Tech-Savvy Girls: Learning 21st-Century Skills Through STEAM Digital Artmaking

Abstract

Redefining the educational model of science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum (STEM) to also include art to become STEAM (Fournier, 2013; Guyotte, Sochacka, Constantino, Walther, & Kellam, 2014) is a current method to encourage students to actively participate in 21st-century learning (Saxena, 2014). The skills emphasized for 21st-century learning include critical thinking and problem solving; collaboration and communication; and creativity and innovation (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007). Encouraging students to pursue a STEM career has become an important U.S. educational policy that emphasizes teaching these 21st-century skills along with STEM knowledge in the discourse of future economic growth.

Endnotes

Notes

¹ Video editing, presentation, and animation applications such as Final Cut, Keynote, and Adobe Flash may be used to create digital stories.

² OpenSim is a virtual environment that allows multiple users to interact through digital avatars in real time. Students create their own avatars to represent themselves in OpenSim. Students also create 3-D objects for different purposes such as building their own imaginative world or create accessories for their avatars. OpenSim is a free, open-source program that can be set up by educators.

³ Global Kids, a non-profit educational organization, used Teen Second Life to teach students machinima creation to address social justice issues (“Global Kids Online Leadership Program,” n.d.).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christine Liao

Christine Liao is Assistant Professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle, Literacy, and Special Education at University of North Carolina, Wilmington. E-mail: [email protected]

Jennifer L. Motter

Jennifer L. Motter is New Media Art Program Developer and Art Teacher at Forest Hills Middle School, Sidman, Pennsylvania. E-mail: [email protected]

Ryan M. Patton

Ryan M. Patton is Assistant Professor of Art Education in the Department of Art Education at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond. E-mail: [email protected]