The Prevention Begins With Me product is platform-independent. The HTML- & Flash-based product can be used online or offline. Online, users may watch the Linear versions through our Products page or on our YouTube Channel. Alternatively, the products are also available for download in multiple formats for use offline, including for replication and dissemination under our Creative Commons license.

Physical copies of the Prevent Begins With Me products (e.g., DVD, CD-ROM) are available for purchase (at the cost of printing the materials only) through the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education.

TeachAids operates under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works License. In short, this means any entity is free to use (or replicate) the Prevention Begins With Me products in their current form only. The content may not be altered in any way and must be attributed to the TeachAids organization. Please contact us if you are interested in collaborating to create new language versions of the Prevent Begins With Me products or derivatives of our products.

Please visit our Products page or YouTube Channel for the most up-to-date list of the animation language versions. To learn more about our activities, feel free to sign-up for the TeachAids newsletter available on our Home page.

For accessibility and ease of use, Prevention Begins With Me products are available in multiple format types that may be used based on the resources available in your community environment. The formats available are listed below. If you do not see a format you can use, please contact us directly.

CD Disc Image: This master copy, available as an ISO file, allows for product replication and distribution. It can be used to burn copies of the Prevent Begins With Me products onto any storage device (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, thumb-drive).

• Under our Creative Commons license, this Master may be used to play or install products onto multiple devices.The CD Disc Image is available for both Apple Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. If you are using a different operating system, please contact us directly.

• The Apple Mac version of our product is available as an HTML file and can be launched offline using an existing web browser.
• The Microsoft Windows version is available as an EXE file, which installs the animation onto the computer. After being downloaded, the product can be launched offline using the TeachAids icon on the desktop.
• The product is available for both Apple Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. If you are using a different operating system, please contact us directly.

• Based on your download speed, you may select which size you are able to download. The video versions are available in three different sizes, which are high-quality (~500MB), medium-quality (~200MB), and low-quality (~100MB).
• We always recommend that you use the highest quality versions of the videos when possible but certainly appreciate the difficulties around limited download access and speed.

We have three TeachAids DVDs available, each containing 5-6 animations. Below are the specifics:

DVD 1

• English (North America) Pilot Animation
• Hindi Pilot Animation
• Mandarin Pilot Animation
• Spanish Pilot Animation
• Swahili Pilot Animation

• English (Botswana) Production Animation – Female
• English (Botswana) Production Animation – Male
• Kinyarwanda Pilot Animation
• Setswana Production Animation – Female
• Setswana Production Animation – Male
• Swahili Pilot Animation

• English (India) Production Animation – Female
• English (India) Pilot Animation – Male
• Hindi Pilot Animation
• Telugu Production Animation – Female
• Telugu Production Animation – Male

The Educator’s Handbook is a supplementary document that was developed to accompany the use of Prevention Begins With Me products. It includes letters to educators from an interdisciplinary team at Stanford University, basic HIV and AIDS related terminology, mini case studies demonstrating the use of Prevention Begins With Me products in multiple countries, activities for a classroom setting (e.g. worksheets, quiz questions) and frequently asked questions.

The Educator’s Handbook may be viewed online directly from our Products page or downloaded for free (available in multiple formats). Physical copies may be purchased (at the cost of printing only) through the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education.

All TeachAids products, including the Educator Handbook, are available for free under our Creative Commons license.

The single-page layout displays each page separately. This may be useful if you are interested in printing particular pages from the Handbook. The double-page layout displays the content in a magazine format. This is typically used to print the entire Handbook as a bound hard copy.

The high-quality (large) version is optimized for printing hard copies, while the lower-quality (small) version is optimized for viewing the Handbook online or on a screen.

Thousands of young people around the world are using the Prevention Begins With Me products to educate themselves and their loved ones. Below are some steps you can take to help empower your community:

• Organize a showing of the animated products to educate others (e.g., in schools, clubs or at-risk groups in your community). This is especially popular around December 1st – World AIDS Day.
• Promote learning through use of social media – post animation links to Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.
• Share the TeachAids animations with other nonprofits, church groups, study abroad programs and/or with comparable organizations in your community.

