Benjamin Ayres
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY COACH
7 Steps to Creativity:
An Educational Technology Journey
By Benjamin Ayres
Introduction
Photo credit: Pensacola Little Theater
Making Space for Creativity
Before we get too deep into the cognitive tools it is essential that there is a space developed that is conducive for fostering creativity. In the article, “A Room of Their Own, Tech Trends” there was evidence to suggest that designed spaces have a way of evolving into practical spaces. In the most creative spaces there is plenty of space and basic materials but the space was defined into sections. The basic materials were there but the creation and the forming of the end product hadn’t happened yet. There were spaces designed for each abstraction of the topic but there was still flexibility within the space for other activities.
In applying this kind of flexible thinking to my personal and professional life I found it to be reflective to what I am already employing. At home, our spaces are defined but flexible. Our living room is our dining room, kitchen, entertainment room, and office when working on our laptops. At school, teachers are always asking for input as to where things should go. I give suggestions but always with the proviso that it depends on how they plan on using it. Last year, we tried concept called flex labs. We created spaces for teachers to use for project-based learning. Two teams really adopted the spaces and made it their own. The teams created differentiated learning stations, classroom libraries, tech centers, and reading centers. The other teams that did not make the space their own haven’t used them at all. As an educational technologist it has been my experience that teachers must own the space and be able to have time and passion to change and adapt the environment if they are going to use it.
Photo credit: Pensacola Litte Theater
Patterning
Patterning when speaking in terms of creativity is the simplification of complex concepts in repetitive terms. The cognitive tool of patterning can assist in developing a better understanding of content. It can help to discover hidden insight or unrealized relations. There are multiple ways to represent patterns and repetitive functions within a subject. In music, rhythm in its notation has a pattern depending on its time signature. In art, colors, lines, abstractions can be the catalysts of patterning. In organization, patterning can be represented colors, size, or type. In social interactions, complex interactions can be organized using flowcharts. Patterns are all around us and we are constantly trying to make sense of complex and detailed themes. It is through finding and making sense of these patterns that we develop a deeper and more meaningful understanding of our ever expanding and complex universe.
As an Educational Technologist I am expected to problem solve a variety of issues that deal with technology in education. Teachers many times have issues using software and when to ask for help. In the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools we have Administrative Technologists (AT) and Education Technologists (ET). AT’s deal with the network and hardware aspects of technology. ET’s work with software and the application of technology in education. Many times these lines can become blurred and teachers begin to rely on ET’s for every aspect of their technology needs. This can become exhausting when working with large numbers of students and teachers. Ultimately, as an ET I want to get teachers to a point where they can problem solve and discover solutions to technology issues independently. I found a workflow chart that explains the pattern that works for a majority of the issues that we as ET’s come across. Using this diagram will effectively make the complexity of technology in DoDEA simplified into an easily identified process.
The problem solving process of contacting the AT or ET at school can be identified in detail using this simple flowchart. I began by splitting the tasks into hardware and software issues. Many teachers don’t utilize or understand the ET’s role as educators. This is clearly laid out in the bottom half of the chart that deals with co-teaching and collaboration. Altogether, this chart sums up the jobs and process of our technology team within DoDEA by finding and discovering the patterns in the technology problem solving process. If implemented throughout the DoDEA system this flowchart could essentially redefine ET’s job descriptions and transform technology usage in our schools.
Photo credit: Benjamin Ayres
Embodied Thinking
Embodied thinking it the process of empathizing or reimagining yourself as someone or something else in order to gain a better understanding of the subject, system, or nature of the object. I have always enjoyed acting because of its reimagining of characters. I have found that there is a deeper understanding that comes form empathizing with subjects. Therefore, I can see its benefits when incorporating it into creative processes.
