Teaching faculty to think like innovators

The rapid pace of technological change has forever transformed the face of the global workplace. In fact, its future is unimagined; 85 percent of jobs that will exist in 2030 have yet to be created. As all brave explorers on any frontier know, survival in an uncertain world requires adaptability, resilience, and resourcefulness. Today’s educators must nurture these traits in students to prepare them to meet whatever challenges await and to succeed in a new order.

Schools are thus charged with going beyond academics and instruction in the latest technology to teach students “survival” skills, such as how to brainstorm, think creatively, design, and prototype … how to communicate, collaborate, and lead … and how to innovate. These are the skills employers are seeking as the nature of work becomes increasingly mutable.

At Dwight, we’ve been teaching these entrepreneurial skills through Spark Tank, an after-school incubator for K-12 students. They bring their ideas for new products, social enterprises, political initiatives, and non-profits to Spark Tank, where they develop them through five stages, from concept to market launch. During this process, students learn a range of practical problem-solving, design, presentation, marketing, and business skills, gaining invaluable entrepreneurial and innovation experience.…Read More

How creative learning spaces lead to greater innovation

As technology and innovation become first priority for school districts, it’s important that students are offered creative learning spaces to expand and challenge their knowledge and ability to create. Technology can help students boost their concentration, retain information, and encourage individualized learning programs. Students can also begin to advance their collaboration skills through online projects.

In the 2017 National Education Technology Plan Update, former U.S. Secretary of Education John King stated, “One of the most important aspects of technology in education is its ability to level the field of opportunity for students.” With technology in tow, creative learning spaces help to expand students’ minds to imagination and freedom of expression. These unique, educational spaces breed continued motivation for students that allow children to fully engage in their schooling and become excited about learning.

So, with the right aesthetics, a creative learning space can not only impact brain function, but positively influence how students feel at school and cultivate an environment that will support students’ success.…Read More

More Than 40 New Things We Saw at ISTE 2018

Creativity, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital competencies were just a few of the many trends at ISTE 2018.

This year’s conference was one of the largest, with packed sessions and presentations, and 18,540 attendees–a new attendee record.

It was nearly impossible to see and attend everything the conference had to offer, and many educators who couldn’t attend followed keynotes with the #ISTE18 hashtag (they also threw in a #NotAtISTE tag for good measure).…Read More

Here’s how to foster creative problem solving

Last year, Adobe conducted a study of Generation Z students (ages 11-17) that found students and teachers believe creativity is critical for success in the future workforce. Based on this insight, we conducted another study this year to dig into this notion of creative problem solving: What does it mean, what are the sub-skills, and what are the gaps and barriers that exist? We discovered a disconnect between the needs of tomorrow’s workforce and what students are learning in the classroom today.

So how can teachers foster these skills now, even when curriculum standards are catching up, and help their students develop these key skills?

Engage kids with digital projects
What this means: Every industry is going digital and nearly every job has a digital component. Being able to clearly communicate ideas via multimedia (videos, audio, visual presentations, etc.) is more important than ever for people entering the job force, regardless of their level of education. Instead of assigning students to write a five-page book report, teachers can ask students to shoot and edit a short video depicting a chapter or a sequel, or using digital images to represent what they are learning.…Read More

Why creative thinking might be our strongest asset

Developing a creative mindset is more important than ever before, not just for our students, but for educators as well. The advancement of technology, the connectedness of society, and the innovations that are taking place on a regular basis all point to creative thinking as a key asset in the digital age.

So how do we develop a more creative approach to problem-solving? As a designer and educator, I’ve observed a set of principles that can lead to some rather creative approaches to doing things.

When developing your own creative thought process or nurturing it in your students, the first step is to debunk the myth that being creative is what you do, more than how you think. The tenets of this myth say that being good at art, music, or cooking is what makes someone “creative.” In reality, these are merely expressions of the creative process. To develop creative expression, we must spend more time discussing the above ideas with students to help them get over the first, and sometimes biggest, obstacle to creativity—developing a creativity mindset.…Read More

The New Librarian: Building confidence through coding

When reading became more digital with the introduction of tablets and e-readers, libraries became pressured to innovate and remain relevant. As a former classroom teacher and current literacy specialist at the Muskingum County Library System in southeastern Ohio, I have had to step back and rethink how to ensure that children are not just achieving foundational literacy skills such as reading and writing, but also developing digital-literacy skills.

The original purpose of the public library was to be a repository of knowledge and experience. Now, we are not only a supplier of knowledge but also a facilitator for learning experiences.

