Creativity - bringing the fun back into technology education

I recently read an articles by Lewis (2005) that focused on the concept of creativity in design and technology education. What I found most interesting and helpful in this article was the idea of providing children with only just enough existing product knowledge so that they may undertake design challenges using their own creativity. Lewis (2005) calls this issue "functional fixedness"and explains it is when the student sees an object in a "habitual way", meaning they cannot get past the thought of its current use; they can't see the possibilities for its other uses.

I also really liked the notion that Lewis (2005) put forward about creativity not simply being about intelligence and so is unlike other, required subject. He notes "while the intellectual dimension of creativity deals with problem finding, problem definition and redefinition, and knowledge acquisition, personality aspects govern traits such as tolerance for ambiguity and willingness to surmount obstacles" (Lewis, 2005).  Therefore, being able to creatively and productively engage in technology design tasks are not simply about knowing the process and having the complex conceptual understandings, it is also about having the personality traits that allow students to overcome obstacles and attack challenges in new ways. Without this ability, many students would become stuck easily when presented with a design challenge.

Lewis (2005) suggests use of many key aspects in the technologies classroom. Below are his suggestions and some personal notes on how I might use them.

• Use metaphors and encourage use of (production of) metaphors. The emphasis here is for not only the teacher to use them but also the students. Engaging students in construction of metaphors helps to extend their thinking and gets them to find links between two perceivably different things.
• "Combinatorial creation" - using two existing products and combining them for a new, and often novel, purpose. I would love to use this as a fun, weekly challenge by presenting students with a range of options to use and then seeing what they might come up with (encourage creativity in a fun way without the pressure of assessment or a lengthy, labouring task).
• Divergent thinking - coming up with a variety of solutions to a problem. I would encourage the use of divergent thinking first in small groups as students could share ideas that perhaps other group members would not have thought of. This might then lead to having students think outside of the box more often; use divergent thinking.
• Productive thinking - The focus here is on ensuring students do not fall into the trap of "functional fixedness". Students should deconstruct problems and look for information and criteria that are fundamental to or essential to the design. This will then break down the task (make it appear smaller and more simplified). I believe that the "combinatorial creation" activities in the classroom would be helpful in engaging students in more productive thinking as they will need to think of new and novel ways to combine products and completely change their use.

I do believe that by using simple strategies such as these that students will be required to use much more creativity than previously done so in schools. Even from my personal practical experience I have seen that students are lacking creativity today. When required to come up with their own cartoon character, many students will draw on names of people around them and characters from shows they already watch.
When I do complete the fun "combinatorial creation" activities I'd like to extend the students by getting them to evaluate their designs using a simple framework such as De Bono's Six Thinking Hats. This is a framework that is very simple for the students to use, and can be made easier by providing students with focus or sub questions within each hat and sentence stems to structure their responses.

Overall, I found this reading by Theodore Lewis (2005) very helpful and would certainly suggest it to others looking to teach in primary schools, especially those who are new to the technologies curriculum like I am.

References

Lewis, T. (2005). Creativity - a framework for the design/problem solving discourse in technology education. Journal of technology education, 17(1). Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals

Relecting on the design process - week 3

This week I engaged with the "plan" aspect of the design cycle.

Image from http://mypdesign.weebly.com/design-cycle.html

I can see how great this process would be to complete in groups, or even individually then sharing with others. The reason I'm thinking a Vygotsky driven, socially collaborative approach would be valuable here is students could come up with so many ideas by 'bouncing' ideas off one another. Each person brings their own past experiences to the table and have their own levels of creativity. I came up with two ideas on my own for my idea challenge that I think would suit well, but I'm sure a group of school-age children, working together, could have come up with far more. I'm eager to see what feedback I get from my peers to see if they have any other great ideas for my project (creating a sustainable herb garden from recycled materials).

The use of a design matrix was a confusing concept at first, until I simply thought of it as setting criteria for the design by thinking "what does my design need" and "what would be great for my design to have (extras)". This made it easy for me to think of the criteria and is probably a break-down that I will use with school-age children too. Then it was simply a matter of comparing the two designs I had come up with and thinking about how they met each criteria. I then looked at the necessities in my design (the "needs" criteria) to see which design was most suited to the needs of the project. I then made my final decision. Presenting ideas in such a graphic way was great for me as it simplified the decision making process and I think it would also be very beneficial to students for the same reason.