As an ET I must do this multiple times daily in order to understand the people that I work with. Every individual at a school has different needs, backgrounds, and experiences. As educator’s we are consistently trying to understand our students. Therefore as ET’s we must consistently try to understand our teachers, parents, and admin in order to develop clear guidelines and processes that help schools run technologically. It is also important that as ET’s we are able to become the technology when a technology fails we essentially become that technology in order to troubleshoot it. The ability to understand our coworkers is essential in creating buy in and developing real trusting relationships that caters collaboration and creativity.
Photo credit: Cindy Ayres
Playing
The cognitive tool of play encompasses the idea that creativity comes from exploring the content in a carefree manner. Playing comes natural to me. I just never understood the importance or relevance of it as it pertained to my work. Play as a creative device has many different aspects. It can serve as a reprieve from the monotony of tasks. It can serve as a different perspective on learning. It can also develop new skills that transform the content into another field. Play as a creative device has been a welcome reprieve for me and I am looking forward to implementing it in my career.
In an effort to lighten the mood of our meetings and to develop on this idea of play I will be creating an introductory activity on educational technology using board games. I created a board game in the style of Monopoly in order to introduce ET topics and develop rudimentary technology skills called Technology World. Many families enjoy playing board games. They bring a sense of community and playfulness with using them. Our school is separated over 15 acres and many of our faculty are segregated from each other through walls and distance. Using this activity, I plan on introducing gaming as learning, introduce educational technology skills, and create a playful atmosphere simultaneously.
Photo credit: Cindy Ayres
The defining characteristic of being creative lies with how effective the product is perceived. As new things are developed they can be considered to be creative only when they are useful and effective. This is key to the defining of creativity. I find creativity defined in problem solving in useful combining of simple objects to develop something that is unique and definitively individualized. In my work and home life I plan on learning more basic skills in order to be able to use those skills to solve more complex problems. At work, I will be learning structured query language (SQL) and Visual Basic programming so I can integrate student data and create more teacher centered interactive web experience related to Sharepoint our website. I need to have a better understanding of the basic materials around me so I can solve more problems and be more creative. Once an individual understands the basic surroundings they can then begin exploring their topic using seven key cognitive tools. The seven steps to developing creativity include perceiving, patterning, abstracting, embodiment, modeling, playing, playing, and synthesizing.
Photo credit: Pensacola Little Theater
Perception
The first tool we will look at is perception. The cognitive tool of perception is the ability to visualize, manipulate, and to develop objects, and ideas in a person's mind using their imagination. Ideas and creativity are rarely broken down in such manageable tools in casual conversation. In re-imaging the idea of Educational Technology Instantly, I was able to visualize in my head all of the different projects I had in development and how I could re-image them into something that redefined the processes. I initially began my re-imaging process by reading Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People (Root-Bernstien, 2001). Which speaks to the importance and the connection of creativity and cognitively visualizing sounds, processes, and objects in imaginations. After thinking about my current projects website management, displaying student work, student data organization, inventory, student projects, professional development, etc. Suddenly, images, pictures, websites, data, and even the processes began popping into my mind and how I might be able to re-image them using different strategies. I took the abstract thoughts and ideas of my research and cognitively developed a few potential projects like creating a web based site where teachers and students can see previous projects and using Photoshop to create badges for a gamified learning environment. Once I learned the objectives, I was able to develop something with depth and very creative.
Upon reflection, I now realize that with creativity must come a basic level of understanding of the problem. Then through abstracting the knowledge, and developing the connection of real world knowledge, creations of new thoughts manifest. I find it intriguing how inspiration happens just by taking the time to think about it. Frustration and mental blocks play a role in the process but through determination anyone is able to endure and visualize new creations.
