The teacher is a constant Innovator as he/ she tries to examine and adjust the learning to match the word outside the classroom. They live in constant state of reinvention to make learning more meaningful. The educational landscape has never been more volatile in the VUCA world. Hence the students voice has become more than integral inclusion in transactions of knowledge.
Through learning centred on sustainable growth which is project based, students now get a chance to learn in their own way. The social emotional learning, social justice, access and opportunity now extend into all curriculum area. Now more than ever, our students need to be equipped with skills to be careful evaluators of information on the various social media platforms. Hence emphasis has to be laid on both instruction and assessment on areas of digital literacy, media literacy, and civic responsibility. Students must be taught to critically evaluate information and sources and discover the importance of high quality, relevant content as they are required to show what they know through evidencing and content curation.
Many teenagers, inhabit parallel realities – being simultaneously present in the physical world whilst maintaining a constant relationship and interaction with their social group and virtual lives through their mobile devices. Access to technology gives the digital natives a chance to consume a wide range of content. Hence , the focus in classrooms must now also be to turn students into content creators.
Content creation using technology involves higher order thinking skills. Technology serves as a useful tool for collaborative assignments .Students may know how to use technology for enjoyment, but not so much for editing, re-editing, exporting, sharing and saving. However a word of caution as we must remember that technology is a tool not a learning outcome. Students should display their understanding by creating a product which is shareable with a larger audience. Exposure is the key to creation. Even brief amounts of exposure to technology will encourage students to create. Students can create content to demonstrate understanding, tell a story, share information, write or even brainstorm collaboratively.
“If our goal is to teach and nurture future scientists, artists, engineers, entrepreneurs we need to understand and nurture the creative potential because creativity has provided the foundation for art, science, philosophy, and technology,” says Chavez-Eakle .The qualities associated with creativity and ingenuity are needed at all levels in both the private and public sectors. The increased pressure of competition has heightened the need for employers to be customer focused and working to achieve continuous improvement. This requires people at all levels use initiative when making decisions and to think differently. And it all starts with the quality of your education.
The charge that educational institutions fail to promote creativity is by no means new. A host of well-known educational thinkers and practitioners such as Froebel, Montessori, Steiner, Dewey, Piaget and Bruner have strongly espoused the importance of creativity in education over the past 100 years and several have set up their own organisations that operate on the fringes of mainstream education.
What is new is the rapidly growing evidence that points to creativity as an economic and societal solution to many of today’s problems. Being able to come up with new ideas and solve everyday problems is also important for people on a personal level. It plays a critically important role in learning and personal development, as well as building self-esteem.
It’s adaptability that creativity equips us with, and in today’s fast-changing world, it’s a priceless quality to have. “If we want to teach children to become productive human beings, and more satisfied with what they do with their lives, we need to support them in the process of discovering and enjoying their creative potential.
Five Apps which help in Content Creation in classrooms
- Book Creator
Students can combine text, images, audio and video to create interactive stories, digital portfolios, journals, poetry books, science reports, manuals, comic adventures and much more. Students can then publish their books and show you (or their parents) their masterpieces.
- My Simple Show
Looking for a fun way to let your students do a lecture? Then, you should introduce your students to MySimpleShow. It is a simple online tool that empowers anyone to make professional videos.Students can write their own video script, or they can even upload a PowerPoint file.Students record their own voice, or they can choose between voiceovers that are given.
- Padlet
Padlet helps you create an online post-it board and is a perfect tool of collaboration that you can share with any student or teacher you want. Just give them the unique Padlet link. Padlet allows students to insert ideas anonymously or with their name. Whoever has the Padlet board opened on his smart phone or computer, can see what’s on it and what everyone is writing. Students just have to take a device and start adding little sticky notes online. They can see all the ideas gathered on the teacher board immediately.
- Meme Generator
Student created content can also be something out of the ordinary. Take a meme for example. Let students summarize a lesson by creating memes about the subject. Expect some hilarious outcomes that actually represent your lessons. It’s also a fun way that correlates with your student’s environment outside the school, which makes it easier for students to remember.
- Comic Life
It’s sometimes said that students don’t read many books. But what they do read are Comic books. With Comic life, you bring comics to the classroom.Let students create stunning comics from their own images. The app has a lot of fonts, templates, panels, balloons, cations and lettering art available to transform your student’s story into a creative comic book. Students could create book reports in comic style, summarize a lesson, develop creative flyers, and so on.
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