E-confident learners promoting creativity and critical thinking through technology Gareth Mills QCA Head of innovation and e-learning

Aims, values and purposes “Education only flourishes if it successfully adapts to the demands and needs of the time. The curriculum cannot remain static. It must be responsive to changes in society and the economy, and changes in the nature of schooling itself.” National Curriculum 1999

QCA looking after learners, today and tomorrow On learners and learning – cultivate their ‘instinct for learning’. On outcomes – what it means to be ‘educated’ for life and work in the 21 st century. (skills and dispositions; learning to learn; e-confident learners) On freedom and flexibility to innovate –providing space and new opportunities to tailor and customise the curriculum

ICT delivering the wider aims Developing ‘e-confident’ learners Find and critically evaluate information Organise, analyse and interpret information To promote hypothetical thinking and problem solving. To promote creativity and risk taking – by exploring and develop ideas iteratively. To communicate effectively, presenting and exchanging ideas- creating not just consuming To enhance independent learning – when and where learning takes place To enhance collaborative learning – who is involved To manage own learning – making informed judgements

Characteristics of creative behaviour Generative Playing with ideas often through a ‘fashioning’ processes. Explore options and more likely to be risk taking. Imaginative - they envisage what might be Make connections – see and use analogies They see relationships between knowledge and skills Evaluative Reflecting critically on ideas, actions and outcomes. Modify and adapt - reframe Questioning and challenging

Using knowledge as a springboard Creative behaviour creativity does not happen in a vacuum - rarely emerges from a blank canvas Pupils need subject-specific knowledge and skills for their creativity to flourish. Imitation and transformation Features of ICT Unsurpassed source of accessible information and knowledge. Ready access to experts, museums, libraries, galleries – the world of knowledge can be brought into the classroom. Makes initial sources of information more engaging – multimedia. “Creative people are invariably immersed in their subjects or medium. Nobody goes to more concerts than musicians, visits galleries more than artists or reads more science books than scientists” – Ken Robinson

Playing with ideas: keeping options open Creative pupils explore possibilities, keep their options open and learn to cope with the uncertainty and ambiguity play with ideas, experiment try alternatives and fresh approaches keep an open mind, adapting and modifying their ideas to achieve creative results. Features of ICT Provisionality Undo and Save as ‘Trace’ of activity Develop ideas through a series of successive approximations Quality of ICT and socially credible Create, test and refine Risk friendly environment “A film is made three times. Once in the writing, again in the filming and for a third time in the editing suite” - Brian Helgelend video Slides

Making connections - imagination and inspiration Creative behaviour think laterally and make associations between things that are not usually connected. recognise the significance of their knowledge and previous experience -reinterpret and apply their learning in new contexts use analogies and metaphors generalise from information and experience, searching for trends and patterns communicate their ideas in novel or unexpected ways. Features of ICT Working across subject boundaries Accessing ideas of others Knowledge networks and communities of practitioners Multi-modality – dynamic representation Analogies by Jonathan Ives, designer

Questioning and exploring possibilities Creative pupils speculate about possibilities. imagine, seeing things in the mind's eye see possibilities, problems and challenges ask 'what if?' visualise alternatives look at and think about things differently and from different points of view. Features of ICT Interactivity - simulations Dynamic representation Graphic modelling Speed and automation Modelling “investigate the effect of changing variables” Using graphs to explore consequences of actions Testing “What if

See some examples of enhancing thinking across subjects: Using ICT can help pupils to: access, select and interpret information review and modify their work to improve the quality recognise patterns, relationships and behaviours model, predict and hypothesise communicate with others and present information improve efficiency and accuracy be creative and take risks gain confidence and independence

E-learning to enhance, enrich and extend Teaches 3e of ICT SOW Pupils each other in the classroom 3E’s School Pupils parents examples of good work and ask for information on various topics. They work home and from home to school. They run collaborative projects with a school in France They send research projects to local council with suggestion for improving local area. They post examples of work to local artist’s website following up from school visit. Bythebook School Teaches 3e of ICT SOW

When using technology it’s important to talk about ICT as a tool for thinking, researching, organising and developing ideas. This is as much about the explicit teaching of thinking processes as about teaching basic technical skills. Some self-evaluation questions In my school how is ICT adding value to: Thinking skills? Creativity? Independent and collaborative learning? Empowering learners through new opportunities?

Some links – participate in the futures debate