Technology and Creativity

John Cleese on Creativity

1. Space (“You can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if you’re under your usual pressures.”)
2. Time (“It’s not enough to create space; you have to create your space for a specific period of time.”)
3. Time (“Giving your mind as long as possible to come up with something original,” and learning to tolerate thediscomfort of pondering time and indecision.)
4. Confidence (“Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”)
5. Humor (“The main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.”)

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/04/12/john-cleese-on-creativity-1991/ 

Simplify to be Creative

"Appeal to the buying brain. Clutter forces the brain to consume energy. Create uncluttered environments instead. The Apple Store is spacious, clean, well-lit, and uncluttered. Cables are hidden from view and no posters on placed on the iconic glass entrances. Computer screens are cleaned constantly."


This is an important principle for learning - to keep the learning environment simple so that the brain has less work to do. 

Read more: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2012/04/10-things-you-can-learn-from-the-apple-store.html#ixzz1vvpBXT6K

The Divided but Creative Brain

Neuroscience is making new discoveries and clarifying the functioning of the brain through experimentation and scientific analysis.  We can be more creative and discover more about how we learn if we understand how the brain functions. Please, watch this very interesting YouTude video by McGilChrist to learn more about the role of the brain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dFs9WO2B8uI

Imagining the Future

""A new study from the January issue of Psychological Science may explain why we are all so optimistic about what’s to come. The authors report that people tend to remember imagined future scenarios that are happy better than they recall the unhappy ones."

Cognitive scientists are very interested in people’s “remembered futures.” The whole idea seems contradictory in a way, as we tend to think of memory in connection with the past—recollections of people and things gone by. The fact is that we all imagine the future, and from time to time we recall those imaginary scenarios. Recent research has shown that the same brain areas are active when we remember past events and when we think about the future. Indeed, some scientists believe that these “memories” are highly adaptive, allowing us to plan and better prepare ourselves for whatever lies in store. If we can remember the actions and reactions we thought about in the past, our future behavior will be more efficient."

This study has implications for reading comprehension, motivation, and well-being.

Go to Scientific America to see full article.

Tagged 'Creativity' « Whole Child Education

Tagged 'Creativity' « Whole Child Education

Creativity in the classroom

Creativity can be defined as the production of novel thoughts, solutions, or products based on previous experience and knowledge. Learning is a creative process that involves students making information relevant by linking prior knowledge and new knowledge in an individually meaningful way.

Unfortunately, most school environments do not support, and many actively suppress, creative expression because teachers are often ill equipped to develop, support, or evaluate creativity in their students. In addition, much theory and research shows that creative students often lose their creative potential.

Read this paper on creativity in the classroom, it is full of insights for effective teaching and the fostering of creativity.

http://deved.org/library/sites/default/files/library/classroom_environments_for_creativity_in_higher_education.pdf