Thursday, July 29, 2010

Creativity in the classroom re: Newsweek article


http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html

In the July 10th issue of Newsweek Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman wrote a fascinating article on the US creativity crisis.  Not sure if everyone reading that article sees a creativity crisis, but as an elementary school teacher I found myself nodding my head yes while the article as I have been observing a drop in creativity in our school.

So what is the crisis?  Researchers have been measuring child creativity since the late 50s using an instrument called the Torrance test.  Like traditional IQ test scores, creativity scores have been climbing steadily due to what researchers account as a more "enriched" environment.  However, researchers at William & Mary discovered that this upward trend has stopped.  Since the 1990 the creativity scores measured on the same metric are actually dropping.  What is most critical is that the scores dropping the most are for younger children...those in K-6.  Which just so happens to cover the group of students in my building as well.

So my question (and that of the researchers too) is why have these scores changed?  Since evolution is a generally gradual process we know that something environmentally is happening.  So what has happened since 1990 that accounts for this downward trend.

My first thought was the "dreaded" NCLB requirements.  I have seen creative assignments fall from the curriculum as stakes for test score improvement rise each year.  I am not against teacher accountability...I'm just not sure we are measuring what needs to be measured yet.  The tests are good at measuring little things like synonyms and antonyms but can't measure a student's substantial application of informational text and appreciation of a poem.  I'm sure the NCLB contributes to the decline (at least in my school) but it wasn't law until 2002 and the trend was well underway by then.

Perhaps it was the Internet.  Berniers-Lee WWW as we know really started humming along in 1994 which is close to our target date, but the WWW and home broadband access wasn't a household stable for another 6 years or even more in some communities.

The article points at increased television viewing and popular gaming systems as taking at least some of the responsibility for this drop.  Since I've never been much of a gamer I wanted to research the introduction of popular gaming systems to see how the timing of their release corresponded.  Interesting finding....

  • 1986: Nintendo releases the Sega
  • 1989: Nintendo releases the Gameboy
  • 1995: Sony releases the Playstation
The handheld gameboy timing is interesting.  I couldn't find how many units were sold in the first year but according to Wikipedia:
Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined have sold 118.69 million units worldwide...44.06 million in the Americas.
Of course I can make no causal relationship but it is curious.  The article does not mention the creativity rates of other countries and whether or not they are dropping, but does mention that some countries such as Britain and China are making a national push for more creativity in the classroom and less reliance on memorization for short term test gains.  Coming from Britain that is especially interesting at their children are sometimes called the "most tested" students in the world.

The article also identifies TV viewing as a likely culprit.  My brief search for television viewing habits of children from 1990-2010 didn't turn up exactly what I wanted but it did find the media viewing rates from 1999-2009 as published by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Generation M2 survey finding which was published in Jan 2010. (http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf)  Notice the growth of gaming, TV viewing, and the decreasing proportion of time spent on print activities.



If you are in education you have undoubtedly seen the stories how game play can help creative thinking and problem solving when they are well designed.  Unfortunately not all games are well designed engaging experiences.  However, I can't recall an article discussing any link to TV and creativity.  Actually my brief search reveals the opposite....TV viewing has few redeeming qualities when it comes to creativity.  (esp. the younger the child the worse).  At least gaming is somewhat participatory.

So what are we to do as educators?  
We spend a substantial time with the youth of America and I think we owe it to them to enhance the amount of creativity we bring into our classroom.  Some people will immediately feel we don't have the time (like I have never heard that one before) to get this done in the class.  I have to disagree....creativity requires a combination of both convergent and divergent thinking and the ability to shift quickly between the two.  Too much of what we do in the name of higher test scores is convergent, choose the correct answer type of work.

The article also mentions ideas of how to structure creative experiences for children.  Many people think creativity just happens....while Donald Treffinger over many years and constant revisions has come up with a six stage problem solving model that can help us as teacher plan for these types of experiences in our classrooms.


