Libroko.com, Microsoft Youthspark Challenge for Change Finalist
From almost 800 applicants from around the world, the Microsoft Youthspark Challenge for Change competition has just announced it’s top 20 Finalists who will compete in the final round. where the public will now vote and decide whose ideas/projects they support from April 15 to April 22, 2014.
The Microsoft Youthspark Challenge for Change Competition gives youth around the world the opportunity to prove that their project/ideas can best help their respective communities or countries. In the final round, Finalists will have to get votes from their family, friends and the general public during the short voting period of April 15 to April 22, 2014; the top 5 finalists with the most votes will win funding to make their projects and ideas a reality.
Hailing from the Philippines is Dominic Co, deemed as one of 20 finalists by a panel of judges from Microsoft for his entry “Developing Literary Appreciation Among Filipino Youth”, a website called Libroko.com aimed to help Filipino Youth understand Filipino literature in the context of history.
The voting period is from April 15 to April 22, 2014 and the public may vote daily during this period. The general public’s vote and support would determine whether Dominic’s project Libroko.com would receive the funding to make it happen.
Check out the following link to vote and learn more about Libroko.com: https://bit.ly/MicrosoftLibroko
WHAT IS YOUR PROJECT?
Dominic: My competition entry entitled “Developing Literary Appreciation Among Filipino Youth” is a project to create a website called Libroko.com, an online resource for Filipino Youth and teachers to discuss, analyze and in general, better understand Filipino Literature, in particular El Filibusterismo and Noli Me Tangere, in the context of Philippine history. Libroko.com would have student forums, quizzes, articles and analysis of these books by preeminent Filipino Historians and Rizal Scholars, and an online essay contest all for students to use and access freely.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WANT TO MAKE THIS SITE LIBROKO.COM?
Dominic: Back in highschool, I had a really tough time reading and studying Filipino literature like Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo because of the deep Filipino that these text use, a lack of online study-aid material and simply put, I really couldn’t understand its relevancy to me as a youth of today’s time. So I didn’t really appreciate reading it! But when I finally entered college and took an extraordinary and fun Kasaysayan I class about Philippine history, I realized that the reason why so many student’s can’t appreciate these books is because these books aren’t taught in the context of Philippine History. Students tend to treat these text as purely fiction and not as a reflection of society back then and even today! For example, did you know that during the Spanish colonial era, Spanish soldiers weren’t allowed to mingle with native Filipino’s and only the Friars were as decreed by the Pope? That could imply a lot of things about our Spanish heritage and blood! That’s why I would like to use these shared stories to foster a sense of national identity in Filipino youth, using the Libroko.com as a way for young people to rediscover key moments in Filipino history through some of the most famous stories in our literary canon. To make these stories come alive, so to speak.
HOW WILL WINNING HELP LIBROKO.COM?
By winning the Microsoft Youthspark Challenge for Change Competition, Libroko.com would be able to receive the grant funds needed to further develop the site and maintain it. The other prizes will be used to fund our first online essay contest to attract Filipino youth to join! Also, the mere title of winning this competition and your votes would help the site get known in the community and help get more scholars, more supporters and more students to contribute to our project. To make all of this happen, we need your votes!
For more information and a video about Libroko.com: Visit https://bit.ly/MicrosoftLibroko
To Vote for this project:
Visit https://bit.ly/MicrosoftLibroko