Wanting to help build skills through library resources, I decided to create community workshops at which kids could explore coding, engage in 21st-century learning, and, most important, have fun. When it comes to organizing library programs and events, our staff focuses on giving patrons opportunities to “read, discover, learn, and create”—and not just in isolation, but in concert with each other. The following guidelines to creating an effective workshop reflect that mission.…Read More

Top 5 TED-Ed Lessons on creativity

“Do schools kill creativity?” asks Sir Ken Robinson in the most-viewed TED Talk of all time (more than 51 million!). In the video, Robinson challenges schools to promote and inspire creativity, but it’s difficult to know where to start, and some teachers aren’t sure if it’s possible.

“I don’t think creativity can be taught,” says Rayna Freedman, a fifth-grade teacher at Jordan/Jackson Elementary School in Mansfield, Massachusetts. “It’s an experience that inspires students to think beyond their potential and see things differently. It’s about giving them tools and choice to complete tasks and let them fly.”

Other educators disagree.…Read More

Dos & don’ts for fostering creativity and innovation in the classroom

Creativity in the classroom provides a more relaxed and open environment for the students to freely express their opinions and to learn faster. Here are some tips for helping teachers add creativity to the curriculum.

Dos

Be passionate (passion is contagious).

To make your classroom creative and innovative, you have to become a role model for the students. Demonstrate passion toward your subject and it will reach your students.…Read More

How I became an active learner at ASCD “Empower18”

As ASCD “Empower18” kicked off in Boston on Friday, March 23 I knew the four days were going to be “wicked awesome”—I mean, come on!—it’s Boston. But somehow, the event toped even my highest expectations.

I was motivated to be both a learner and a leader at this year’s ASCD conference. In his keynote, Manny Scott said, “Be a student for your students,” so I prided myself on learning outside of my comfort zone as well as chances to learn within it. I became an active learner and I wanted to maximize every opportunity during this event.

There were so many sessions that matched various interests. My two must-haves: #CultureEd Panel and Unleashing Teacher-Led Innovation in Schools: Practical Tools That Have Real Impact. The common themes were taking risks in teaching and learning and letting your students’ creativity and discovery learning take center stage.…Read More

How to teach like the Finns

Shorter days, less homework, and better results. How do you get that? Do like the Finns. For those in the know, the Finnish system is often seen as the pinnacle of how to do education.

We’ve seen a huge rise in teacher mental-health issues and high levels of teachers leaving the field. One of the main reasons people look to Finland for inspiration is because of its high level of teaching. Realistically it is so advanced because of the expert training teachers receive, and because they are allowed to do their job without much interference.

As a Finnish-based entrepreneur in the business of creativity and innovation within the media industry for more than two decades, I’ve recently turned my focus on how to scale innovation within the education sector. Education innovations are siloed and practiced in isolated classrooms; that’s why my latest project, HundrED, is a nonprofit that’s on a mission to change this by seeking and sharing some of the world’s most inspiring K-12 innovations and packaging them online for educators to easily implement with 24/7 support for free.…Read More

Can creativity be taught?

I recently attended a conference and enjoyed the sessions and topics ranging from professional-development strategies to the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). Throughout the day, one word that permeated discussions was “creativity,” and how this phenomenon is now one of the essential skills for success in future careers. Creativity is not a new term. We hear it often and we frequently tell our students to be creative and think “outside the box.” As teachers, we often include creativity as a required goal on our grading rubrics when assessing student presentations. Adding creativity lets students know that we expect more than content knowledge.

Growing up, I remember many opportunities to develop and show examples of creativity because the tools and resources to perform some tasks were not available. As children, we imagined other worlds, created our own games, designed areas to play, and solved mysteries on our own.

Creativity’s growing importance
As we look at future jobs and technological advancements, having creativity is essential in the workplace. Robots and AI will be able to handle many tasks, even replacing some types of jobs, but we will still need creative thinkers and designers to move ahead globally. As educators, how do we ensure that students learn this skill in our curriculums? Can creativity be taught? Why are some people more creative than others? If you tell students to be creative, do they even know what it means or where to begin?…Read More

6 tips for making the most of your Chromebooks

Before my second year of teaching, my principal suggested that I pilot a class set of 35 Chromebooks in my ninth- and 11th-grade English classes. In exchange for exclusive use of this Chromebook cart, I agreed to provide professional development on the Google for Education platform to the rest of our small staff and to simply use the devices in my classroom every day.

I was ecstatic about the possibility of transforming my classroom into a nearly paperless learning environment. I knew the potential for creativity, differentiation, and student-directed learning that one-to-one Chromebooks would offer my teaching, and I was lucky to have an administration that supported experimentation and innovation.

However, with more than 80 percent of my students qualifying for free and reduced lunch and a majority lacking access to computers at home, I worried about the feasibility of training them to use technology effectively. I didn’t want the introduction of technology to derail the respect and order I had worked hard to establish in my diverse and sometimes difficult classroom.…Read More