Treffinger's Center for Creative Learning can be found at: 

I also have a few of his books on hold at the library....as I think his ideas will add to my work in developing technology literacy.  



Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Building a PLN


Building a PLN presentation from Bethany Smith. Thanks for posting for us to share, Bethany!

Monday, July 26, 2010

Another easy mashup

http://mymoviemoment.com/?mId=36650608.3&doorId=405&clientId=170

Relax....this is the safe version as opposed to Alien.
http://www.mymoviemoment.com/?mId=36650596.3&doorId=511&clientId=170

Okay, so this is a gross clip but still lots of fun to make. (Would have embedded but couldn't figure out how to stop autoplay on load)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery



Brigham Young has created their own viral video (inspired by Old Spice) for studying at the library as opposed to "studying in a cave". Deciding to study in the library as opposed to my dorm was a turning point in my academic career. Fortunately I learned this lesson in my freshman year. King Library and I had a standing date on Sundays....pretty much all day. When someone asks me for advice about college I give the same advice my Spanish professor Dr. Listerman gave me. Treat studying like a job. Put in the seat time required to get the work done and the rest will take care of itself. Thank you Dr. Listerman.

Summer Viral Videos

One of the more popular summer viral videos. It is interesting how advertisers now aim to create viral videos rather than just creating an effective TV commercial that goes viral. Wondering what parts of society, business etc. the internet has not touched?

Monday, July 12, 2010

Born with it, learn it, or both

Talent is an amazing thing.  Hard work pays off.  However, when one works hard and has a certain amount of talent great things happen.  Sungha Jung is a fingerstyle guitar virtuoso who is only 13 years old.  Obviously he has practiced for thousands of hours but at the same time he was born with a certain amount of innate talent.  The below video is one of my favorite Beatles' songs.  It is from the White Album, perhaps the most diverse of all the Beatles' records.  Enjoy I Will performed by Sungha Jung (who was only 10 or 11 at the time of the video).  I'll have to do some research on this wonder....can't help but think he was born into a musical family.

Second Life...where did everyone go?

A number of teachers and I are reading Larry Rosen's Rewired: Understanding the IGeneration and they Way They Learn. I am enjoying the book but find some of what the author (Rosen) writes is unrealistic or just doesn't hold up in the real world.

Most notably is his insistence that today's teens just "know" how to create various forms of media with today's latest tools. I'm sorry, but as a computer teacher I just don't see that. Of course, my oldest kids are 11, but I don't see this innate multimedia creation sense that he and other folks (ie Prensky) write about.

Rosen also is big on multiuser online worlds. It has been a few years since I'd heard anyone even mention SecondLife so I thought I would give it another chance. Several years ago you would hear about SL every few days, but now not so much. Actually the last time I heard about SL and Linden Labs was when they announced layoffs....which makes me think the world may be shrinking.

So where to go in Second Life. I thought I would start with Ohio Learning Network as they are reported to have an island or are but I couldn't find it. Then I tried searching K-12 sites for Ohio...and sadly there were none found.

Finally I tried the ISTE which is a group I used to belong to...that is before budget cuts. Alas, I found their site/area/island. I traversed the entire area and not a single person or avatar. I felt like I was in the movie 28 Days Later. Everything is in....resources, pictures, furniture, but sadly no one which whom I could interact and ask how they make use of Second Life.

I'm hoping Rosen adjusts his statements about how easy this all is for educators to do.

I did take a snapshop of my recent visit to ISTE in SL...here is the front desk.

Leadership Lesson at Sasquatch Festival

I saw this video a month or two ago and thought it was cute....one lone dancer at a music festival entices or leads one other person to dance with him and in a matter minutes we reach a "tipping point" and the whole festival is dancing with the shirtless dude. When I first saw the video I thought it was cute. Then later I came upon another vision that is narrated. The narration is a lesson on leadership and how the first dancer and second dancer show what it means to lead and to take chances. I don't think I could be the first dancer or even the second dancer....but it doesn't mean I don't admire and respect those dancers. They can teach us a lot.