Wrapping up the class with the Online Content Construction Module was a good way to end, as it embodied a lot of the topics that have been discussed in the past Modules. The ideas presented by Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis in “Multiliteracies: New Literacies, New Learning” presented some interesting, new ideas and some that have been brought in discussion previously. They discussed the idea that workers in today’s society need to be well-rounded and continuously need to broaden their skills in order to keep with demands placed on them. The idea of moving away from list memorization and such straightforward thinking in schools, was brought up which I think is terribly important and something I will take away from this class. As I was looking for a little bit more information on this topic, I came across this article I found this to be very interesting that it was posted in 1982, discussing this shift in teaching. In the Cope and Kalantzis article, they talked about the New London Group that met in 1994 to discuss where technology was headed. I found this to be quite interesting because this was a pivotal time in technology- the internet was coming up (who remembers AOL dial up?) although it was not as prominent as it would become today. I thought the kid in the Learning STEM Skills by Deigning Video Games YouTube video was pretty awesome! I have worked with many kids who have said they want to be a video game designer when they get older, most likely because of their extreme adoration for them. This program allows individuals to do just this and in the process they are learning skills that apply to many other areas like problem solving, math, physics, and problem solving. Another cool thing about this program is the room for feedback from different people, which in typical schools is difficult to receive from teachers due to the amount of students per teacher ratio. I thought it was very brave and mature of the child in the video when he talked about receiving negative comments from people that were not constructive. We need constructive criticism from our peers in order to improve and make strides, which is also what we have been doing in this course. The video entitled Cultural Anthropologist Mimi Ito on Connected Learning, Children, and Digital Media touched on some important ideas about the use of technology that I think are some important ideas we have discussed earlier in this course. She discussed how there is an old perception that when kids are in front of a screen, they are wasting their time and could be doing something more effective and productive. She argued the point that kids socializing online on multiple different online platforms is an important part of kids growing up today. This is the new age of technology and we have to accept this and allow our kids to thrive. This social learning is occurring on these website and this area of learning is equally as important as learning academics in schools.
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