Creativity, Educational Technology, and 21st Century Education

Creativity, Educational Technology, and 21st Century Education

Eddie Eugene Coney

The picture above is my father who was one of the most creative people that I have ever met in my life. I started this blog off with him because when I was growing up I didn't think that I had a talent. My mother was an educator and so was he, but he was creative in a way that dried your tears and put a smile on your face. He was one of those men who would scare you with a plastic spider or make you something because it was so many of us he couldn't afford to buy everyone something. I didn't know I was poor until I was an adult and looked back on some of the thing we didn't have. We couldn't afford a real swing, so he made us a tire swing with a rope that hung from the tree. We didn't have real board games so we made up games. We would count how many red and blue cars would pass by and whoever had the most would win. We had no ideas he was teaching us colors and how to count at the same time. Creativity was my survival as well as my success.

Creativity is Forever by Gary A. Davis is one those books that allows you to see creativity in everything, but this post will focus on sensory and body movement. When I was young people told me that body movement was just play as I got older I realized it was true Art. So what's important about it when it comes to our students and children? (Davis, 1999) asserts that children discover their moving parts when the teacher asks them to move their fingers, then hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, neck, head, face. This might seem like not very much. but when children discover that they can move like the wind and express their inner emotions with just movement it become more than a lesson it becomes their creativity.

In another assignment we answered a very important question about creativity. Why is it one of the most important 21st Century skills? For me I see creativity as the Jack in the box jumping out. It is freedom for people from all walks of life. It is the chain taken off of an animal so it can run free, or light and explores darkness in the mist of a movie. It is the beauty in silence it one chooses not to speak and it is the spoken words that one can voice that might only have meaning to the person who spoke. Creativity is one of the most important skills that a person can have period, because it is expression, exposure , education and experience all wrapped up in one skill.

What's your gift that's special to you? What is it that you do that tears down your blue and breathes life into your expression. Tapping into your creativity is great, but not tapping into a student's creativity can be detrimental.

Here are some suggested project and activities that I did with students in my classroom.

Montage - Make a photo montage with pictures of your family with your favorite music.
Music Maker - Use garage band to create your music and write lyrics to go along with your favorite lesson

Camera. lights, action - Create a morning show with five people: Anchor, weather, feature, sports and special interest.

Corporalita: Self Assessment

Corporalita: Self Assessment

This is a real cool assessment and unfortunately I failed miserly from my own standards. I want reposts as you read my blog you can take it for yourself.

Answer the following questions and I will share with you my thoughts or at least what I learned.

• I am aerobically fit.
• I am getting stronger.
• My flexibility is improving.
• I know when my body is tense or relaxed.
• I am knowledgeable about diet and nutrition.
• Friends would describe me as graceful.
• I am becoming more ambidextrous.
• I am aware of the ways in which my physical state affects my attitudes.
• I have a good understanding of practical anatomy.
• I am well coordinated.
• I love to move.

Because this is a blog and I know that it will be read by people outside of my class I want to give some detail to this subject matter. 

Aerobic conditioning: Leonard guessed that arteriosclerosis was a cause of premature aging, and that it could be prevented by regular exercise.

Strength training: Leonardo legendary ability to bend horseshoes with his bare hands and stop runaway horses in their tracks is probably outside the grasp of even the most ambitious denizen  of the weight room. Just thought this was interesting...

Flexibility exercise: You can increase your dexterity with regular flexibility training.

My thoughts, I learn quite a bit from the reading and I also found out that I need to do so much more to condition my body.

Analogy Blog

Analogy Blog

How are you seeing creativity in the students/learners that you work with on a regular basis? What is at least one issue/problem that you are seeing in your school/organization that needs improvement? How could you use methods such as personal analogy method or the fantasy method to address?

The creativity that I see with the learners that I work with is using alternative applications to teach their students even though some of the same tools are in the Learning Management system that all have access to. They are finding that other apps are sometimes easier to use and as an end result they get the same results.

The one issue that I see in my school that needs improvement is the sharing of information so that everyone can succeed in teaching their students. Sometimes we use information as if it is a secret and if we tell or share we will be punished, but if we learn that if we share we just might learn as well. Sharing is a good thing.

