Keynote Address at the American Creativity Association's International Conference on Creativity

1. avatars & the young how technology is redefining creativity in the modern classroom 

4. yahoo eBay mySpace Outside of school, they interact in iTunes skype wiki google earth kazaa MMORPG facebook flickr friendster youTube … different sorts of learning communities no books no pen no paper

5. BUY PROPERTY, BUILD A HOUSE DESIGN OWN VEHICLE TRAVEL ANY WAY THEY WANT HANG OUT & CHAT … they … in SECOND LIFE

6. … they … in SIM CITY POOL TOGETHER RESOURCES AND STRATEGISE TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL CITY…

7. … they … in CITY OF HEROES TAKE ON ROLES OF SUPERHEROES TO FIGHT VILLAINS AND ENSURE GOOD TRIUMPHS OVER EVIL IN MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLE-PLAYING GAMES LIKE …. OTJ training! no lectures no textbooks no instructors no age-groups no entry requirements

8. … in Sep 2008, they will go on to construct civilisations

10. “ The strategic conversation has shifted: from 21st Century literacy for students to 21st Century literacy for teachers….” - 21st Century Literacy Summit “A Global Imperative” The New Media Consortium San Jose, California 2005 There is a disjuncture between what and how students are learning outside of the classroom and how they are learning in the classroom

11. Half of all teens in US have created media content and roughly one third of teens who use the Internet shared content they produce. (Jenkins 2005) In Singapore, among our youth 78% of those aged 10 to 14 and 89% of those aged 15 to 19 use the internet for communicating 58% of those aged 10 to 14, and 40% of those aged 15 to 29 engage in computer games like Maple Story, World of Warcraft and Counter Strike. (Infocomm Development Authority 2007)

12. My computer is switched on 24/7, and I spend most of my time at home talking to others online. It’s just a habit.” Amelia, Sec 4, Paya Lebar MGS “ The Internet is a tool that helps me connect with friends, especially the ones whom I don’t get to meet every day. It really helps in bridging the gaps between me and my friends.” Joel, Sec 3, Junyuan Sec “ Games are an intriguing study in strategy, mathematics and logic. Contrary to what people say, there’s not much luck involved, only skill.” David, Sec 1, ACS (Barker)

14. And it’s not all about technology…. ?

17. Their identities are constructed differently

18. Singapore, IT Masterplan (1996), mp2 (2003) We still give students a standard body of knowledge, from authorised sources – textbooks We imagine we have a binary relationship with them. We still test them the same way – pen & paper. We expect them to hand in work in the same way. We expect one solution to every problem we give them. We focus on content instead of context. We don’t realise that what’s happening with web 2.0 goes beyond the hardware, and software. But something has not changed for many of our teachers…

19. Trends arising from web 2.0 that will have an impact on education

23. connectivity, acceleration and individualism interact… acceleration individualism connectivity … ?!

24. … ?!

25. Beyond gadgets & devices Learning 2.0 is about… Co-creation Participation Option Creation Pattern Recognition Sense Making Social Learning

26. THE FUTURE: Singapore 1960s 2000s 1980s Labour Intensive Capital Intensive Technology Intensive Skills intensive Knowledge Intensive Innovation / Experience Intensive

28. For Education 2.0 to happen, we need Generation 2.0 Teachers

29. From analog to digital – to engage learners in new and powerful ways

30. From knowing to creating context for learning – simulations, immersive environments, games-based learning

31. From what to learn, to how to learn

32. From moralising to ethical reasoning

36. Curriculum Design To incorporate elements of co-design and collaboration (mosh pits and mash ups) example of LEGO RETHINK 

37. Pedagogy – how we teach…. RETHINK

38. A STORY … when CPDD, Cedar Pri, LEGO (Denmark) and The Idea Factory got together….

40. Trend scan: Research into 12 important aspects of a future society: Citizenship, Inclusivity, Pop Culture, Virtual Worlds, Education, Social Trends, Identity, Bioethics, Literacy, Morality, Work Places and Economy Brainstorm skills that students will need to master in the future from the trends.

41. Alpha Thoughts Team was asked to identify aspects of teaching and learning that will provide a deeper experience for students. e.g. Improvisation Imagination Interaction Resilience Risk Seeking Navigation

42. Concept Trails Team went on to brainstorm pedagogical strategies that related to each of the alpha ideas: e.g. Focus-based, dream-driven pedagogy Immersive Defeat-driven Justice or ethics driven Critical Experimental …and how these would look like in the classroom

43. Insight Quest: Ethnography – 3 teachers, 6 students – how they live and learn and what their aspirations are.

44. Beta Ideas 10 ideas were picked and in groups, team members brainstormed examples of lessons centred on the key idea behind the pedagogy. e.g. Inspiration-driven pedagogy Moshing Defeat-driven etc…

45. Idea.Lab: What Cedar did…. Prototype pedagogical elements such as Emotional– engagement, human feelings Dialogical – learnable moments Praxis – theory to action Justice – purposefully inclusive Spontaneity – flexibility to capture teachable moment Real world – relevant (playing with Lego bricks)

46. Idea.Lab: What CPDD did…. Prototype the creation process in a school that was trying to find an answer to their BIG Question (How do we make Project Work as a subject relevant and engaging for our students?) … .we also some of the pedagogical strategies.

48. Futuring a pedagogy centred on contents of the future

49. Pattern-breaking A pedagogy centred on de-education Identity-searching A pedagogy centred on deep self-awareness

50. Chaos Navigation A pedagogy centred on sense-making Option Creation A pedagogy centred on choices Inspire to Aspire A pedagogy centred on dialogues for inspiration

51. Responsible Rebellion A pedagogy centred on championing a cause Circle of Life A pedagogy focused on the concept of ecological systems

52. Defeat-driven Pedagogy A pedagogy that exploits the merits of defeat or failure Moshing A pedagogy centred on collaboration and co-creation of knowledge

53. Spin-a-Tale A pedagogy centred on story-telling Soak-it-In A pedagogy centred on immersive environments

54. Idea.Lab: What LEGO did…. Look into teacher development and assessment instrument for teacher competencies.

56. What The Idea Factory did…. Facilitate the process.

57. A four-party, cross cultural collaboration … way to go? Don’t know for sure….but it mirrors our students’ experience in web 2.0