Photo credit: Cindy Ayres
Photo credit: Cindy Ayres
Abstraction
“… Abstraction… is based not on individual actions but on coordinated actions.“ (Jean Piaget) Abstraction is essential to the understanding of ourselves and the understanding of society as a whole. Understanding the abstract concepts of the topic to be explored is essential to developing creative thought patterns, as well as revealing underlying topics that may not have been explored previously. Teachers demonstrate abstraction through concept maps. Breaking complex subjects into simpler more easily understood topics. Many professionals in the fields of art and photography try their entire life to develop their abstract eye. They try to reflect complex thoughts, feelings, and views in a clearer more abstract way. They try to capture complex moments in time and put them into a 2 dimensional medium. To be able to make an abstraction of a complex feeling, emotion, or view is prized. Some of the best abstractions are hung on walls in museums for the world to see. Engineering is a field that is constantly creating abstractions for their complex problems. Being able to break a part a complex machine, system, or problem and understand each part is a highly needed skill and one that is essential to solving some of our most threatening problems of the future.
As an ET it is essential that we are able to abstract between the different aspects of our job. The ability to classify our job as coaches, customer support, program manager, web master, staff development is key to understanding our role. Then breaking that role down even further to be able to isolate the strengths and weaknesses of the program or school in which you work is fundamental to being an effective ET. I will be creating a presentation for my faculty and staff that clearly shows the different roles ET’s can play in the school setting and how I can contribute to their programs.
Before a person can be creative they must understand the topic at hand and how it relates to their medium. Being able to abstract the complexity of their topic and the items at hand in order to create something takes a flexible and bold mind. Flexible in the fact that the subject is not a concrete topic there are many facets and angles by which to understand each subject. Bold because it takes a fearless person to begin to create something using basic building blocks and creating something from a blank slate. There has to be a willingness to explore, problem solve, and even fail. By having a basic understanding of the subject and materials, by abstracting, a creative person can succeed and develop something novel, effective, and whole.
Modeling
Modeling is the act of taking a concept and creating a 3 dimensional sample of that idea in order to get a better understanding of the topic. Modeling helps to create and understand the topic from a different perspective. Many military campaigns have began on a table or map in order to simplify very complex processes and terrain. Artists and photographers use models as a way to capture a moment that would otherwise be difficult to stage.
As an ET it is essential that we are able to see and communicate these complex processes to our teachers and admin. In our school we have 100 teachers, 800 students and over 600 pieces of technology. It is essential to be able to keep track and refresh this technology. Currently, we have a database in place to track computers but much of the rest of the technologies are not tracked and it makes it difficult to refresh old technology and to place new technology. I plan on creating a map model using pins of all the technology at our school in order to easily track all technology and their movements. This will prevent yearly classroom inventories and easily be able to see if there are any technologies not being used.
The ability to see abstract ideas, emotions, or concepts in a clear model helps to visualize the subject in new ways thus helping to understand and simplify complex subjects. This helps to understand large scale, small scale, or conceptual topics that would otherwise be impossible to understand visually.
Photo credit: Cindy Ayres
Synthesizing
Synthesizing is the final step in the creative process and involves the combining of all previous knowledge, steps, and senses in order to have a complete understanding of the subject. Often times this is the most difficult step as once you understand your topic there is a tendency to focus on one of the above steps and not fully engage your senses or the rest of these concepts to get a full realization of the subject area. Once there is synthesis of all the creative processes a person then fully understands the topic and can begin creating something that is whole.
As an ET there are many different aspects to the roles and responsibilities to the profession and to find a synthesized solution to the many complex problems often times I employ the brain trust of the technology committee at our school. This technology committee is composed of other teachers and professionals that have additional training and insight in order to develop and create solutions to the more complex issues that happen at our school. In synthesizing the role of ET’s in education I will be combining all the steps above in order to fully understand the processes and complex issues that surround ET’s.
As teachers we all want to make a difference to inspire, to teach, to innovate in the classroom. We have 21st century problems that require creative minds to solve. As professionals it is essential that we are able to teach the tools for becoming creative individuals to our students. In just 7 steps all of us can inspire creativity in the classroom. Creativity can be taught. We can change the world one student at a time.