Thanks to generous support from Lights On After School initiative, students at McMeen Elementary School are learning valuable digital literacy skills through the after-school “McMeen Mustang Technicians” program. These skills will help prepare them for the 21st century marketplace and will serve them throughout their entire education and long into the future.
One of the key projects students develop upon entering the program is a digital resume entitled: “I AM…”
For many students, using computers in a manner of self creation is quite a daunting challenge at first, but once they grasp the overall concept and begin to develop their project, the transformation is astonishing and full of self-pride.
The students begin by learning how to maneuver within the world of the computer. They must learn to navigate, find and open applications, use keyboard commands, develop and name their work folders.
Students outline their project, then take digital photos to manipulate and edit for other steps within their outline.
Next, the young imaginative minds must create their own digital music composition, edited within a given timeframe. The process of a composition is broken down to the elements of creation, edit, mix and render. Within the render process, students learn how to put their own creation in certain formats to be distributed in real world applications, such as iTunes or Wav formats for CD and MP3 playback!
The students are further challenged to grasp the skills of creating their first digital multimedia project. It is here that the overall outline takes its greatest shape. Students add pictures, music, text – and the greatest content, imagination! – to develop their “I AM” digital resume. The final step is learning how to burn their very own DVD to be shared with their classmates and loved ones; this becomes their own defining moment of realizing a personal accomplishment.
By compiling their own pictures, music and using critical thinking skills to generate descriptive text, the students come to see the value of technology for expression, and create a piece of work that truly own – and skill sets they never dreamed they would have.
The McMeen Mustang Technicians thank the DPS Foundation and Comcast for this fantastic opportunity to teach students valuable digital technology skills to last a lifetime. Moreover, we thank you for helping us give students something that they are proud of, to share with their peers, families and communities.
Sincerely,
McMeen Mustang Technicians
“Our Technicians of the Future”