Eclectic Technology

PowToon allows learners to create animations...and they recently released a new version, Simple Mode, that makes it easier to use. Click through to the post to learn all the details.

You may also be able to get a free account with PowToon if you are an educator. They are giving away $10 million dolllars worth of free accounts. For information on this go to this link.

Are we born creative or can we learn to be creative? New research provides insights into creativity, and this post looks at five myths that many of us have about creativity. The five myths are listed below, and they are explained in depth in the post.

1. Creativity is something you're born with

2. You can't control when inspiration will strike

3. You can't learn to be creative

4. Creativity happens in isolation (the myth of the lone creator)

5. Creativity comes to those with time and means

There are many resources that are included in this post. You may also find some ideas on ways to help your students learn to become more creative, and you as well.

Check out this great visual on Problem Based Learning (PBL)from Mia MacMeekin. It provides a look at the seven steps found in PBL. For each step she provides a number of ways for students to think about the specific process. What are the seven areas?

1. Start with a real life problem

2. Map it out

3. Prototype, prototype, prototype

4. Be creative

5. Think global

6. Join a challenge

7. Set goals

8. Create learning moments

Along the way she also makes some suggestions on what you should be doing as a teacher. If PBL is new to you (or your students) this would be a great visual to have your students recreate, where they may change words and add images to make it their own. Then hang it in your classroom and support them as they become experienced at problem based learning.

How do you teach someone to be creative? That is a question that many of are asking ourselves as we work with 21st century learning skills. This infographic provides 40 ways to increase your creativity, and would be great to post in your classroom. You might ask students what they think would work for them, and have them design a poster for your classroom or to share with your school.

Joyce Valenza reviews seven options for editing videos:

* EDpuzzle is a "a relatively new, free tool for cropping and pausing video, adding voice overlay, audio notes, and embedding quizzes in the form of open ended or multiple choice questions."

* Mozilla Popcorn Maker is a "multiple-layer video editor that invites users to remix videos to include pop-ups, text boxes, images, maps (even in streetview), as well as Wikipedia articles that continue to update."

* ThingLink for Video "promises the ability to drag and add text-enhanced ThingLink icons, as well as images, and embed widgets."

* eduCanon "is an interactive learning platform into which teachers may embed questions and any html object."

* TED-Ed Lessons allows you to customize the lesson to meet your goals.

* YouTube Video Editor "allows users to easily clip and add text and filters to videos you drag in."

* Write-on Video is an iPad app that allows you to "to annotate and animate videos and pictures..."

There is additional detail for each of these options in the post. She has also embedded some videos that show how to create a video in the specific site in the post.

If you are new to creating vidoeo, or are looking for some new tools that are student friendly check out this post. You should find at least one or two that will meet your needs.

This post provides a look at seven principles of creative thinking. Each is described in some detail. Three of the principles are below (without explanations).

* You are creative

* Creative thinking is work

* You must go through the motions

If you would like to see a different version of the same seven principles you can head over to Sean Junkins twitter account and see an infographic that he put together that is based on the Edutopia article. As far as I can tell the shift he made was to create the infographic. It appears that all text is from the article (and the infographic gives credit to Sean Junkins).

Have you considered having your students create infographics as a way to demonstrate their understanding of a topic? The creation of an infograhic requires that students research a question and analyze the information so the can create a visual presentation. In this post Kerry Gallager shares the process she uses with her students. The shorthand version is below but check out the post for more information as well as some student responses to the project.

* Begin with an essential question

* Provide access to information and data

* Teach the students what makes a great infographic

* Choose a number of infographic creation tools and let the students use the one that works best for them

* Remember, you are the facilitator

* Make sure the students are provided time to finish, polish and publish (which may be done at home if students have access to computers)

* Have students reflect on their work

What do creative people do that may be different from others. This post explores this stating:

'While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people.

The post shares 18 ideas, each of which are explained in detail if you click through...but five are listed below.
* They daydream

* They observe everything

* They turn life's obstacles around

* They ask the big questions

* They constantly shake things up

You may find that some of the ideas presented make you think of specific students in your classroom. As teachers are we recognizing that some of our students are more creative in their learning and may improve if we differentiate the instruction to help them engage their creativity?

This post shares 12 insights from a variety of innovators. What are some of their ideas? (Ideas below quoted from the post)

* Realize that Out of School time tends to be more inspiring and powerful ...

* Provide unique Experiences that surprise and allow children to see things from new perspectives...

* Refining the skill of Asking Questions is the fuel that ignites innovators...

The post includes some sharing of how innovators explored in their own unique ways as children. You will also find one short video of an innovator sharing their story as well as a link to eleven videos from the conference Innovators to Educators. This post may bring some fresh ideas to use with students of all ages.

Buncee is a new tool that allows you (or your students) to create presentations...think of it is a digital canvas. There is a free version and it allows you to create a 2 slide presentation. There is also an edu version available for a cost. To read a post that provides additional information check out http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=5230

We often hear of growth mindset and fixed mindset. Is there also a creative mindset? Jackie Gerstein suggests that there is a creative mindset in this post. Why? If a mindset is defined as "ideas and attitudes with which a person approaches a situation"  there is a list of "ideas and attitudes" that may be part of a creative mindset. The visual above provides Gerstein's list of some items she considers important for a creative mindset. The list is also below.

* Believes in one's own creativity

* Embraces curiosity

* Suspends judgement - silences the inner critic

* Tolerates ambiguity

* Persists even when confronted with skepticism and rejection

* Taps into childlike imagination; a child's sense of wonder

Each of these is described in more detail and links to additional resources are provided. There is also a short discussion conditions necessary to facilitate creative mindset in a classroom.

