Since it's summer time, the only student I have access to is my son Thomas Maselko Jr.--a first grader at Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic school. My son is almost 7 years of age, advanced in his academics skills but not in his social ones, so an educational space that'll allow him to: explore, get comfortable, and being self-expressive is very important to his success as a student. I asked him a few question in terms of what he enjoys about school, and slowly got him to open up about what "creativity" looked like in his class this past year in Mrs. Quinn's kindergarten room. Thomas is a talker when he's confident in the topic, so he enjoyed opening up about what creativity means to him, and how his teacher used certain gadgets to get everyone involved in many activities.
What do they really value currently and/or what would they change about their learning environment when it comes to digital media and technology supporting creativity?
Howard Gardner (2007) said " creative activity harbors more than its share of heartaches; but the "flow" that accompanies a fresh insight, a breakthrough work, or a genuine invention can be addictive (From computation to character section, para. 5). I truly believe children gave birth to that addiction. It was through the excitement and curiosity of the little ones that I seen what genuine creativity looked like--yes, I think stirring chocolate milk with a hot dog is innovative. Thomas explained to me that the thing he valued the most in his Kindergarten class was writing. He loved writing in his journal about his family, friends, and thoughts of the day.
Thomas also enjoyed writing letters and knowing how to write them all on his own. During the school year, Thomas said Mrs. Quinn allowed the class to write, draw, and complete math problems using the White Smart Board. He enjoyed listening to stories played on the computer (audio recordings), and reading stories himself using the iPad. When asked if he would change anything about his classroom/learning environment in terms of technology (I had to explain what this word meant in simple terms) to allow for more creative time, Thomas said he would like to do more activities with a program called GoNoodle; he loves this program. He said he would like to use it more in the classroom and be chosen to teach the class something for a change.
References:
Workshop call for participation [Photograph]. (2011). Design thinking: creativity in business and education. Retrieved from https://designthinkingworkshop2011.wordpress.com/
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