In this unit, you'll explore how technology tools can enhance creativity both in classrooms and in your own life. Throughout the semester, you've seen how technology supports learning by improving communication and collaboration. Now, you'll focus on how it can also inspire innovation and creative problem-solving. Those skills are essential not just in education but in any career.
Think about the ways creativity plays a role in your daily life—whether it's finding a new way to organize your schedule, designing a social media post, or brainstorming solutions to everyday challenges. In this unit, you'll apply what you've learned so far about making learning meaningful and using technology to create something new and fun. Whether you see yourself as a naturally creative person or not, you'll discover how creativity can be a powerful tool in shaping your future.
One other quick note: You are invited to participate in a research study investigating the factors that contribute to student success in online undergraduate courses. The survey should take less than 15 minutes to complete. It would be really appreciated if you took a few minutes to complete it. All of the information can be found here.
Unit 4 tasks are due Monday, March 30th at the end of the day.
Grade value: 3% of total grade, time estimate - 1 hour
In this unit, you'll create a mindmap or sketchnote of your two readings: You'll need paper, pencils, and markers or one of the tools listed in the Mind Mapping section of your textbook (you'll need to be logged in to view it). You are also welcome to use a tool that you might already have on an iPad or other tablet.
1st reading: Last week, you started learning about the 4Cs - but we skipped the last one: Creativity and Innovation. Instead of videos, you'll read a short article about the 4Cs this time: Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society (Publication). (2011). Washington, DC: NEA. You are welcome to read the entire (old) article, but at a minimum, you'll need to read pages 24-33 about creativity.
2nd reading: After you've read the creativity section -you'll notice the resources listed on pages 27-29 in the first reading. It's a list of articles, blog posts, websites, and videos related to creativity and innovation in the classroom. PLEASE NOTE: Some of the links listed in the article are no longer active - but there are still several that are informative and useful to you as you move through Unit 3. You'll choose one of those resources to read/explore/view. Just pick one that piques your interest. Here are a few I'd recommend from that list:
Any of these articles from The Kennedy Center, but in particular: Thought-Provoking Art, Constructivism: Actively Building Arts Education, Growing from STEM to STEAM, New Paths to Learning
Requirements for mindmap/sketchnote:
Make sure to include a comprehensive view of both readings - ideally, you'll show how ideas from one reading connect with the other reading
It should be clear what you chose for your 2nd reading on your mindmap/sketchnote
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 readings.
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 screen shot, attach it - whatever makes the most sense. Please don't take a picture of your computer screen with your phone. 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.
Don't forget to publish your page.
Grade value: 10% of total grade, time estimate - 1 hour to complete readings and watch videos, 2-10 hours to completing project (depending on what you choose to do)
One way that schools can support creativity and innovation is through maker education. I teach an entire course on maker education (EDIT 4100S) so it's really difficult for me to narrow down what I want you to read for this topic. 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. For now - you don't have to do anything with the readings/videos in this section. Just watch and read - you'll be asked to apply what you learned later in this task.
Read Stager, G. (2017). Unconventional wisdom about the maker movement. District Administration, 6-10.
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).
Read the overview of makerspaces in your textbook. Don't forget that you'll need to be logged in to view it.
Watch the two short videos linked below that do a great job of showing you what happens in a makerspace.
How the Maker Movement Connects Students to Engineering and Technology
Maker Ed: The Impact of Maker Education
One more thing: 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 15 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!)
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 - the links will take you directly to the topic listed in the Tools section of your textbook but you'll need to be logged in:
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 to 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.
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. My expectation is that you'll choose a project that will take around 1 1/2 to 2 hours to complete (assuming you're not a perfectionist).
Build your project - then, link it/add a screenshot/whatever makes sense for your project to your Create page.
Write about what you learned: On a new Google Doc, write a 500-800 word reflection describing your maker experience. In your reflection, discuss how experiences like this might support K12 student learning. How does this activity relate to this week's readings on creativity and maker education? It's never a bad idea to quote readings - especially if you decide to include references to previous week's readings (this is a great place to talk about meaningful learning with technology or UDL.) Make sure to share your document so that it's public. Then, insert it on your Create web page.
Don't forget to publish your Create page.
Grade value - 7% of total grade, time estimate: 45 minutes - 1 hour
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 the CONNECT paper in preparation for this task. You'll write this on a new Google Doc and it should be 4-5 paragraphs. If you want more writing tips - here's a link to some suggestions I always give students.
Your finished piece will be 3-4 paragraphs. Remember, you don't have to address every single question that I ask - these are just suggestions of what to talk about in your writing.
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 support those standards? How does maker education support those standards?
What are other ways (besides makerspaces) creativity and innovation could be supported by ensuring those ISTE standards are addressed in K12 classrooms?
Don't forget to share the document before you insert it onto your Create page (or I won't be able to view it).
ALTERNATE ASSIGNMENT FOR TASK 3 - Recreation Activity
What if you could replace a 3-4 paragraph esssay about creativity with an enjoyable recreational activity? Part of encouraging creativity and innovation is making time to just enjoy your surroundings. Being mindful and making space for randomness can support creativity just as much (and likely more) than using technology. So - how long would it have taken to complete that essay? 30-45 minutes? So take that time and do a recreational activity that you enjoy - indoors or out (but outdoors would be really, really good for you). Then, complete a padlet post reporting on what you chose. You may want to view the post requirements/questions before doing the activity so you have everything you need to complete this alternative assignment (just click the + sign and you'll be able to see the questions ahead of time).
That's it for Unit 4! Let me know if you have questions about any of the tasks. Unit 5 (the last unit!!) will be posted no later than noon on Monday, March 30th.