As an educator, you are in an instrumental position to promote awareness among many learners. Despite your knowledge level around various health issues, you will be able to use the TeachAids animations to optimize learning and retention in your learning environment. If you are highly knowledgeable about these issues, or have access to a medical/health expert, these products can be used as supplementary tool to reiterate key concepts and messages. However, if you are new to this information, or uncomfortable teaching about health-related topics, you may simply play the animations in your classroom to impart comprehensive and accurate knowledge to your learners.

One Computer Per Learner

• Each learner can work at his/her own pace
• Learners have privacy, which can make learning about sensitive subjects more comfortable

• Use the Interactive version
• Option to provide group-wide breaks for discussion

• Headphones, one per learner (optimal)
• Computer with CD drive and/or Internet access

One Computer Per 2-4 Learners

• 2–4 learners can use one computer to view the animations together
• Engages small groups of learners interactively

• Use the Interactive version
• Walk among the small groups to make sure that each learner is engaged
• Learners may want to take turns being in charge of the computer mouse

• Speakers
• Computer with CD drive and/or Internet access

One Computer Per Many Learners

• Only one computer per group is necessary
• The teacher may pause between chapters to engage the entire class in discussion

• Use the Linear version (optimal)
• Be mindful that some learners may not feel comfortable asking questions or discussing sensitive subjects in front of the entire class

• Speakers
• Blank wall or screen
• Computer projector
• Computer with CD drive and/or Internet access

The NGO community has been instrumental in mobilizing large independent entities to take action with the Prevention Begins With Me products. Below are the most common models used:

• Empower local leaders through a “train the trainers” model. This model allows for training of selected leaders of a community to use the Prevention Begins With Me products to then, in turn, train others, traveling to other communities, to take action.
• Replicate the TeachAids animations locally and distribute the customized products to neighboring partner organizations, libraries, schools and after-school programs. Contact us if you would like help with the replication process.
• Organize larger showings of the Prevention Begins With Me products with neighboring or partner organizations.
• Include a link to the Prevention Begins With Me products on your resources/information web page.

Government partnerships have been a powerful vehicle to deliver these products to large groups of learners in short periods of time. Particularly through centralized distribution channels, governments (e.g., ministries of education, health, family welfare, science and technology) have been able to replicate these products and implement them into the local government and government-aided scholastic institutions. Below are the most useful actions:

• Partner with TeachAids to customize and bring culturally-appropriate animated products to your state or country.
• Replicate free products locally and disseminate through all distribution channels/networks to reach a large community of learners.
• Use products to train government-affiliated health care workers and arm them with materials to train their constituents.
• Integrate the products into your government’s official health-related curricula.
• Provide links to the Prevention Begins With Me products on government health-related web pages.

In 2005, these initial products were designed for young people. Since then, we have tested our materials with learners from middle school age through college age, with high efficacy levels. However, over the years, organizations have been using the products for children in elementary school all the way through those who are past their working years, with much success. The products have been used to educate individuals in various demographics with differing health education knowledge levels; for instance, soldiers in the military, commercial sex workers, HIV-positive populations, orphaned children, school-going populations, at-risk youth, corporate social/recruiting events, and training of health case workers, among others.

The “Interactive” version of the products allows users to interact with the animations through question/answer sessions. This option is ideal for individuals or small groups operating the animation on a computer. The “Linear” version plays the animation straight through. This option is ideal for projecting the animation to groups of any size.

See response to “I am a teacher” above for optimal use.

All our product versions are research-based, pedagogically-grounded and incorporate locally developed and tested scripts, indigenous voices/accents, and culturally-appropriate metaphors and euphemisms.

• The Production versions are fully customized, incorporating the voices of celebrated regional cultural icons, evidence-based animated characterizations, and are distributed widely through established country-specific partnerships.
• The Pilot versions integrate voices of localized accents for each language the software targets and uses generalized doctor/student characters with limited pictorial customizations.
• The latest animated software will always be available on our Products page as well as through our YouTube Channel.

If you are concerned you have HIV or AIDS, you should go immediately to talk to your doctor or a trained medical professional. They can direct you to the best resources in your community.

Below are some reputable global organizations or institutions where you can find the latest information about HIV and AIDS:

• AVERT
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
• United States Department of Health & Human Services
• World Health Organization