within ICT, Design Technology and Mathematics - Dr Geoff Dellow

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A personal approach to Creativity

I see myself as a very creative person and by that I mean that I have a great ability to analyse a problem and extract the core or crucial characteristics of it. I then think very widely as to possible solutions considering the most way out and unlikely solutions. Rejection of possible solutions is then suspended until an irrefutable scientific principle is violated.

This ability carries with it a trait that I question everything that is presented to me to enquire why it is the way it is. Most of this goes on internally as I have learnt that most people find this approach off-putting to normal conversation! !

As a result I have always pioneered innovative approaches to situations that I am in - Patented inventions when working in industry - Glaxo and Shell; novel solutions to lighting at home, unusual solutions to Holiday Homes attracting National attention when in business. And now new approaches to teaching which seek to encapsulate the experience that I went through in early life.

Approach to teaching

Tackling problems is a way of developing skills in Problem Solving and Creativity. We often turn to trying to solve someone else's very difficult problem but with Flash, students set themselves problems of their own making. This approach generates high motivation because the problem is of their own making and it suites the ability of the student.

When a student analyses the qualities of a new concept and really gets to grip with the understanding the properties of that concept, then he/she can start to explore what practical things can be done and postulate problems to be investigated.

The more sophisticated the qualities of the concept (in this case a piece of software) then the greater number and more varied can be the solutions to problems that are investigated.

Macromedia's Flash provides the environment for this kind of creative exploration of solutions to problems that are generated by the student her/himself. The vast majority of software being promoted for use in the classroom fail miserably by comparison.

Because of the great variety of sophisticated tools at the users disposal then the solutions can be varied and will satisfy the problem that the student has set himself in different ways.

Consistent with this approach the evaluation of the result is usually made by the student herself or her peers. The judgmental approach of a teacher is avoided. We have found that this is most effective when the student is asked to present his work after a short period of time when the student is able to view his work more objectively and hence with far greater perception.

The views of others

Strong support for using Flash is coming from several areas of the curriculum. The strongest is from the mathematical community - people like Prof Celia Hoyles, Lynne McClure of Oxford Brooks University (RECAP) and Toni Beardon of NRICH at Cambridge see it as developing "mathematical thinking" -

" I am fascinated by the development of mathematical thinking by children 'teaching' the computer to serve a specific purpose.. . We have Seymour Papert and Celia Hoyles and others to thank for much work on LOGO in this spirit and Anita Straker for LOGO and Basic, but time moves on and what you are doing with Flash is very innovative and exciting."

In the ICT field Prof Stephen Heppell of Ultralab is enthusiastic because he is

"excited about the way this software gives children real control over their computers and lets them make things rather than consume things"

In Design Technology, projects that involve producing "virtual products" that serve as presentations of information or feelings are being included within this area of the curriculum by Prof R Kimbell and Dr D Barlex. Ray Peacock, former Chairman of DATA was impressed with the potential of Flash at their recent conference.

Flash projects usually encourage a team approach to performance and learning something being emphasised by David Hargreaves.

Several Boroughs have now taken on board the value of Flash Projects in their schools and many individual schools world-wide continue to work with Flash in isolation until they are "discovered".

What has been done

Over the last 18 months I have systematically explored the use of Flash in the classroom reaching the point now where it has been used and tested with close to 1000 students in 16 schools of ages ranging from 7 to 16. Abilities range from those with learning and physical difficulties in special schools to Gifted and Talented students in a master class at Oxford Brookes University.

Most of the work has been done with primary schools with some in the secondary sector. Many of the results of this work are to be found on my site at http://www.tygh.co.uk/students which is a little difficult to navigate at present because of the speed at which material has been added . This site is about to receive a major overhaul!

There is also a national wide following of this software and we are in contact with teachers and students globally. This was greatly enhanced by taking a stand at the BETT show earlier this year and the creation of a CD that enabled teachers to prepare themselves to teach Flash Projects over a period of three months at a nominal charge.

Findings

I am convinced that Flash has great potential to develop analysis, creativity, problem solving, higher thinking skills and evaluation with students from 7 (and possibly younger) to 18. It has the great advantage that it is a well designed commercial product being used by tens of thousands of very intelligent and creative problem solvers and the potential for students sharing learning with these professionals is straight forward through Usenet and the Flash Communities surrounding certain Web sites.

Not only does the software have merits educationally but at a time when the UK is looking to develop its intellectual expertise it provides excellent training for the commercial world.

All (without exception) students have thoroughly enjoyed their projects with Flash nearly all find the projects difficult and strongly challenging. As a result of using templates, they have come out of their projects with a feeling of success which has led to strong feelings of self-esteem and led to remarks by teachers that class behaviour and learning in general has improved following a Flash project.

This has been achieved by careful design of 'templates' that ensure that the files work and provide a starting opportunity for pupils to develop their skills to the level of their ability.

Philosophy

Not only does the exercise of using of Flash have great merits but, the way we have been teaching it and plan to in the future is innovative itself.

Motivation of the student has always been kept as a prime factor. This is achieved by ensuring success with the teacher seen as facilitator, putting the student in charge of a project with the emphasis that it should be part of a team presentation, keeping documentation to the minimum required for achieving the task. Finally analysis and evaluation , so important to useful creativity and problem solving, comes naturally as the students continuously make judgements about their work as they do it. Objectivity evolves as other members of the team voice opinions, discussion follows and compromises are made.

The role of the teacher is to promote discussion as to whether the product fits the design brief in a non-judgmental way and to facilitate the student in finding solutions to problems raised.

This philosophy based on that of Malcolm Knowles and Carl Rogers appears to be more appropriate to the needs of present day students in primary and particularly secondary schools. It goes a long way to helping students have ownership of their education and feel that it is something that they really want to engage in.

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