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What if we could reappropriate traditional paper pads to teach technology and foster creativity? It might look something like “Hack Your Notebook,” a project that adds illumination—literally—to what you write or draw with a craft called paper circuitry.
Tinkerers of all ages are flexing their creative muscles during the Summer of Making and Connecting, a global project geared to empower digital crafters and match people with maker activities, online or on the street.
“You hear a lot about gaming and engaging kids in STEM subjects, says teacher Jason Sellers. “So, I wondered, what does gaming look like in English?” Sellers, a teacher at the French American International School in San Francisco, found out, basing a classroom lesson in Playfic, an online community where users write, share, and play games using Inform 7, a programming system for creating interactive fiction based on natural language.
Though a recent report by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has found that in general, digital research tools impact students’ work positively, the study also reported that teachers believe that access to technology is also making students much more easily distracted.
For the third annual National Day on Writing, students, teachers, writers and literacy organizations celebrated why they write in today’s tech-driven age. Ongoing partner projects include a “Why I Write Contest,” sponsored by online writing site Figment.
