Video-based virtual clubs - Using multimedia to re-present technology to women

The Virtual Clubs project is providing a novel solution to the problem of how to attract more women into IT. The goal of the project is to engage young women's interest by changing their perceptions of what technology can offer them. Funded by a BT University Development Award, six secondary schools are linked to universities via desktop videoconferencing, using collaborative technology and Internet applications to create a virtual club. Young women are being enabled to acquire a range of new shills in creating and sharing multimedia information, thereby enhancing their perceptions of their own abilities in using technology. The project is creating a networked community of young women who might otherwise be excluded from the technological future.