I read Ashley Hinck’s Digital Ghosts In The Classroom http://hybridpedagogy.org/digital-ghosts-modern-classroom/ and I decided to create a sketch note to showcase my findings. I chose to do a sketch note focusing on pictures because I am a visual learner. This article is so fitting to this project because we were given plenty of creative freedom.
The article was based around the different types of technological tools used in classrooms. The first tool is the standard ‘drag and drop’ software and the second tool is softwares that allow you to create. However it goes way beyond these softwares, in schools today the ability for creative freedom is lacking. We are teaching students the material the curriculum says the need then send them off into the world, and in the real world there is never just one right answer.
The problem with the ‘drag drop’ softwares is that there is no room for exploration. These softwares give students boxes and expect them to fill it with the information. It is almost like those fill in the blank sheets you would do in elementary school. This leave no room for exploration or creativity. However, a good thing about this format is that you know your end product will always work. That you will get from point A to point B. This format can be intriguing for students because it is simple and they know the end product will be successful. These softwares have more control than the student creating them.The student just adds what they want and the software decides where it goes. Some students might not be bale to make these decisions themselves, so having the software control it makes the student more comfortable. This is still lacking a lot of room for creativity.
Schools are really just trying to force all the curriculum information into the students brains and this does not really give them any room for exploration. When teacher are too focused on getting the work done they leave out the importance of creativity and exploration. Teachers give the students tests to fill in all the information they are meant to know and that is all. This can work for some students, but some students, like myself, do not do well with fill in the blank tests. I always find that the fill in the blank tests could have multiple answers for one question. That is another thing teachers are doing they are forcing students to have the ‘right’ answer. This scares me because in the real world there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. Giving students the ability to explore gives them multiple answers to one problem. As students try these answers they found they will soon realize that some might not work, and that is ok. Creativity lets them explore multiple ways to get a ‘right’ answer. And not all ‘right’ answers are the same.
Success is something that every student strives for, but how they achieve it is a completely different story. As said above, most students will feel more comfortable going the ‘drag drop’ method, whereas few others will go out of the comfort zone and try to create something new. Why do humans gravitate more towards the ‘drag drop’ choices in life? It is a fear of failing. Ever since we were in school we were told that failing is bad, that getting that F on a paper is a shame. But failing is such an important part of learning. No one is going to be perfect and master whatever they are doing on their first try, instead it takes many attempts. In the classroom students are scared to fail because all they have ever been taught is failing is bad. As a future educator I hope to be able to create a space classroom where my students feel completely comfortable to try new thing and be open to failure. Because when you fail you might unexpectedly end up creating something great.
Lastly, I feel it is so important for us as future educators to start encouraging creativity in schools, or else the next generation will be reading an article about the creative ghosts that haunt the classroom.