I think that personal analog will give learners a sense of ownership, where solutions can become a group effort where innovative approaches can be the end result. I also feel if we see something as personal we will feel we have an obligation to find effective solutions.

I think fantasy analog can help in that we find solutions that will stroke emotional awaking’s that would be so severe that it might just bring about ideas so out of the box it might just work. For some people conservative and conventional are passive solutions, but excitement is something that everyone can appreciate. I also think fantasy can be fun and fun can be a vehicle for moving forward.

Cultivate Confusion Endurance

Cultivate Confusion Endurance

According to (Gelb, 1999), "the Sfumato principle touches the essence of being. Just as day follows night, our capacity for joy is born in sorrow." As I see it, this is so very deep, I think that Gelb is saying that if you have never know joy then it is impossible for you to experience sorrow, if not how would you know the difference.

The task for this blog is to develop my Da Vincian powers by nurturing confusion endurance, we will look at Joy and Sorrow Intimacy and Independence, Good and Evil, Change and Constancy, Humility and Pride, Goals and Process and finally Life and Death.

Let's first look at Joy and Sorrow:
The saddest moment s in my life was when I lost my mother. Moments in my life when I was the happiest was the birth of my son, my wedding day and graduating from college. The relationship between my happiness times was sharing these moments with my mother, which is why the saddest time was losing her because I knew I wouldn't get to share these moments with her again. I agree that, "the highest happiness becomes the cause of unhappiness..." I don't agree that the highest moments of sadness becomes the cause of happiness.

Intimacy and Independence:
I believe that there can be a connection between intimacy and independence. As I see it, affection and freedom can have a connection, but I also believe you can have one without the other. The connection can cause anxiety, however I also believe the connection can be the end result of happiness.

Strength and Weakness:

My greatest strengths consist of:

• Strong Faith
• Good Family member
• Great with Friendship

My greatest weaknesses consist of:

• Frustration
• Admitting my faults
• Ending relationships

How are the qualities in these list related?

• I have to have strong faith, because if I don't I will be easily frustrated.
• Family will always let you know your faults and this can be beneficial if you are one that can't admit your faults on your own.
• I am a darn good friend, but I have trouble letting go when a friendship goes bad and it is imperative to let go.

Good and Evil:
I have had feelings of  very strong dislike for others to the point where I wanted to impose pain. I have had moments where I imagine people falling from very tall buildings. I think what kept me from making these evil thoughts a reality was knowing the good in me. I believe that our good has to over rule your evil.

Change and Consistency:
As I reflect on the biggest changes in my life I think of having a child. Before I had a child I worked day and night. After having a child I work day and night, some things never change even though they should sometimes.

I got married to a wonderful man many years ago, before I married him I enjoyed photography and videography. After marrying him I open a photography and videography business. My passion for photography and videography stayed the same, the different is I have increased my passions.

In 2009, I was employed with Savannah State University as a trainer, I left in 2012 and moved to Louisville, Kentucky as a trainer for the Kentucky Department of Education. I moved back to Savannah, Georgia in 2015. I still serve as a trainer for Savannah State University. Passions never change even if careers do.

Humility and Pride:
I think that these two terms can mean the same, I have had moments where it was not imperative to tell the world that I had a great accomplishment because the task was private, it was a victory for me and not for others. I was proud that it was pointed out, but it would have felt no different if it had not. Some times I think you can have pride and humility depending on your focus.

Goals and Process:
When I was employed with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE)  I put together my first Digital Symposium. The goal was to get the word out about digital integration and let teachers know that KDE was not the enemy to the school system, but rather a support system.

Because KDE didn't have the best reputation as a caring support system I knew that I would need buy-in and strong supports. I formed a committee of hard working individuals and disseminated responsibilities to complete the task. Mission complete and yes I felt fulfilled. I didn't do it along, and it felt better because I had help. Does the end justify the means? Sure!

Life and Death:
"Life Is Not Measured By the Number of Breaths We Take, But By the Moments That Take Our Breath Away."

