Closing Thoughts

When I first began this course, I had no idea about the breadth of new media and new literacies that were out there and being used to the benefit of learners. This course opened my eyes to the idea that literacy is not defined simply by text any longer, and words no longer have to be read off of the written page for an individual to be considered literate. It was eye opening to see the many ways in which learning environments have changed, and are continuing to change, and I owe it to this course [and all of you] that I now have a better understanding of what it means both to read and to learn.

 The most interesting aspect of this course, to me, was the conversations held about digital natives and digital immigrants. Having grown up around technology, I think that I took for granted the fact that many learners might not have the same skillset or digital expertise that I, and other digital natives, do have; and I think that taking that into consideration is important when looking to utilize new Medias within a learning environment. Considerations have to be made, whether it is by training or designing a digital platform that is easily navigated and used by learners with varying degrees of digital expertise; because no learner should be left behind regardless of their digital skill set. Along these same lines, I believe that more attention has to be given to those learners who are lacking in their digital knowledge, so that they can gain the full benefit of learning with new media.

The impact that new media and new literacies can, and will, have on our learners is great; and as such, I will be sure to pay extra attention to the ways in which varying types of media are being used within the world around me. The potential that can be found within various media should no longer be taken for granted, something that I learned while researching the benefit of using MMORPGs for learning during my final project. 

Overall, this course has given me the foundation to begin building learning experiences rich in new media, and to never assume that benefit cannot be found in videos, social media, and other types of media that one might not suspect to be useful. 

Learning potential is everywhere.