Creating from Scratch
The MIT Media Lab is now allowing children to do what only expert programmers could do, and that is turning children from media consumers into media producers. In Stephanie Sshorow’s article “Creating from Scratch” We see the benefits of this program. It allows children to create their own interactive stories, games and music and this can all be put on the Web, a perfect way to celebrate achievement, provide feedback and inspiration.
This is a major jump in technology and may be hard for people to use but Scratch opens the gates for everyone and makes it quite easy to use by simply snapping together graphical blocks. Scratch is highly collaborative that allows one to come back and modify their work, as their knowledge increases so does their work. Children can go and modify and extend one another’s projects, and also learning from one another in the process. The array of different projects allows us to see that children can simply explore anything that captures their imaginations.
The benefits of using such a program are obvious, as children work on their products, they learn to think creatively and solve problems systematically- skills that are critical in the 21st Century believes Resnick.
Students are able to design goals for their projects and problem solve, they collaborate, co-operate and co teach. Scratch gives children to the power to drive their own learning and be masters of their own creations. Students are able to work at their own pace and modify when needed and this is when true learning does occur. This isn’t ultimately about the final product it gets students to think about the process whilst always being able to come back to the project, this is one advantage that Technology has that pen and paper can’t really compete with.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)And the girls?
I came across Lauren’s blog on girls and ICT. She raises an important issue that the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts are implementing.
ICT is seen proximately as a male field therefore it is dominated by males. This stereotype has seen females lost somewhere behind. The 2005-2008 Girls and ICT Strategy provides ideas to improve girls interest, motivation
and participation in ICT. I believe this is a great idea; technology is one of those things that when you truly do understand it the sky is the limit. Technology allows things to be accomplished that sometimes a pen and paper can’t do. Smart boards, Internet lessons that allow children to work at their own pace not everyone else’s pace, Blogs, podcasts the list is endless, and girls shouldn’t be deprived of learning these things.
The YouTube video that is inserted really pushed through this idea that Girls are just as good when it comes to technology, they just need a chance and the opportunity to keep being sustained, I like the way it points out that technology Is the way of the future which is so true so lets not leave the girls or for the fact anybody behind.
Uncategorized | Comment (0)
