%0 Journal Article %1 resnick2007sowing %A Resnick, Mitchel %D 2007 %I The International Society for Technology in Education %J Learning and Leading with Technology %K constructionism creativity logo scratch %N 4 %P 18-22 %T Sowing the seeds for a more creative society %U http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading.pdf %V 35 %X In the 1980s, there was much talk about the transition from the Industrial Society to the Information Society. Then in the 1990s people began to talk about the Knowledge Society, noting that information is useful only when it is transformed into knowledge. But as I see it, knowledge alone is not enough. In today’s rapidly changing world, people must continually come up with creative solutions to unexpected problems. Success is based not only on what you know or how much you know, but on your ability to think and act creatively. In short, we are now living in the Creative Society. Unfortunately, few of today’s classrooms focus on helping students develop as creative thinkers. Even students who perform well in school are often unprepared for the challenges that they encounter after graduation, in their work lives as well as their personal lives. Many students learn to solve specific types of problems, but they are unable to adapt and improvise in response to the unexpected situations that inevitably arise in today’s fast-changing world. New technologies play a dual role in the Creative Society. On one hand, the proliferation of new technologies is quickening the pace of change, accentuating the need for creative thinking in all aspects of people’s lives. On the other hand, new technologies have the potential, if properly designed and used, to help people develop as creative thinkers, so that they are better prepared for life in the Creative Society. In this article, I discuss two technologies developed by my research group at the MIT Media Lab with the explicit goal of helping people develop as creative thinkers. The two technologies, called Crickets and Scratch, are designed to support what I call the “creative thinking spiral.” In this process, people imagine what they want to do, create a project based on their ideas, play with their creations, share their ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences—all of which leads them to imagine new ideas and new projects. As students go through this process, over and over, they learn to develop their own ideas, try them out, test the boundaries, experiment with alternatives, get input from others, and generate new ideas based on their experiences.

@article{resnick2007sowing, abstract = {In the 1980s, there was much talk about the transition from the Industrial Society to the Information Society. Then in the 1990s people began to talk about the Knowledge Society, noting that information is useful only when it is transformed into knowledge. But as I see it, knowledge alone is not enough. In today’s rapidly changing world, people must continually come up with creative solutions to unexpected problems. Success is based not only on what you know or how much you know, but on your ability to think and act creatively. In short, we are now living in the Creative Society. Unfortunately, few of today’s classrooms focus on helping students develop as creative thinkers. Even students who perform well in school are often unprepared for the challenges that they encounter after graduation, in their work lives as well as their personal lives. Many students learn to solve specific types of problems, but they are unable to adapt and improvise in response to the unexpected situations that inevitably arise in today’s fast-changing world. New technologies play a dual role in the Creative Society. On one hand, the proliferation of new technologies is quickening the pace of change, accentuating the need for creative thinking in all aspects of people’s lives. On the other hand, new technologies have the potential, if properly designed and used, to help people develop as creative thinkers, so that they are better prepared for life in the Creative Society. In this article, I discuss two technologies developed by my research group at the MIT Media Lab with the explicit goal of helping people develop as creative thinkers. The two technologies, called Crickets and Scratch, are designed to support what I call the “creative thinking spiral.” In this process, people imagine what they want to do, create a project based on their ideas, play with their creations, share their ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences—all of which leads them to imagine new ideas and new projects. As students go through this process, over and over, they learn to develop their own ideas, try them out, test the boundaries, experiment with alternatives, get input from others, and generate new ideas based on their experiences.}, added-at = {2010-07-27T10:31:54.000+0200}, author = {Resnick, Mitchel}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2c3d878b61f6ee9bfff5026e7f52900d4/yish}, interhash = {7de47b55d475ab6f0da5f0449930b7c8}, intrahash = {c3d878b61f6ee9bfff5026e7f52900d4}, journal = {Learning and Leading with Technology}, keywords = {constructionism creativity logo scratch}, number = 4, pages = {18-22}, publisher = {The International Society for Technology in Education}, timestamp = {2010-07-27T10:31:54.000+0200}, title = {Sowing the seeds for a more creative society}, url = {http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading.pdf}, volume = 35, year = 2007 }