As educators, are we killing the creativity in our students without knowing it? Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk Do Schools Kill Creativity had me laughing while also making me feel sad and worried for the future of education. It's no secret that the system of education has changed over the years, creating many curricular changes and leaving some subjects by the wayside. Some of the effects these changes haven't truly been considered or thought out, which is hurting our students and their intelligence in the long run.
I found Sir Ken Robinson's views on intelligence to be quite spot on. His thoughts were: "one, it's diverse. We think about the world in all the ways that we experience it. We think visually, we think in sound, we think kinesthetically. We think in abstract terms, we think in movement. Secondly, intelligence is dynamic. If you look at the interactions of a human brain... intelligence is wonderfully interactive. The brain isn't divided into compartments. In fact, creativity -- which I define as the process of having original ideas that have value -- more often than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things" (Robinson 2006).
After hearing Sir Ken Robinson's views, I believe that schools play a big role in the development of children, especially their sense of creativity. Our current system of education and its' philosophy is not helping that cause. To foster creativity in the classroom, students should be given opportunities to discover their learning through the means in which they prefer or choose. One way to support this philosophy is through the use of digital media tools. With a simple thing like access to the internet, there is a plethora of tools that encourage students to think outside of the box and find different solutions for problems, as opposed to solving a problem with one answer and only one path to find that answer. For example, if teaching how to add and subtract fractions in math, the teacher could pull many different strategies for students to manipulate. Students could watch a video on EdPuzzle (either one that the teacher created or a video from the EdPuzzle library) and the student is responsible for answering the embedded questions. The teacher could teach this lesson using the SmartBoard and have students manipulate the problems written on the board. Also using the SmartBoard the teacher could use Gynzy to show interactive manipulatives like fraction bars. Students could create their own version of this lesson using ShowMe, where they record themselves solving the problems as a way to teach their peers. The teacher could create a Kahoot or Quizizz as a formative assessment the includes problems from the lesson to see which students need reteaching and which students are ready for enrichment.
As we know, not every student learns the same way, and not every student is strong in each subject. The important thing to remember is that... that's okay! As soon as we harp on students and drill this content into them, that is when they lose their drive and creativity. It is up to us as educators to make the curriculum accessible for each and every student, and digital media is a great way to do that while also keeping creativity alive in students.
Resources:
1. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from http://www.showme.com/
2. EDpuzzle. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://edpuzzle.com/
3. Get the most out of your smart board. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.gynzy.com/en/corporate
4. Making Learning Awesome! (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://getkahoot.com/
5. Quizizz: Fun Multiplayer Classroom Quizzes. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://quizizz.com/
6. Robinson, K. (n.d.). Do schools kill creativity? Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity
I found Sir Ken Robinson's views on intelligence to be quite spot on. His thoughts were: "one, it's diverse. We think about the world in all the ways that we experience it. We think visually, we think in sound, we think kinesthetically. We think in abstract terms, we think in movement. Secondly, intelligence is dynamic. If you look at the interactions of a human brain... intelligence is wonderfully interactive. The brain isn't divided into compartments. In fact, creativity -- which I define as the process of having original ideas that have value -- more often than not comes about through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things" (Robinson 2006).
After hearing Sir Ken Robinson's views, I believe that schools play a big role in the development of children, especially their sense of creativity. Our current system of education and its' philosophy is not helping that cause. To foster creativity in the classroom, students should be given opportunities to discover their learning through the means in which they prefer or choose. One way to support this philosophy is through the use of digital media tools. With a simple thing like access to the internet, there is a plethora of tools that encourage students to think outside of the box and find different solutions for problems, as opposed to solving a problem with one answer and only one path to find that answer. For example, if teaching how to add and subtract fractions in math, the teacher could pull many different strategies for students to manipulate. Students could watch a video on EdPuzzle (either one that the teacher created or a video from the EdPuzzle library) and the student is responsible for answering the embedded questions. The teacher could teach this lesson using the SmartBoard and have students manipulate the problems written on the board. Also using the SmartBoard the teacher could use Gynzy to show interactive manipulatives like fraction bars. Students could create their own version of this lesson using ShowMe, where they record themselves solving the problems as a way to teach their peers. The teacher could create a Kahoot or Quizizz as a formative assessment the includes problems from the lesson to see which students need reteaching and which students are ready for enrichment.
As we know, not every student learns the same way, and not every student is strong in each subject. The important thing to remember is that... that's okay! As soon as we harp on students and drill this content into them, that is when they lose their drive and creativity. It is up to us as educators to make the curriculum accessible for each and every student, and digital media is a great way to do that while also keeping creativity alive in students.
Resources:
1. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from http://www.showme.com/
2. EDpuzzle. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://edpuzzle.com/
3. Get the most out of your smart board. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.gynzy.com/en/corporate
4. Making Learning Awesome! (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://getkahoot.com/
5. Quizizz: Fun Multiplayer Classroom Quizzes. (n.d.). Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://quizizz.com/
6. Robinson, K. (n.d.). Do schools kill creativity? Retrieved February 09, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity