At Girlhood Remixed, I circulated and helped campers on the computers when they had questions. Sometimes I could help them, other times I referred them to someone else. What impressed me the most was how confident the girls were already with technology. Even if they weren't familiar with a program, the campers were excited to try it. These girls do not think of technology as a male sphere. I also had the opportunity to interact with the girls and talk to them about what they did this summer, what books they were reading, and so forth.
Thirty years ago I attended a technology camp where I was the only girl and had a horrible time. It was exciting to be in a positive girl-friendly environment.
Colleen,
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to hear about this camp since I can't be a part of it. It's great to hear stories about girls in the know of technology. I don't recall such camps during my girlhood so I will experience this vicariously through some of your experiences I hope!
It was amazing to see how comfortable they were with all the tech stuff. I wish I had as much access to such cool gadgets when I was that age. They made imovies and podcasts. Learned about website building and Garage Band. Plus they all got to bond with one another. The camp was tremendous.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The Girhood Remixed Camp was a great experience! I was also very impressed with how adept the girls were in using the range of technology that was available to them at the camp. The bonding experience was another plus. All the girls seemed to get along very well and not exclude anyone.
ReplyDeleteComparing the Girlhood Remixed Campers to NMSU's journalism female students--I can't believe how confident and self assured these girls are when learning technology, as opposed to the 20 year old+ crowd that I was in journalism class with. When the journalism students would learn new programs (garageband, imovie, etc.etc.) the girls were extremely flustered, apologetic that they weren't "learning fast enough" and kept giving excuses that they were "stupid" so it might take them longer to learn the program.... I wonder if it's an age thing of if the newer generation of girls is just a bit more empowered by technology?
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that the girls didn't consider technology to be a "male sphere." Why does our generation always deconstruct the gender issues?
ReplyDeleteI only spent a few minutes in the lab while the girls finished up their websites and YES! they were so confident. I spoke to at least three girls that were on their Facebook pages, because it was a breeze to get through their websites and they didn't seem intimidated at all. It seemed to be a great experience for the campers. I was impressed by the elementary students who participated. I thought that took a lot of confidence. I wondered how I would have handled that at their age.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you all could help with the camp and that you enjoyed it. Those girls were pretty awesome. I think it's probably important to remember that these girls were self-selected to be in the camp and so probably have higher-than-average confidence with technology. Also, I think the gender gap regarding technology may be shrinking generally with this "digital generation".
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