Creativity-Powered Learning

Many teachers hear “I’m not creative” echoing from their students when starting a project that requires them to make something. In many students’ minds, the thought of doing something “creative” conjures up arts and crafts projects, not the idea of making something innovative in other academic content areas. For others, creativity and innovation are tantalizing…

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I’m not creative!

Uncovering the lie to reveal creative confidence in ourselves “I’m not creative!” is a typical statement. It is also a lie that’s often repeated in our minds, typically when we watch an artistic person at work, like a painter, sketch artist, glass blower, or jeweler. Unfortunately, many of us didn’t get to take Creativity 1…

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Instructional “designer”?

think outside the box

What do I want to be when I grow up? An instructional designer! This is not the usual statement from a child, rather a mid-career instructional technologist. I have been thinking about the differences and similarities of instructional “designer” versus “technologist” for more than two decades. My recent musings were triggered by an EdSurge article, “So You Want…

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Yes, I’m Still Unpacking ISTE 2017

Two weeks after ISTE 2017 in San Antonio, Texas, I’m still unpacking my suitcase and sorting through the experience. It was an enormous 4-day gathering of 21,000 energetic educational technology educators and vendors with thousands of sessions and events to attend. The first thing I discovered upon returning home was unexpectedly inside my suitcase. The TSA had…

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Breaking Out of the Visual Box

Did you know there is a professional organization that encompasses multiple disciplines? Disciplines in the spectrum of education (all levels), instructional technology, sensory arts, art history, product design, graphic design, culinary arts, food science, textile technologies and visual arts, all find a comfortable fit in one place. The IVLA is the International Visual Literacy Association. Founded in 1969…

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DivergentED

Divergent Education. Let’s discuss, show, imagine education that diverts from the norm, as in “out of the box.” Let’s find examples of creative thinking, design thinking, 20Time, collaboration, flipped, communication, problem solving, and critical thinking. Share your ideas, thoughts, musings. I’ll share mine. Let’s see where our imaginations take us…the divergent education road less traveled.…

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