(14.1) Reading Takeaways

What I gleaned from the readings was the fact that the American Education system is so resistant to change. Anything that's new, or that might be beneficial seems to be shunned for archaic ways of thinking and working. I think if we used thing like programing and computer science, and robotics and circuitry, I would've been more invested in learning about math and science--but then again these technologies are relatively new and not everyone is familiar with it. What I found after working with this is that it's built up to be bigger and scarier than it actually is. This is because it's usually not approached using play and inquiry-based learning. 

Another thing I'd like to mention is being a girl, access to these things have been severely limited because of my sex. That's why I think programs like Girls Who Code is so important for society. It breaks down the barrier of who has access to these languages and ways of working. Now more people will be able to have skills and literacy. 

It's potential for art making is also quite vast. Everyone in class made such different things, but all were interesting and all used simple circuits. If you equip kids with the tools, they can and will make something wonderful especially when approached as playing. None of us really knew circuitry so explaining how to create a simple circuit and then telling kids to create something that's of interest to them will lead to projects you could never imagine.