I stumbled upon this video recently. I thought the students did a great job putting it and their thoughts together. It was creative in itself.
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I don’t doubt the value of opportunities for inspiration from online sources and interaction. I can also appreciate the richness and diversity of resources that are available to students now to further explore their passions and interests online. I have seen my own children seek ideas and inspiration online to help them in their creative pursuits and passions.
But I find my thoughts going around in circles sometimes. What is the connection between technology and creativity exactly? Are we really talking about innovation at times? How does crowd-sourcing fit in to it all? I worry we might overlook the creative process that can be inspired and facilitated without technology. Is there an appropriate balance at the right time when so much is available online? It is not hard for me to look around my own home and see creative works of my children that were inspired simply and only from seeing something in their natural physical world. Could the same visual experience online/virtually have provided the same inspiration? With my own, I am quite sure it wouldn’t have in many cases.
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I am still pondering some interesting reads about the discussions at the World Economic Forum. An interesting video here about the interaction of art and technology. Also here, Tim Brown mentions the conclusion from one session he attended, “The overall conclusion from the session was that creativity has an essential role to play in education, whether for the purposes of enhancing technical innovation or for creating well-rounded graduates who can truly contribute to society.”
So my thoughts and questions continue regarding the connection and interaction between creativity and technology. How does one influence the other? Which should serve what/who? When should they stay separate?
I will end with sharing this short video of a creative photographer, as I thought it was quite creative in itself too.
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🙂 I didn’t expect that either!
SheilaSpeaking 
Feb 09, 2013 @ 21:32:29
Great post Sheila,
Got me thinking. And I so did not expect that last bit! Very effective way to make an impression.
I have struggled for a few years to really get a handle on the difference between creativity and innovation. Recently I’ve decided that they must be on a continumm as creativity, no matter how original or unique it seems, is always influenced by something outside of the creator. And innovation, although most often a clear blending of two or more ideas to make something better, is also a very creative process. Ok, and there is a difference in usefulness. Generally an innovation leans more toward usefulness and art to beauty and we all know the best “things” are a combination of both.
Technology, I think is just a tool. Pens, paint, charcoal, ballet slippers, iPhones, all technologies that can do nothing creative or innovative without a human mind or minds guiding the process. And if you had ever seen me try to dance or draw.. well.. clearly a certain kind of human mind is needed for real creativity or innovation lol
jamie
Feb 10, 2013 @ 13:14:22
Thanks, Jamie! Thank you for adding these thoughts! As words get thrown around in the “purpose of education”, I find it easy to wonder if we are all thinking/saying the same thing. Are the purposes of creativity being redefined in some of this dialogue about art and technology?
Feb 10, 2013 @ 14:26:09
Hi Sheila, I don’t think tech changes creativity or innovation. I do think tech has the means to amplify it and package an idea in a way that can reach a wider audience.
I think of my own process as a blogger/writer. I don’t think I would have experienced the growth I have without a connected and interactive audience. I think the growth cycle speeds up with connectivity. I see that with teens and how they want to tell their stories using digital tools.
It’s like being a musician and having only spoons; you can still make music, but when your music gets amplified and transformed with an orchestra is an amazing thing.
Great video at the end, it surprised me!
c
Feb 10, 2013 @ 21:33:30
Appreciate your thoughts and experience here, Carolyn. Good point about the growth part. Do you think that the amplification or interaction could also disrupt a creative process? Is there more pressure for people to bring their creative process to online spaces?
Yes, I was really expecting something else in the last video. Just had to add my silliness 🙂
Feb 10, 2013 @ 23:30:08
Great post with punctuated ending! That’s learning: sometimes it hits you when you’re not looking. You’re working away, trying something, and you glance over at your friend and say, “Oh. I get it.” I remember a term “field of learning.” We may be focused, or supposed to be focused, on one skill, when we are actually learning something else while doing it or watching someone else. Technology is like that; it fits when we need it and we shouldn’t force the tool — what works best, and explore not just online, but real world. Great ideas here.
Feb 11, 2013 @ 22:07:23
Thanks, Sheri! It is like “playing” then…we don’t always know where it will end up, but learning along the way too…trying out things/tools, interacting with people and spaces…directly or indirectly…hhmmm 🙂
Thoughts on Creativity « SheilaSpeaking | Creativity for Better Living and Aging | Scoop.it
Feb 11, 2013 @ 06:57:22
Feb 11, 2013 @ 10:52:00
So my thoughts and questions continue regarding the connection and interaction between creativity and technology. How does one influence the other? Which should serve what/who? When should they stay separate?
Thanks for the post and I’ll try to focus on your question above. I’ve been a practising artist all my life (as far back as senior Kindergarten if I can remember). As a traditional artist in my early years, I felt that that was it and creativity was limited by such media.
I left high school for university right around the birth of the internet as we know it. Five years later, multimedia and video was exploding and the concept of embedded media forever altered the way we interact and experience creativity.
I don’t really understand why technology is such a foreign concept or apart from to creativity (to some people). The great Dutch masters spent quite some time developing and mixing their oil paints (that’s technology), Leonardo DaVinci used compressed charcoal (technology) and the Impressionists loved their Arches paper (another form of technology). Why is it that in this day and age, technology is mentioned in another breath (not saying you did)? Some people I come across are so averse to the integration of digital technology in traditional media / art. Why? Technology as far as I’m considered is just a component of creativity (ie. tools and materials). In my school, we still draw, plan and sketch. The only difference right now is that we’re using web tools to deepen and enhance their understanding of what it means to be creative. The video below is a small slice of what we’re trying to establish.
I hope this helps. I apologize if I sounded worked up. My life’s work has been dedicated to this very post, that’s why. Thanks again for posing the questions to begin with.
Feb 11, 2013 @ 22:51:00
This is great – I appreciate that you shared your story and experience! No, you didn’t sound worked up…. I hear the passion 🙂 I really enjoyed your video and the window into your class!
I have been thinking a lot today about the creative process and the different ways that people can demonstrate creativity, as well as use tools to do that. You have made good points to that.
Today I watched a video of John Cleese’s talk on creativity. I loved his points about the “open mode” and what is necessary for creativity to happen. He had some interesting points about space, time, play, confidence, and humour. I think I may have to start a second post on this topic! 🙂
Here is the link to a shorter clip of his talk where he talks about the “open mode”, if anyone wants for now.
As we hear more calls for “creativity” as having a place in education, I think it is important to look at what is essential to creating the conditions for it.
Thanks again for helping with my questions and thinking on this!
Feb 12, 2013 @ 14:25:32
Thanks for posting this. I’m fascinated by the questions it brings up and the strange sense that we haven’t figured out entirely what creativity is and how it works.
Feb 13, 2013 @ 08:59:08
Yes, the more I read and think about it the more complex it can seem! I enjoyed reading some of your past posts on it yesterday, John.
Creativity and innovation seem to be important words lately.
Mar 08, 2013 @ 17:05:50
Mar 09, 2013 @ 21:33:08