhouse are guided by the current educational research which shows that adolescents learn most effectively when they are engaged in designing and creating projects, rather than memorizing facts or learning isolated skills out of context. The Clubhouse fosters a learner-centered, informal educational approach that encourages participants to discover their interests and apply their own ideas. Given the support and freedom to pursue their own ideas, young people get beyond their disinterest and apathy about learning, and develop the internal motivation to learn and grow.

The Clubhouse educational approach is also based on research that shows the importance of interpersonal relationships and community in the learning process, particularly for adolescents. Young people are influenced a great deal outside of school by the people around them, peers as well as adults. In the Clubhouse, young people interact with other youth and adults who are enthusiastic about learning and are interested and invested in their work. Clubhouse members become part of a community that values and respects hard work and the pursuit and sharing of ideas and knowledge.

The Computer Clubhouse: Technological Fluency in the Inner City
By Mitchel Resnick, Natalie Rusk, and Stina Cooke