The MIT Media lab has developed a program turning ‘kids from media consumers into media producers’. Stephanie Schorow, in her article Creating from Scratch, purports that the Scratch software unleashes kids’ creativity online. Scratch enables students to make their own interactive stories, games, music and animation that can then be uploaded onto the web. While this seems a challenging task to be achieved by children, Scratch opens the gate for all to benefit, enabling students to create interactive stories and games that could previously only be achieved by computer programmers. This new software is simple to use; students place together graphical blocks to develop their creations and promotes that using this software doesn’t require the students to understand the jargon of traditional programming languages, including punctuation and syntax. Designed for kids aged 8 years and up, Scratch gets the students to think creatively and solve problems systematically which The MIT Media Lab believes are skills critical to success in the 21st century. The biggest benefit this program provides is that the students’ creations can be shared with other kids within an online community, providing them inspiration and feedback to further develop their work. With input from children when developing Scratch, the MIT Media Lab have created a program with no limit to what students can achieve. The variety of stories and games reflect a diverse range of imaginations, catering to any topic which enables them to capture their thoughts and ideas, an aspect that I feel to be especially valuable to the construction process. Positive responses to the software by students and teachers are obvious when you explore the final products that have been submitted on the website. These examples are inspirational when you consider that the animations were created by children, so check out http://scratch.mit.edu/ .
They’re committed to improving opportunities and pathways for all students, but the strategy outlined by the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts aims to capture girls’ interest in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Hayley acknowledges that while it’s important to engage all students in ICT, this strategy endeavours to encourage girls to explore new technologies, thus building confidence in the field. It may be subject to gender stereotypes – the ICT industry is one predominantly male oriented, a figure the Queensland Department of Education is trying to change. The 2005 – 2008 Girls and ICT Strategy provides ‘tips, tricks and project ideas’ that can act as a springboard for teachers to engage girls in ICT through all phases of learning.
Hayley has found a YouTube video that highlights the opportunities that are available to a student when interest and confidence is created and sustained in its use.
Video Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhzRSGVBWh4
The New Media Consortium (NMC) is an organisation that is dedicated to pushing the use of new media and technology, so states the video on the Learning and Physical Challenges Education Program forum. The NMC has gone beyond the 2nd dimension, creating an interactive 3D campus within the virtual world of Second Life. This ‘world’ encourages the sharing of new ideas and knowledge between users which can be beneficial outcome from accessing the online campus that NMC has developed. When convening in this virtual 3D world, people are exposed to ‘insightful interaction, collaboration, learning and experimentation’ which not only allows them to develop their skills of using new media but also gives them an opportunity to critically reflect upon issues prevalent within the Second World community. The NMC provides its users with a platform to interact in a shared space in real time, thus a richer, creative interaction is available than that on the 2D web. This Second Life can become people’s lives, which provides benefits, but also runs the risk of engaging the individual to the point where they become detached from reality, preferring their virtual life than partaking in their own life. Immersing students in a virtual world that may overcome their learning and physical challenges can help to solve real world issues, but is the risk of the students disengaging from their reality one that’s too great to implement this new media within students’ learning environment?