If you have not checked out Incredibox head over to the website and have fun creating an a cappella group with animated beat box singers.

This version provides new sounds, and you may still access previous versions.

This is a great tool to allow students to create music, and could be used to create a track where students would add words, possibly to teach others in the class about a subject they are learning. .

Did you know that it is estimated that 1 out of 5 people struggle with dyslexia (and often do not realize it)? This post provides a range of resources that look at dyslexia. The resources are grouped in four areas:

* Understanding Dsylexia

* Identifying Dyslexia

* How to Teach Dyslexic Students

* Personalizing Dyslexia

The resources include videos and articles/posts as well as a link to a great website at Yale. And if you have a student in your class how is dyslexic they might be interested in learning that the following people were also dyslexic: Albert Einstein, Steven Jobs, Walt Disney, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg were also dyslexic.

Here is another way to have students think about their thinking. The Six Hats was written by Edward de Bono, and provides one way for students to organize their "thinking and decision making skills."
Each had is a different color and each represents a different way you might approach thinking.

* The white hat is about data and information. Think of it as a neutral position.

* The red hat looks at emotions.

* The yellow hat had a positive point of view.

* The black hat is more cautious.

* The green hat is for creative thinking and new ideas.

* The blue hat is for thinking about thinking (metacognition).

The post includes two additional visuals. Many students might find the process of thinking about what hat they would wear to help them determine the best way to approach specific areas.

What would happen if you created an entrepreneurship program to engage students in your school? A program that would "demonstrate raw critical thinking that pushes kids out of their comfort zones to engage with material, design what they want, and try to market it to the hilt?"

Why create an entrepreneurship program? This post describes many of the reasons why this is a good idea. Students have to come up with an idea which is not always easy, and then figure out how to make the idea a reality. They must learn that honest criticism is a tool that allows one to grow.

There are many life lessons that are shared in this work, as well as many projects from this year. In addition you will find a variety of resources that may help you create an entrepreneurship program for your school!

Think about the skills that are defined as 21st century skills:

* collaboration

* communication

* critical thinking and problem solving

* creativity and innovation

Are these skills that can be taught without technology? If we look to the past, we would answer yes, they are skills that can be taught without technology.

We are often asked to teach these skills today with technology. What if we introduce these skills with technology, providing students the opportunity to collaborate and learn how to effectively communicate face-to-face, learn about visual cues and more. This post explores how each of these skills may be taught without technology. You can take the information and consider how to them augment the skills with technology to help your students deepen their understanding.

Jackie Gerstein discusses how we can bring maker education activities into our schools beginning with a look at three current trends:

* The Play Deficit - for many children time to play is minimal as they lead very scheduled lives

* "Lack of creativity and play in children's lives and toys"

* The Maker Movement as in Maker Education

The first two trends are also apparent in our education system. In many schools playtime has decreased with the rollout of Common Core curriculum. Students in pre-school and Kindergarten have specific benchmarks that they need to hit to move on, and it often comes with a decrease in play time.

And many toys we find on the market today do not promote creativity. We often think of Legos as a toy to promote creativity. Gerstein shares her thoughts on this, noting buckets that contain freeform Legos that promote free play are often in the back of the store while the packages of Legos that come with directions on how to build a Star Wars character or a Harry Potter character are in the front.

At the end of this section Gerstein concludes that the literature shows that (quoting from the post):

• Making, creating, innovating, experimenting is needed now more than ever in this rapidly evolving world and our children are severely lacking in these skills
• If these skills are to be integrated into formal and informal learning settings, some direct instruction and scaffolding will need to occur.

The final section of the piece explores how the Maker Movement may impact the two issues noted above and provides a look at six areas that we as educators need to consider if we are going to become a part of the Maker Education.

Today teachers are asked to provide opportunities for students to show their creativity, but in many schools are programs are being cut due to budget concerns...and STEM is being renamed STEAM to include the arts.

This infographic explores why it is important to have the arts as a player in public education. Below are a few of the reasons from the infographic. Click through to see all the reasons (eleven if I counted correctly).

* Have you wondered how much federal funding goes to the National Science Foundation as compared to the Arts and Humanities? Do the figures of $5 billion versus $250 million surprise you?
* The No Child Left Behind Act outlines the arts (music, art, foreign language) as core academic subjects, but the Huffington Post notes that fewer elementary schools are offering it...and research shows that students whom study arts are three times more likely to be awarded for good attendance.

You will also find a list of the resources used in the infographic.

This is an infographic that you may want to share with administrators and with parents.

There are times when we run out of steam and feel little to no creativity...and this infographic provides some quick and easy ways to move ourselves towards a more creative space. The post provides the 27 ideas as a list (which some folks may prefer). As you read through you might also think of sharing some of these with students, especially if you are going to have a conversation about growth mindset.

Take STEM, add A for Art, and you get STEAM. As this post states, if you think of Leonardo di Vinci and his work this is a logical connection. This post discusses why adding the A for Art is important and the changes that may happen because of it, such as more innovation and creativity.

The list of resources includes links for all five letters and chances are you will find a few that you may not have checked out. Below are five of the resources listed...but click through to see the rest, and all are hot linked in the post. (Most tools listed are free but a few have costs.)

* Cardboard Challenge

* Why Scientific Innovation Needs the Arts

* PBS Learning Makers Party

* Odyssey of the Mind

* The Arts Institute of Chicago

Have fun exploring this diverse set of STEAM resources!