Overall, I found this week's design challenge phase very interesting and helpful for my future design and digital technologies teaching practice.

Jones, Buntting & Vries reading "The developing field of technology education: a review to look forward"

After engaging with this reading I more clearly understand the reasoning behind this course. Originally I thought it would be about unpacking the curriculum and how to teach the curriculum to students. I now understand why we are also engaging with a range of technologies, many online, and are engaging in our own design task; we are building up our own conceptual and procedural knowledge around the area of design and digital technologies.

Teachers are preparing students of the 21st Century for a world that will be deeply embedded with many forms of technology and that will be constantly evolving.  The design and technologies curriculum is addressing this ever-pressing concern, however if teachers (pre-service and inservice) are not confident and comfortable in their own understandings and abilities, they will be unable to deliver quality technology lessons. The ability to deliver an effective technologies curriculum is hindered or impacted by the technological knowledge and ability of the teachers, teacher views and beliefs about the subjects and time available for this new area in what is considered to be an already 'overcrowded curriculum' (Jones, Buntting & de Vries, 2011, p. 196). As Jones et al. (2011, p. 200) suggests, "teacher knowledges in technology are crucial for developing students' knowledge and practices". Therefore, deficits in teacher knowledge and understadings will inevitably leave the students with poor understanding and skills of the technologies curriculum and content and they will be less likely to see real world connections.

Another important issue when thinking about the use of the technologies curriculum in classrooms is the need for teachers to know how to assess students in the technologies curriculum. I personally have seen how 'wishy washy' the assessment of technology can be in classrooms and totally agree with the need for more understanding on how to assess technology projects. I don't think that teachers intend on assessing in such a way, or that they are being lazy, I simply think that many do not know how or what they need to be assessing.

Technology was previously viewed and taught with a strong procedural focus, however now it is more important that technology is delivered with both a conceptual and procedural focus to ensure a richer technological learning experience for the students that is more meaningful (Jones et al., 2011, p. 198). The focus then, especially for assessment purposes, should not be on the final product but also be on the process. Asking students to follow something like the design process, with interrelated areas for development of a final design and product, and documenting their progress (photos, videos, sample work, reflections, observations, etc.) would be useful in assessing the students' abilities in the technologies curriculum.

There is a strong sociocultural view around the technology area; technology learning and the process of technology are undertaken in a social and cultural context. It is socially and culturally driven (needs driven by the community) to accomplish changes in society. The knowledge students bring with them to the classroom, whether it be social or cultural influences or otherwise, should be seen as valuable resources to the classroom (Jones et al., 2011, p. 199).

Overall I think the biggest impacts this has on me as a future teacher and how I will embrace technology in my classroom are:

• Engage in ongoing learning (personal) and professional development regarding the field of technology. This field will constantly be evolving with globalisation and changing societies so it is something I will never know enough about. I hope to always strive to learn more in this field. As with many teachers though, I feel time will be my biggest constraint here so I will aim to keep up in smaller 'chunks' more often.
• Try to encompass a range of technology activities and learning in my classroom to ensure the students are engaging with a wide range of technologies and in a wide range of design processes and activities. This way I will hopefully engage more students and motivate more students to get involved and I also hope this will help them see the worth and application to real life.
• I will need to actively ensure that when integrating across subjects, that the technologies curriculum does not simply come second best to the other curriculum, for example science. I will need to consciously make an effort to ensure that the technologies curriculum is equally as important as the one it is integrating with and does not get left in the background.
• Remember: Simply using technology is not meaningfully teaching technology (not even close) but it is still something I will endeavour to use in my classroom practice. However, when I am simply using the technology, I will not consider this in any way to be addressing the technologies curriculum.

