“Over
the last few decades, as technology has become more prevalent in our everyday
lives, both educators and business and industry leaders have increasingly
stressed the importance of developing students’ creative and critical thinking
skills” (Cennamo et al, 2009, p.23). As
we prepare our students to go out into the world after graduation, it is not
the same skills and learning they need that we grew up with. Technology is creating an environment where
everything is always changing and growing.
Information can be found at the snap of a finger. It is imperative that students learn how to
function in this new learning environment, while understanding that they will
need to be life long learners to keep up.
One
of my favorite quotes was said by Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Jaris
Askins is on education. She said, “"It's not about thinking
outside of the box. It's about realizing there is no box." We often define creative and critical
thinking as ‘thinking outside the box’ or original ideas, but this is not often
the case anymore. We want all of
students to have original ideas, but what makes them creative thinkers is that
they are also “able to determine which of those ideas are the best ones to use”
(Cennamo et all, 2009, p.25). In order
to teach our students how to be creative thinkers, we must give them
opportunities in the classroom where they can do critical thinking. We also need to do this in environment that
engages the students, as well as makes it prevalent to their real world. The use of self-directed learning allows
students to go in depth into a topic they are interested in helping them to
feel more at ease when they step out of the comfort zone. The integration of technology is important
because these are the tools they use everyday and will continue to use when in
the workforce. Creative thinking allows
them to present ideas in a new and interesting way that conveys their
personality and interests. All this can
be tied into the regular curriculum that we are required to teach just by looking
at these components in a new light. We
don’t teach or offer these opportunities in isolation, they must be embedded
into our lessons, units, and projects.
In
the video “Promoting Creative Thinking with Technology”, we heard a lot of
students share that they were excited when they were able to be creative. This is completely accurate in my
experience. Students like to direct
their learning and be creative in regards to it. I worked with a group of students towards the
end of the school year on independent research projects. The students were able to choose what they
wanted to learn more about, as well as choosing whatever creative way they
wanted to share this knowledge with others.
Throughout the activity, I promoted critical thinking skills and
information literacy lessons. The result
was a fantastic array of information and an eagerness to continue on to a new
learning adventure. Dr. Katherine
Cennamo tells us that confidence, motivation, persistence, open-mindedness, and
flexibility are all critical components to creative thinking and innovation
(2009). It is through the inclusion of
self-directed learning, creativity, technology integration, and content
learning that these components can be brought out in our students. I have witnessed it with many projects but
most predominantly with the one I described above.
References:
Cennamo,
K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful
classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom
ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Laureate
Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating technology across the
content areas: Promoting creative thinking with technology. Baltimore, MD:
Author.
