Creative use of Technology in Education

There are 3 main ways in which technology can be used in education.  One of them is horrible.  One of them is neutral.  One of them is great.  One of them is used extensively.  One of them is increasingly being used.  One of them is not being used enough.  One of them is technology being used to demonstrate an idea.  One of them is using technology as a replacement for pen and paper.  One of them is using technology to be creative.

Method 1

Technology as a demonstrator is horrible.  It is the equivalent of fast food for the mind. It is easy to digest.  It is marketed well.  It makes you feel satisfied in the short term but long term has very little value.  There are many examples of this in educational institutions ranging from flash animations of physics and chemistry theories through to programs that teach languages via simple cartoons.  We are presenting the ideas in ways that mean the student has to do very little in the way of thinking to understand it.   They sit back and observe rather than actively applying.  Research suggests that the clearer the font on a piece the harder it is for us to retain it for example.

These methods tend to be very rigid with little room for creativity or the need for the student to figure things out for themselves.  Assessments then tend to follow in a similar manner.  And the student does well and we believe the technology has worked and made the students smarter.  In reality however they are not smarter. They have become good at a process of remember and regurgitate.  The questions in such exams tend to be multiple choice and not test understanding but an ability to match up keywords.  eg.

“I have no idea what they are talking about in this question but I vaguely remember that word in answer C being mentioned somewhere near that other word in the question so I’ll guess that it is the correct answer.”

This method is used extensively (and increasing) I believe as it is very convenient for the educator (pre packaged with little effort on their behalf to make or deliver) and gives the false sense of achievement.  It is the mythical silver bullet. It’s continued use is leading to students that are not as smart as they (and their parents and teachers) are lead to believe,  who lack creativity and initiative and the ability to appreciate the application of these theories in the real world.

Method 2

Technology as a replacement for pen and paper is neutral.  It has some minor advantages and disadvantages but is essentially just replacing one tool with another.  By this I mean using an office suite to do work instead of an exercise book.  It is becoming increasingly popular as computer equipment is becoming more and more accessible (especially with the netbook phenomenon, for example in NSW in Australia public schools have embraced netbooks to great effect).  Two disadvantages are the increased possibility for distractions and also the increased possibility for copying others work.  Both of these can be overcome with correct management of students and design of class workflow however.  Advantages are that it is easier to make changes to work and so exploring different ideas and experimenting becomes easier.  This is great for encouraging creative thinking.  You are also making them comfortable with technology and can take the opportunity to teach ancillary skills such as correct office suite usage,  directory structure for storing files etc.  Done well I think you will find that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and also start leading into the last way in which technology can be used which is by far the most beneficial.

Method 3

Using technology to create is by far the best use of technology in education.  It benefits the students in many ways. Creativity and problem solving are promoted.  An understanding of the problem and the theories behind it and the solution are required.  An understanding of the tools involved,  how they work and why is developed.  If done in an open manner then initiative is encouraged.  Soft skills such as problem solving,  collaboration,  reflection and time management are exercised. And, and, and…..

To give you an example of such an exercise I could give my students the following task:

“You are to give a presentation on topic X.  You are not allowed to use a presentation program however (Powerpoint,  Impress,  Keynote etc).  You are free to use any other program in any way you like.  You are to do it in teams of 3.  You must use technology to coordinate the presentation and you must also show how you used it to manage yourselves and collaborate in the preparation.  You are to include 3 examples of you not doing something at a computer in the presentation (this can be done via pictures,  video or sound,  or a live demonstration as part of the presentation).”

This leads to a very open problem for the students to solve. There are many things they must consider and understand in doing so and there is going to be lots of experimentation.  In doing this exercise they will learn a lot more than just the material they are presenting on.  They can also have a lot of fun in the process and they will be forced to express their creativity (and be rewarded for doing so).

Another example for learning a language is the following task:

“I want you do divide into groups of 5.  I am going to give each group a problem to discuss and come up with a solution.  Your solution must be written down and handed to me at the end of the class.  You may not use english at all unless speaking to myself.  Any other discussion must be in Italian and your final solution must also be in Italian.  You are free to use your textbook to look up words etc.”

The complexity of the problem would depend on the level your students are at but could be as simple as giving a response to a recent event in the news.

I believe this method is not being used as much as it should be for several reasons.  It can be hard to come up with good exercises. (However we as educators can use technology to share ideas and overcome this) It is also harder to manage as they tend to be of an open nature.  This also makes it harder to assess and unfortunately assigning marks is highly desired in todays world.

I disagree with the idea of putting a quantitative value on something that is qualitative. At best it is a vague measure and tends to promote the wrong targets.  I would prefer to further my students greatly and not be able to assess it than to dumb down the material to make is easily assessable.

The level of technological skill of the educator also needs to be higher when using this approach and for various reasons (not all that of the educator) this is often a weak spot.

There is an increasing awareness of these ideas and as more and more people grow up comfortable with technology I can see our use of it moving into much more productive and creative means.  The education of future generations is going to be open and exciting.  Your opinions on this and how we could better encourage creativity would be most welcome.

Remember to check back next Wednesday when our next Creative Thinking Resource will be released.

Question, Explore, Create, Innovate