Learning in Creative Chaos

Searching the big, wide web...

...I've been pleasantly surprised just how many people are interested in creativity and how it affects learning styles (and vice versa). Back when I was teaching College Composition, my interest in creativity was put up with by my peers and bosses, though not necessarily encouraged (except when it came to those "non-academic" assignments). I think many in the field of composition studies view creativity as "fluffy" or perhaps the bastard red-headed stepchild of "serious" rhetoric.

That said, I'm not finding the same attitude when it comes to instructional design and educational media. Take this article I just came across:

Creating Creativity: User Interfaces for Supporting Innovation

I'd never really thought about differing "types" of creativity, but Schneiderman breaks it down into three categories: Inspirational (the category I happen to fall into the majority of the time), structuralists, and situationalists. He goes on to write about different creativity levels: revolutionary, impromptu and evolutionary creativity. The article focuses mostly on the third. Oddly enough, he calls creativity "dangerous" to some, because the very act of promoting creativity and learning to the general public can "change employment patterns, educational systems, and community norms" (p 119). While this could be a good thing, to those in power who it might effect, it could obviously be a negative.

Schneiderman uses a four-phase "genex" approach:
(1) New knowledge is built on previous knowledge
(2) Powerful tools can support creativity
(3) Refinement is a social process
(4) Creative work is not complete until it is disseminated. (p 120)

which he translates into:

—Collect: learn from previous works stored in libraries, the Web, etc.
—Relate: consult with peers and mentors at early, middle, and late stages
—Create: explore, compose, and evaluate possible solutions
—Donate: disseminate the results and contribute to the libraries. (p 120)

He goes on to demonstrate what needs to happen in interface technology to promote user creativity (of the three types mentioned). I wish all the examples he uses still was in working order. Alas, this is not the case. At least two, however, are still operational, though the businesses behind them have changed since the article was originally published.

The Brain
MindManager

While much of the article is still "over my head" techical ability-wise, I wanted to catalog it here for future reference for when I do reach the stage that I'm designing such interfaces.

posted by Stash @ 2:11 PM