References

Jones, A., Buntting, C. & de Vries, M. J. (2011). The developing field of technology education: a review to look forward. International journal of technology and design education, 23, 191-212. doi 10.1007/201798-011-9174-4

Reflection so far: Engaging students in a design challenge

Upon entering this course I have to admit I was a little cautious about how much would be required (of us as Uni students and then implementing the new curriculum as teachers). I was quite worried that the new technologies curriculum would not 'mesh' well with other subjects and would be yet another disjointed aspect to student's learning (which sadly is how some educators have taken the new curriculum as a whole).
Surprisingly I found that this subject will integrate really well with other subjects, creating a more holistic teaching experience.
For example, for my design challenge I am designing and creating a herb garden to be used in the school tuck shop using sustainable practices and recyclable materials. Aside from the design and technologies aspect of the curriculum this covers, some of the other curriculum elements it can also cover are:

• English - writing procedural texts (for construction), perhaps the construction of a scientific report.
• Science - labelled diagrams, how plants grow (growing conditions), photosynthesis, how plants get their nutrients.
• Maths - budgeting, cost of materials, volume (of containers), calculating soil needed, estimating how many herbs will be needed to provide the tuck shop with herbs (supply and demand).
• Geography - sustainability! This is a big one here as it is a major component of the design specifications. Students can explore what sustainability is, consider what recycled materials would be most suitable and also how to minimise water waste.

I'm sure there would be many more, however, these are just the few that spring to mind now. :)

Engaging with the design and technologies curriculum has so far been an enjoyable experience in which I can already see many enriching and engaging lessons, activities and units for students to explore.

As far as how to teach using the design and technologies curriculum goes, I have found using the design cycle (Cobus Botes) to be incredibly helpful. By using a design cycle graphic (like the restructured one I created below), students can work through the phases, moving back and forth between them, constantly improving their designs and adjusting their prototypes, until they have created a design which meets the needs it was designed for. It is a very reflective process that engages students in higher-order thinking, and in order for students to engage in this higher-order thinking effectively (to the best of their ability) teachers also need to explicitly teach the use of these skills.

Risk assessments

Wow! I had no idea how in depth risk assessments are!   :-\
For my design challenge (week 2) I began a risk assessment using the Education Queensland Template. This experience was a real eye opener for me.
I certainly agree with the need for such a procedure, as it will alert educators to all aspects of an activity or excursion that could expose students, teachers or other persons to risk or harm which then allows them to minimise that risk in every way possible. However, I fully understand why there are many teachers that seem to 'avoid' going on excursions or doing activities that are considered 'higher risk' (e.g. cooking with younger students, constructing projects, conducting experiments, etc.). These activities provide such enriching educational experiences for students, however to deliver them, the teachers need to go through a lot of 'red tape'. 
I certainly agree that student's safety is paramount and that a procedure such as this is so important. I just know I will really need to familiarise myself with the document and the process more so that when I have my own classroom I will be more confident and comfortable using it, which will then lead to me engaging students in those more enriching (but also more risky) lessons, activities and excursions.

Verb table so far

Verb	Definition / Explanation in context
Analyse	Analysing would often occur when students are analysing the design of a product to text for its effectiveness and suitability against the design criteria (needs of the stakeholders). Analysing may then lead to construction or further design, depending on the outcome of the analysis.
Apply	Applying knowledge of particular concepts or processes to new situations. This may also include the application of prior knowledge into new situations to undergo problem-solving.
Define	Use conceptual knowledge to create or remember a definition for a technological aspect of what they are studying or doing.
Design	This requires students to use their knowledge of the requirements of a project to create a design of a product to meet the needs of the stakeholders.
Draft	Drafting requires students to use their preliminary ideas to create a preliminary design. They would then be required to analyse their design.
Evaluate	Evaluation of a design would follow a similar path to analysing a design.
Experiment	Students will often experiment with or test their design or prototypes. This would be to evaluate/ analyse the effectiveness of their design.
Generate	Generating may include students generating or forming ideas about a project or even generating conclusions about the effectiveness of their product. It is generally the coming together of many ideas to make a decision.
Interpret	There may be some aspects of the design brief that are not clear and provide no ‘clean cut’ answers. This will require students to use what they know, brainstorm and discuss in groups (collaboratively) to interpret the problem to ensure they create a solution that will meet the perceived needs.
Problem-solve	Students will be required throughout the process to problem solve (apply their knowledge to new, challenging and open-ended situations).
Produce	Produce requires students to create their product; to actually construct their design.
Research	Students will be required throughout all stages of the design process to research their need or topic to look up the most suitable construction, the most suitable materials, the most suitable uses, etc. Although the research process will occur heavily in the beginning part of the design process, students will most likely revert back to this again and again throughout the process as changes need to be made.

