I was fortunate to present at the Association for Education and Communication Technologies (AECT) 2017 International Conference, "Leading Learning for Change". As anticipated, the sessions were fantastic, and the people were amazing. I was surprised, however, by the number of sessions whose topic titles included specific references to creativity. As a musician and fine arts educator, I have attended annual music conferences since I was in high school, and did not remember seeing sessions specifically referencing creativity in near the number represented at AECT. I asked one of my EDTC professors (for whom creativity is a specific research interest) why she thought that might be, and she said the definition of creativity as interpreted by the arts is just, really, much narrower. I was a bit stunned. She is an established research professional, with firm credentials in the field of creativity research. Her conclusion is informed by rigorous analysis of empirical data. That explains a lot, I think. Creativity is identified as a skill important for 21st century learners, it has been determined that creativity can be taught, and educational institutions are rising to meet that challenge. Maker spaces and genius time garner funding yet, curiously, the arts continue to be cut. I attended one of the AECT creativity workshops, and it was not only fantastic, but helped me understand better how my professor came to her conclusion. Creativity, as explored in the AECT workshop led by Brad Hokanson, is defined as "the ability to generate and express ideas that are new and useful or, in other words, novel and applicable" (Hokanson, 2017, p. 34). That definition is referenced as being used by the National Science Foundation and other research organizations (Hokanson, 2017). I don't know as that is how those in the arts would define creativity. I do know that activities take place in the arts classrooms which fit into that definition. If arts budgets are being cut while other disciplines receive funding to facilitate the cultivation of creativity, it occurs to me that perhaps I have not, as a fine arts educator, done an effective job of communicating the ways in which experiences in my classroom fit that definition. And if fitting that definition is what gets things funded, then I need to find tangible means through which those results can be shared with others. I need to make it easier for my administrators to financially support the arts. The resources below were shared as part of a Professional Development session presented for Fine Arts faculty and staff from Crossings Christian School and Oklahoma Christian School. The topic, essentially, was the integration of digital education and communications technology into the fine arts classroom, but the filter through which they were explored was in reference to the above described definition of creativity. How, as fine arts educators, can we empower our students to produce and share tangible artifacts representing the growth of creativity as defined by the production of novel and useful ideas? We are creative people. Surely we can find a way. Hokanson, B. (2017). Developing Creative Thinking Skills: An Introduction for Learners. Routledge.
Does someone in your world, or even you yourself, sometimes find technology integration a bit frustrating? Here is a chuckle...and perhaps some perspective. Sometimes, learning new stuff is just hard.
Incorporating videos into your arts classroom experience? Videono.tes offers an excellent way to embed formative or summative assessment into your classroom activities, as well as a platform through which students can experience and share reflections and ideas. Comments are linked to a time code, and automatically sync with Google Drive.
IdeaFlip is a fantastic resource for real-time collaboration. My EdTech students used it for attendance--they emailed the class a link to a board, and once in class students clicked on the link and answered the presented question. I love the graphics and stickers available as well, and look forward to using it this semester for some idea-mapping. Create a board for fun, then scroll down the toolbar on the right to find all the nifty graphics. Twiddla offers similar capabilities, with the addition of collaborative whiteboard resources.
Encourage your students to share their ideas and creations. The opportunity to publish can build your students' pride, increase the visibility of the program, and provide the tangible artifacts necessary for others to recognize your students' creative growth. Encourage students to manage the sharing of their work and value others' ownership of their creative work by having them choose a level of copyright protection at CreativeCommons.org.
One of the first steps to growing creativity is to simply have a lot of ideas. Resources such as Padlet allow students to share small ideas which can then be assembled into big ideas. The Padlet below encourages students to create and share a four beat motif using pats and claps. The ideas can then be arranged and rearranged to create rhythm compositions!
Kahoot--great resource for collaboration and formative assessment
Plickers--inexpensive alternative to clickers!
Chatterpix--fantastic iPad app, especially for littles. Fun for not-littles as well!
Rubistar--create and save rubrics helping communicate and measure the value of your activities.
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