What a fascinating read the Fostering Creativity and Innovation through Technology article by Sheena Vaidyanathan in Learning and Leading with Technology (March/April 2012) makes. Just this past week, I’d been chatting with my daughter about STEAM, which includes “Art” as the “A” in the traditional STEM acronym. It’s great to see Sheena’s article! You can read a similar article online at MindShift:

You can read more about Sheena’s work online at PCWorld in Phil Shapiro’s article and at Sheena’s blog. One of the amazing points, especially that Texas districts should pay attention to, is as follows:

Phil Shapiro makes a great point in regards to free open source software and the community that makes Sheena’s class possible through increased availability to free software:

Some of my takeaways from the L&L article, including the reflection that this is a contemporary art class more than anything else, include the following quotes:

1. To compete in the global workforce…students must be well educated in science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) subjects. . .they must also develop the key skills of creativity and innovation.
2. Digital design neither learning about technology nor learning with technology, but learning creativity and innovation through technology. 
3. Types of activities elementary students engage in:
   • 4th grader editing bitmap images using Seashore or 
   • setting RGB values in Inkscape
   • creating a model of a futuristic room with multiple levels and underground tunnels using Google SketchUp
   • Creating a video game designed in Scratch
4. Students are using each copy of their work as a sample in a scientific experiment, testing results based on different parameters. This freedom to see the “what if” without fear of failure encourages experimentation and leads to innovation.
5. All software used in this program is free–open source whenever possible and freeware (not open source). Since it is no-cost, students can install it at home and can continue to work beyond the classroom.
6. Curriculum development comes at no cost to the school and is available under Creative Commons attribution license. 
7. At a time when many are expression concern about the lack of AP Computer Science classes in our high schools or the need to encourage middle school girls in STEM subjects, it is easy to ignore technology curriculum in elementary schools.
8. We must challenge these students with real technology classes and not just teach drag-n-drop, template-driven presentation tools.
9. A digital design program in elementary school shows students that learning technology is both relevant and exciting, inspiring and sets the stage for future exploration of technology.
10. It gives them a safe place to experiment and learn to create and innovate.

Great stuff!

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure