Unit 4 - Create

Unit 4: Technology to Support Student Creativity (3 weeks)

Welcome to Unit 4! 

In this unit, you'll explore how technology tools can support creativity in classrooms and in your own work. So far this semester, you've had time to explore how technology tools can facilitate learning - with specific emphasis on opportunities for students to communicate and collaborate. You've done a good bit of reading about ways that technology can make learning meaningful, how to design learning activities to meet the needs of all types of learners, and the value of an emphasis on the 4 Cs: critical thinking and problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation. You'll apply what you've learned so far as you complete this unit. 

Okay, let's dive into the realm of creativity and see what you can craft!

This week, you'll create a mindmap or sketchnote of your reading: You'll need paper, pencils, markers, or one of the digital tools listed in the Mind Mapping section of your textbook (starting on p. 186). 

Part 1. Learn about creativity in classrooms

In the last unit, you started learning about the 4 Cs - but we mainly focused on communication and collaboration. Now you'll complete a separate reading about the importance of creativity in K12 classrooms: Creativity in Learning (Rep.) (2019). Washington, D.C.: Gallup. 

• Download the file by clicking on the green button labeled "Download the Report" or "Download PDF."

• This PDF may look lengthy at first, but trust me - most of that is images and large graphics, so it's more like 15 pages and it's a fast read!

Part 2. Create!

1. 1. Create a mindmap or sketchnote. It should show a comprehensive view of your reading – main topics, how topics connect, the role of technology in supporting creativity, your own opinions about parts of the article, etc.

   2. I don’t want to have to tell college students how many “bubbles”, references, connections, etc. that are required. Your mindmap/sketchnote should be comprehensive enough to show your understanding of your reading. 

   3. If you draw it – take a picture and post it on your Create webpage. If you used a mindmapping tool – link to it, take a screenshot, attach it, or whatever makes the most sense. Please don’t take a picture of your computer screen with your phone, as this will significantly reduce the quality of the picture. 

      • • Please consider the readability when creating it - for instance avoid using a font size that's too small to read.

        • If you don’t know how to make a screenshot on your computer, this is a great semester to learn: Screenshot instructions for a PC/ Screenshot instructions for a Mac.

   4. Publish your page.

One way that schools can support creativity and innovation is through maker education. My goal for this unit is for you to get a good understanding of what maker education is and how it supports creativity and innovation for K12 students. It's important not to miss any of them, as you'll be asked to use these later in this unit. 

Part 1. Learn about the Makerspace! 

1. 1. Read Stager, G. (2017). Unconventional wisdom about the maker movement. District Administration, 6-10.

   2. Select a reading from the EdTech Magazine's Makerspaces articles to learn a bit more about maker education (you'll have to scroll down past the giant banner image to get to the list of articles).

   3. Read the overview of makerspaces in your textbook: pages 167-175.

   4. Watch the two short videos linked below that do a great job of showing you what happens in a makerspace. 

   5. Read about what's happening in Maker Education in a school right across the street from campus. This is a link to all of the references to maker education on the Barrow Elementary School Media Center blog written by Andy Plemmons, the school library media specialist. Set a timer and spend at least 20 minutes exploring the many maker education posts on this site (there are a few that feature UGA students taking EDIT 4100S - see if you can find a few!) 

Part 2. Your Maker Project

We are all makers - maybe not of robots but we certainly make other things: stories, music, cake, movies, hilarious memes, choreography, science discoveries, car repairs, crafts, photography, and on and on. There are many resources in your textbook that can be used for making. We'll take some time to explore them and then select something to make that's of interest to you. 

Just like we've done each week, take some time to become familiar with the following tool overviews in your textbook:

• • • Art & Graphic Design p. 55

    • Book Publishing p. 72

    • Comic Strip Creators p. 86

    • Images and Icons p. 144

    • Makerspaces p. 167

    • Music p. 189

    • Photo Editing p. 201

    • Video: Animation and Production p. 267

So here's where the instructional challenge comes in for me. I want you to choose a tool from one of these sections in your textbook and create something NEW and interesting for you. But it is incredibly difficult to gauge how much time and effort each of you puts into a creative task. For instance - you might choose Photo Editing as your choice and edit several pictures from your Study Abroad experience. Maybe it took you 5 minutes, maybe it took 3 hours. Assessing creativity seems somehow inappropriate. So here's the best solution I can come up with when my goal is to provide you with an opportunity to truly pick something that you want to do but also make the workload equitable for everyone, regardless of choice. 

Part 3: Build your project

1. 1. After reading through the Creativity and Innovation categories in your textbook - think of a project you'd like to do: design a comic strip, create a short piece of music, make a green screen video, write a piece of code using Tynker, etc. You'll choose a project that will take you at least 2-3 hours to create (assuming you're not a perfectionist).  If you have the time and want to create something that is truly rewarding for you, feel free to invest additional time and challenge yourself!! 

   2. Build your project - then, link it/add a screenshot/whatever makes sense for your project to your Create page. 

   3. Write about what you learned: On a new Google Doc, write a 500-800 word reflection. In your reflection, include the following:

      • • Share your maker journey in detail (design processes, challenges, interesting parts, enjoyable moments, what was new to you...)

        • Include how experiences like this might support K12 student learning. 

        • Connect this activity with this week's readings and videos on creativity and maker education. 

        • It's never a bad idea to quote readings - especially if you include references to the previous week's readings (this is a great place to talk about meaningful learning with technology or UDL). 

   4. Ensure the document is shared in a viewable format for 'anyone with the link.' Then, insert it on your Create page. 

   5. Don't forget to publish!

Time to show off your wonderful work to everyone! I've set up a shared Google Slide for everyone to display their creative works. You now have access to add, edit, and post comments - I've designated a slide for each of you, where you'll post your Task 2 project under your names. 

After sharing your work, please take some time to explore other slides and post at least 2 comments, highlighting what they did well. Detailed instructions can be found within this file:

For this task, you'll continue to synthesize what you've learned about educational technology so far and how it supports creativity and innovation. You should probably re-read what you wrote in Unit 3 for this paper in preparation for this task. 

1. Draft. In a Google Doc, write a 4-5 paragraph reflection that answers the following questions.

• • • Our topic this week was about the "magic of learning" and encouraging creativity and innovation in classrooms. One way we explored encouraging creativity was through maker education. How do some or all of the ISTE standards relate to this idea? (You can review the detailed explanations of each ISTE standard if needed.) 

    • How does encouraging creativity and maker education support meaningful learning? 

    • Review this UDL guideline first. Among the list, which option(s) should be incorporated into activities that encourage learners' creativity? How can we promote the integration of UDL principles in activities like maker education?

    • What are other ways (besides makerspaces) creativity and innovation could be supported by ensuring those ISTE standards are addressed in K12 classrooms?

2. Review. Proofread your writing with the rubric below.

• In your writing, do you effectively demonstrate knowledge? (2pts)

• Do you demonstrate your own active thinking and engagement with the information and activities so far? (3pts)

• Does it look like college-level writing? - click here to see my expectations & suggestions. (1pts) 

• Does it look like a final draft (no typos or grammatical errors) with 4-5 paragraphs? (0.5pts)

• Do you reference readings and tools you've used? (0.5pts)

3. Post & Publish. Insert your reflection document on the "Create" page of your portfolio. Before you insert it, don't forget to make your Google Docs file viewable to “anyone with the link” (or I won't be able to view it).