{"id":256,"date":"2019-08-09T07:40:44","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T15:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/?p=256"},"modified":"2019-08-09T07:40:44","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T15:40:44","slug":"facilitating-creative-learning-series-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/facilitating-creative-learning-series-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Facilitating Creative Learning Series \u2013 Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the previous post on Creative Learning, I summarized the first two concepts of 4P\u2019s: Projects, Passion, Peers and Play by Mitchel Resnick.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this post, I would like to introduce the other two concepts: Peers and Play. Don\u2019t forget to check out this open online course: <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.media.mit.edu\/lcl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Learning Creative Learning<\/a> created by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.media.mit.edu\/groups\/lifelong-kindergarten\/overview\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lifelong Kindergarten<\/a> at MIT Media Lab.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Peers&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mitchel suggests that we need to shift from <strong><em>think-it-yourself<\/em><\/strong> to <strong><em>make-it-together<\/em><\/strong><strong>.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThis\n approach is more aligned with the needs of today\u2019s society, where \nalmost all jobs require collaborative effort, and the most important \nsocial issues require collective action.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With\n peers, students collaborate with and learn from each other to create \nprototypes and artifacts. They seek for team members offline and online \nand develop communities by themselves. These meta-cognitive strategies \nenable them to become more self-sufficient.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But how should we support this? <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.media.mit.edu\/lcl\/resources\/readings\/chapter4-excerpt.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In chapter 4<\/a>, Mitchel addresses it by discussing the shifting role of teachers:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong><em>Catalyst:<\/em><\/strong>\n The best way for a teacher to provide a spark is to ask questions. By \nasking the right types of questions, a teacher or mentor can catalyze \nexploration and reflection, but the learner remains that active agent, \nin charge of the activity.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong><em>Consultant:<\/em><\/strong>\n The goal is not to \u201cdeliver instruction\u201d or \u201cprovide answers,\u201d but to \nunderstand what people are trying to do and figure out the best way to \nsupport them.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong><em>Connector:<\/em><\/strong><strong> <\/strong>An\n important part of teachers\u2019 job is to connect learners with other \npeople who they might work with, learn with, and learn from.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong><em>Collaborator:<\/em><\/strong> Teachers or mentors don\u2019t simply provide support or advice. They work on their own projects and invite people to join in.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Play<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why is play even relevant or essential?<a href=\"https:\/\/learn.media.mit.edu\/lcl\/resources\/readings\/chapter5-excerpt.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> In chapter 5<\/a>, Mitchel explains that play helps students to explore the unknown and the uncertainty.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, not all types of play are equally valuable. Citing work from <a href=\"http:\/\/sites.tufts.edu\/mbers01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Marina Bers,<\/a> he agrees that there is a difference between playpen and playground.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe playground promotes, while the playpen hinders, a sense of mastery, creativity, self-confidence, and open exploration.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPlaypen\u201d\n indicates limitations and restrictions, whereas \u201cPlayground\u201d is open \nand encourages social interactions. With that, he suggests that the \ntinkering process combines the value of \u201cplaying\u201d and \u201cmaking.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cThe\n tinkering process is messier. Tinkerers take a bottom-up approach: They\n start small, try out simple ideas, react to what happens, make adjustments,\n and refine their plans. They often take a meandering, circuitous path \nto get to a solution. But what they lose in efficiency they gain in \ncreativity and agility. When unexpected things happen and when new \nopportunities arise, tinkerers are better positioned to take advantage.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tinkering is inherently an iterative process, similar to the process of design thinking.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cTinkerers\n believe in rapid prototyping and iteration. When working on a design \nproject, they build something quickly, try it out, get reactions from \nother people, then make a new version\u2014 over and over.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\n order to cultivate creative thinkers, he cautions that teachers need to\n understand that step-by-step instructions should be a stepping stone,\n not a final destination. Teachers also need to encourage students to \ntry out different approaches and styles so that they can switch \nstrategies as situation warrants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the next post, I will contextualize some strategies you can use to foster creative learning in your class.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, if you have any questions or want to brainstorm together, please do not hesitate to contact me: <a href=\"mailto:junsong.zhang@kpu.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">junsong.zhang@kpu.ca<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the previous post on Creative Learning, I summarized the first two concepts of 4P\u2019s: Projects, Passion, Peers and Play by Mitchel Resnick.&nbsp; In this post, I would like to introduce the other two concepts: Peers and Play. Don\u2019t forget to check out this open online course: Learning Creative Learning created by Lifelong Kindergarten at&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[55,56,59,58,45],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-impact-practice","tag-creative-learning","tag-creativity","tag-education","tag-facilitating","tag-higher-ed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.wordpress.kpu.ca\/tlcommons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}