Reasons to Take This Course (CORE209604-Top Core Curr in Glob Studies): A Journey of Learning and Growth

Are you a student looking for a course to fuel your creativity? A class that blends technology, artificial intelligence, and literacy perfectly? Ever wondered how to protect your privacy and digital footprint? Do you feel like you can be misled by fake news sometimes? Well, we’ve got you covered. This is the cutting-edge literacy course where you’ll learn all about these things. In this blog post, I’ll show you what I learned, and after reading it, you can decide if this course is right for you.

What I Learned in This Eye-Opening Course

a. About Myself:

One major self-realization came from the game creation project. Working collaboratively pushed me out of my comfort zone to be more assertive in providing constructive feedback early in the brainstorming process.

 

The discussions around oppression and fake news also sparked important self-reflection. The oppression unit made me reexamine unconscious biases, while the fake news section highlighted how susceptible I am to misinformation.

b. For My Academic Life:

I developed stronger time management and study habits like setting reminders and dedicated work blocks. The presentations enhanced my public speaking abilities to effectively express myself and communicate technical skills. Most crucially, I built a solid foundation across digital, emotional, creativity, and copyright literacies vital for my future academics.

c. For My Social Life:

The Connect Program sessions exposed me to diverse perspectives that will help me connect better across cultures. The emotional literacy activities provided strategies for managing emotions and being more empathetic. I’m now more discerning about credible content and leave a more thoughtful digital footprint. Overall, I developed greater awareness of group dynamics.

d. For My Career:

The presentations gave me experience clearly articulating ideas that will translate well to pitches, trainings, and meetings. I understand core subjects like digital literacy and ethical content use applicable across industries. I honed critical thinking, problem-solving mindsets, and creativity/innovation methods – assets for any career.

Showcasing My Learning: Three Standout Creations

  1. Alt CV

This was a unique and creative assignment introduced to us by the professor early on in the semester. It required us to create a creative resume that showcases the empathetic and unique part of our personalities. It was an assignment created for the purpose of demonstrating what we want in life, what life means to us, and the raw appreciation for the trivial things that are deeply embedded in our personalities. This creative visual resume highlighted my multimedia skills, ability to think outside the box, personality, and innovative use of technology. It demonstrates my capacity to present myself uniquely and effectively. In the instructions it was indicated for us not to say this was fun or I enjoyed it, but in all honesty, I would go so far as to say that this was one of my most favorite assignments that I created, not only in this course, but in this semester as a whole. Take a look at my alt CV Here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hixZ2TXSxWwGkaQpSSvjoSWGc7FK3_rg/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=102725591116701777228&rtpof=true&sd=true

  1. Disability Advocacy Game This interactive game that I created along with my best friend, who is also my classmate, advocates for disability rights while beautifully showcasing the kind and respectful side of friendship across our commonalities and differences. It exhibits project management, technical game design abilities, and applying concepts to impactful storytelling that educates and entertains players simultaneously. This game serves as a means for disability advocacy, while also visually and through the storyline depicting tangible parts of our lives that we aspire to share through this game project.
                1. AI Digital Pathways Project Choosing this innovative tech pathway demonstrates my grasp of digital literacy principles. The experiments that came after an in-depth AI course I took on Coursera, the research conducted pre and post assignment, and the digital literacy profile we students created all represent my analytical skills and comfort using modern technologies. You can read my blog post on this particular topic here: https://reflect.creativitycourse.org/published/ai-as-a-trained-child-digital-pathway/

Musical break

While learning can be intense, it’s important to take breaks and rejuvenate. I, as a musician,  worked on some musical projects that reflect my journey. Here’s one of the pieces that I created. This one is called Afwan Ayoha elkanoon, by the great Omar Khayrat. Enjoy a moment of relaxation before diving back into the reasons why you should take this course!

Potential Improvements

  1. More Comprehensive AI Integration I would’ve loved to see AI integrated more creatively throughout. For example, assignments tailored to each student’s field to showcase our unique skills. More AI focus earlier would’ve been great too – it felt a bit rushed when introduced with midterms/finals coming up. I felt there were lots of AI tools we could’ve experimented with.
  2. Hands-On Digital Security Workshops, and more workshops and possible field trips in general

Adding workshops focused on digital security would be valuable. These could help students protect data and privacy online – increasingly important practical skills. This could be established through having more guests, such as the professor from Finland that we had as a part of the class, or also having an assignment such as attending and online security conference, or conferences that are related to AI.

  1. More Collaborative Projects. While I really enjoyed the reflections that we did based on different assignments, such as the game preparation faze, which required playing a number of games, or the Alt CV creation process, I would’ve loved to see more team-based assignments incorporated. Having to work together in groups on various projects does wonders for leveling up teamwork abilities and learning from classmates. Collaborating with diverse peers across different assignments really fosters creativity, problem-solving skills, and communication for me. Getting more opportunities like that would’ve been awesome.

To keep you inspired, here’s another of my musical projects: “River Flows in You.”

Final Thoughts: Who Should Take This Course?

This course is ideal for students curious about digital literacy, passionate about social justice, and eager to develop a wide skillset for academic, social, and professional success. Whether you want to discover a new side of yourself, work on impactful projects, enhance literacies, build connections, or prepare for your career – this course offers something for everyone.

The Conclusion

For me, taking this course was a journey of profound learning and growth, filled with fun,  meaningful moments, and creative projects. If you’re looking for a challenging, inspiring course to prepare you for the future, this is it. I must also point out that I took this course with my bestie, so if anyone reading this, ever has the chance to take the course with someone that they really care for and love, it’s going to make it even better, especially with the collaboration projects that are there, such as the game creation process. And remember, keep some music in your life to stay entertained and motivated!