Technologies for Creative Learning

The final project is very open. You can design something. You can study how people create and learn with a particular technology. You can write a theoretical or critical paper. Whatever the format, please make sure that your project's core element is connected to the course's major theme of creative learning experiences.

You are welcome (in fact, encouraged) to work in groups. If possible, you should test your tool/materials/activities with sample users.

For this week, please post a paragraph that outlines an idea for your final project.

Final Project Timeline:

• Nov 8: Project idea due (1 paragraph)
• Nov 15: Project proposal due (1 page)
• Nov 22: Project outline due
• Nov 29: Feedback on others' outlines due
• Dec 13: Project presentations
• Dec 13: Project papers due (10 pages)

Interested in examples? Explore project proposal drafts and final design briefs from 2009 and 2010. The framing of the project was somewhat different in previous years, with a greater emphasis on design projects.

Compare Jenkins' ideas about participation with Papert's ideas about constructionism.

Please post your response by 5pm on Sunday, November 6. It's fine to keep the posts short (just a couple of paragraphs). What's most important is communicating your ideas clearly.

The MacArthur Foundation is sponsoring a competition for creating and testing badges and badge systems.

Read the competition announcement and the Mozilla Foundation's badges working paper. Critique the assumptions underlying the badges concept using ideas from this week's readings.

As I find other resources, I'll post them here, but they're completely optional for you to read:

• Bades for lifelong learning: Reframing the debate
• Mozilla Open Badges Site and FAQ

We'll connect this week's reading response to this week's activity. How do the readings help you think about badges?

Please post your response by 5pm on Sunday, October 23. It's fine to keep the posts short (just a couple of paragraphs). What's most important is communicating your ideas clearly.

What is the connection between identity and creative learning?

Help two people learn Scratch, and reflect on the similarities and differences in their learning styles.

Some resources that you might find helpful:

• Getting Started Guide
• Scratch Cards
• Design Studio Activities
• Scratch Curriculum Guide
• Webinar: Getting Started with Scratch

We'll connect this week's reading response to this week's activity. How do the readings help you think about your experience of helping people learn Scratch?

Please post your response by 5pm on Sunday, October 23. It's fine to keep the posts short (just a couple of paragraphs). What's most important is communicating your ideas clearly.

Explore the different ways you are represented online.

In class, we'll be discussing our experiences with this activity. Some questions to think about: Which representations are curated by you? Which are beyond your control?

How do you handle what Turkle describes as the volume and velocity of new communications demands? Do you have a strategy for keeping them in control? Are you getting better at it? Is your strategy evolving?

Please post your response by 5pm on Sunday, October 16. It's fine to keep the posts short (just a couple of paragraphs). What's most important is communicating your ideas clearly.

A few follow-up notes to Tuesday's opening activity:

• Have questions? Write to Sarah at Sarah_Kuhn at uml.edu
• Want instructions? Check out Sarah's detailed instructions for Hyperbolic Crochet Washcloth as PDF
• Looking for more information? Two books that Sarah brought to class were Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes and Making Mathematics with Needlework: Ten Papers and Ten Projects -- and Sarah was featured in an interdisciplinary computing blog post.