Digital Badge #C

Students need to challenge themselves with their school assignments. If a project or assignment is too easy, it might be boring, but if it is too hard, it might be frustrating. You want to set the balance to get their thinking juices flowing. Students do not just want sit in a classroom and memorized assignments anymore; they want to be active participants. Being active learners, students become the source of knowledge, not just receivers of information. There is a variety of methods used to help motivate our students and place them on the track of learning. Making decisions about details on their assignments promotes confidence and creativity. No matter what approach you may use, the goal is to help students learn, by making it fun and interesting for them.
 
How to engage students in the classroom is probably the biggest obstacle a teacher has to overcome. Keeping students motivated and focus on the topic at hand can be a challenge. In our book, Transforming Learning with New Technologies, they list four different methods used to engage students in learning.  All the methods promote learning by motivation and encourage participation. One-on-one tutoring is an ideal practice for those children who are struggling with a topic or considered for school failure. This method encourages self-explanation by the student when the tutor questions and probes to get the student talking. Placing students in learning groups is another way of instructional teaching. This method encourages students to work together as a group and collaborate on a topic. It offers the opportunity for students to solve and apply their knowledge by working with their peers and come to a conclusion as a whole. Students are in the creation of knowledge through active involvement in the inquiry learning method. They use and learn the content and develop information-processing and problem-solving skills. The final method that was discussed was the Metacognitive method. Metacognition means thinking about our thinking. In other words, being aware of what we know which makes learning more effective. By using this instructional technique, students can change their ability to learn and allow it to develop. No matter what technique is used, teaching strategies have changed and continue to evolve.

Creativity is defined in the dictionary as the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, and the like to create meaningful new ideas and interpretations. According to an article in Edtechreview, neuroscience research has proven the fact that all children are born with innate creative powers and as they grow up some of them keep their creativity active while others unconsciously keep it dormant. Many students may not become Picasso's, Mozart’s or Albert Einstein’s, but we can help foster their creativity that lies within their imagination with technology tools that are currently available. Students can self-express by creating blogs for creative thinking and write about topics that intrigue them. They can use animations, movies, and graphics and display their creativity in so many personal ways that did not exist before. Students can use mind mapping and brainstorming tools to illustrate a topic or concept in an imaginative way. Technology has opened a whole new way of self-expression that is at the fingertips for today’s students.

 Allowing students to use technology in the classroom promotes creativity at different levels.  Students use technology in practically every part of their lives, and they know the potential it has.  Using the different teaching methods and incorporating technology tools into the lessons, will open up the classroom to so many possibilities. The tools available will save teachers planning time and add creative assignments to their agenda. Children have different ways of learning we just have to tap into what works best. They must be able to communicate and relate the assignment to everyday life experiences. Let them become creative in their ways and gain knowledge while doing so.

Resources:

How Can Technology Enhance Student Creativity? - EdTechReview ... (n.d.). Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/750-how-can-technology-enhance-student-creativity

Maloy, R.W., Verock-O’Loughlin, R.E., Edwards, S.A., Woolf, B.P. (2014) Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Upper Saddle River: Pearson