Summary of "Skills for the 21st Century: Teaching higher-order thinking skills" by Robyn Collins

I'm sure all educators agree that students will need higher-order thinking skills in order to survive, thrive and function in the future. Due to the ever increasing pace at which technology is advancing, this is made even more prevalent. The issue then is, how do educators teach these higher-order thinking skills to students? How do we build that capacity in them so they are able to function in a future society?
First we need to look at what higher-order thinking (HoT) is. HoT can be put into 3 main categories as per Brookhart (2010). These are:

• defined in terms of transfer,
• defined in terms of critical thinking, and
• defined in terms of problem solving.

Transfer: making sense of new knowledge and being able to apply it to new situations.
Problem solving: using HoT processes to come up with a solution to a problem. The problems are usually open-ended and their solutions may change depending on if the circumstances change.

These clearly show that deep understandings and meanings are needed and students need to be equipped with skills that they can apply to new and unfamiliar situations and problems. So this is when Collins (2014) leads us into how to teach higher-order thinking skills to students.

Teaching HoT skills:

1. Teaching the language and concepts of HoT (explicit teaching),
2. Planning classroom questioning and discussion time to tap into particular higher-order thinking skills,
3. Explicit teaching subject concepts,
4. Providing scaffolding, and
5. Consciously teach to encourage HoT. 

(Collins, 2014).

For a more comprehensive overview, look up the article "Skills for the 21st Century: teaching higher-order thinking skills" by Robin Collins (2014) at http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/home,61.html

The most common framework for higher-order thinking questioning is Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Krathwohl (2002) describes the revised taxonomy as a hierarchy of cognitive dimensions which differ in their depth and complexity (p. 215). He describes the revised taxonomy as being constructed with verbs and being more flexible (as far as which category activities may lie within) so that users of the taxonomy, which are often educators, will be able to use it with greater ease and create activities and questioning which engage learners in deeper and more meaningful thinking; higher-order thinking.

I find the taxonomy incredibly useful in my teaching practice so far. It's great for creating summary questions (in my planning ahead of the lesson) to ensure that I ask those key questions that prompt deep and meaningful thought and extend the students. However, I have personally found it hard to remember the revised taxonomy and key words that might go with it. So, to help me out, I found this lovely image created by Mia MacMeekin and have printed and laminated it as a bookmark. I have found this super useful (thankyou Mia!).

Click on this picture to take you to the site :)

References

Collins, R. (2014). Skills for the 21st century: teaching higher-order thinking skills. Curriculum and leadership journal 12(14). Retrieved from http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/home,61.html

Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom's taxonomy: an overview. Theory into practice 41(4) 212-218. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org

Using Taxedo

This is just a quick go I had at using Taxedo. I found it really user friendly. I would also like to have a go at Wordle to compare the two programs and see which one I prefer.
This would be a really interesting way to get kids to do book summaries or book reviews (just one idea that popped to mind) but I'm sure the opportunities are endless. At the beginning of the year the class could come up with one (together) about the class values and characteristics of the people in the class - just a really fun way to present information really.

My Taxedo was created around the idea of "What is Technology?"

What is technology?

So what really is technology? When I first thought about this question I have to admit I immediately just thought of objects and devices such as phones, tablets and computers. Turns out - I was wrong!

Technology is much greater than mere 'tools'.

The reading "What is Technology" presented by Jose Anazagasty was incredibly helpful in opening my eyes to my incorrect definition of technology.
Jose quotes Bijker and Law (1992) - Technology "is born of the social, the economic and the technical relations that are already in place." Jose then goes on to quote Volti (2008) by summarising that technology is "a system produced by humans that employs knowledge and organization to make objects and developed techniques for the achievement of specific goals."

So what I take this all to mean is that technology is not simply the output of tools used by humans, it is the whole technological process which takes into account the context and purpose that the 'tools' have been created for. It is the process of problem solving and designing products and 'tools' to offer solutions to often complex problems. These outputs are never perfect solutions - they are continually improved to reach specific goals and needs of changing populations and industries.

I'm sure my understanding will continue to develop as I engage with this course, however this is my current understanding.

Until next time,
Kirsty :)