It's funny how we look at death, some find that it is a celebration when your faith tell you that it is better to be in the bosom of Abraham. Some say I am not ready for death, because I have not lived. I think the viewpoint of Life and Death is personal.

For me life is true love, deep laughter, awesome educational engagement and rock out entertainment. When you don't experience these things then you have experience death!

Sensazione

Sensazione

Self-Assessment: Vision

I took a vision test that confirms the following for me:

I am sensitive to color harmonies and clashes, I think I can confirm this when I look at PowerPoint presentations, if I can't see it clearly then it bothers me big time. I know the color of all my friend's eyes, absolutely not, thank God I have lots of friends and we are close, but since I don't know maybe not close enough. I look out into the far horizon and up to the sky at least once a day. I am definitely not an outdoors human, but I do, do this because I absolutely love the way the sky looks in Georgia and definitely the cape hills and mountains in Kentucky. I am good at describing a scene in detail. I like doodling and drawing, as a graphic artist, most definitely, I sketch almost everything I see, even in meetings. Friends would describe me as alert, not my real friends they will tell you it depends on what's going on, other than that she checks out, completely out. I am sensitive to subtle changes in lighting, yes indeed this is true. I can picture things clearly in my mind's eye, indeed I can and I do it well.

My Score for this vision test would be 6 out of eight, not bad for somewhere who wears glasses and can't see clearly without them.

Sensazione

Self-Assessment: Hearing

My hearing assessment confirms the following:
Friends describe me as a good listener, absolutely, I am an awesome friend because I will listen carefully without a need to disrupt. I am sensitive to noise, having a ten year old son, I want to say yes, but Lord I have learned to tune him out when necessary, and yes detect the difference between goobly goo and information I need to listen to, pray for me. I can tell when someone is singing off key, yes indeed I was in the concert choir at Tougaloo College and that was a technique I had to learn as a section leader that means I can sing yawl! I can sing on key, yes I was pretty good back in the day. I listen to jazz music or classical music regularly, indeed I love jazz music. I can distinguish the melody from the bass line in a piece of music, this is true. I know what all the controls on my stereo system are for and can hear the difference when I adjust them, this is true as well, I guess you can tell music is my thing. I enjoy silence, only when I am studying. I am attuned to subtle changes in a speaker’s voice tone, volume, and inflection, indeed I am.

My Score for this hearing test would be 8 out of 9.

I knew I had a strong sense of smell, but according to the test I have an awesome sense of smell, I was able to relate to all six questions with a yes. I have a favorite scent, smells affect my emotions strongly, for better or worse, I can recognize friends by their scent, I know how to use aroma to influence my mood, I can reliably judge the quality of food or wine by its aroma and when I see fresh flowers, I usually take a few moments to breathe in their aroma. I say that this was pretty good judge of smell.

First Blogging Assignment - Creativity                      

           

Why is creativity important to you?
Creativity is important to me because it is my one independent strength. What some people called weird and strange at one time in my life, today they view as creativity. 

(Gelb, 1998), suggest that "you are gifted with virtually unlimited potential for learning and creativity."  What a statement, if for no other reason creativity is important to me because it is a source of power, a pathway for passion and personal purpose.

How do you see creativity in yourself?
When I was young my mother would always say that I marched to the beat of a different drummer. I don't always follow the leader or agree with the masses. I have always had my own ideas about the way certain things should be. I would say that the creativity in me would be my ability to stand alone and be OK.

How do you see creativity in your work environment?
I see my creativity in the work place as one who finds innovative or even creative solutions for people from all walks of life.

I had several students who needed Microsoft Office on their computer and the professor would not accept an alternative word processor. The students told me they had no money to purchase Microsoft Word and I told them that they didn't need a dime. I took them into the lab and showed them how to use their 365 app that is free for them which included the Microsoft office suite as well as other apps that I was sure they could find useful.

I also had a director who ask me to research some software that she could purchase because they needed to make videos as well needed a screen recorder. I told the director you already have the apps you need to do that in PowerPoint. I explained that PowerPoint has a free plug-in called Office Mix and it includes tabs for screen recording and making videos.

I think my creativity in the work environment is finding creative solutions.