Productivity vs. Creativity

Seems like I've been thinking through a lot of different dichotomies in education. I've been setting a lot of things up as posts that are one thing "vs." another. While I don't believe that classrooms are places of black and white, I do struggle with striving for balance in the work that I do, and this leads to me thinking about these issues.

This morning I've been spending some time thinking about how the software I use in my classroom has changed over the years that I have had access to computers and technology. when I first started, I spent a lot of time with software like Microsoft Word and Excel. Productivity programs that allow us accomplish the serious business of getting things done. But I've seen this change and morph as we have moved towards using more creativity software.

These days my class is more commonly involved with Audacity to edit audio, Pinnacle studio to edit video, and Corel Photo Paint to work on images that we have taken. While Word and Excel are certainly used for many creative uses (talk to almost any author and see what they have to tell you about word processors making their lives go around), more and more of the software that we are using allows students to be creators and publishers. It may be a video, a podcast, or a blog post, the form is not important. What is important is that this software allows students access to information and the voices of others around the world, and just as easily, allows them to let the world hear their own voices as well. The importance of creativity and innovation in global economies is becoming more clear each day.

Creative connections.

Globally cooperative.

Is this a "loss of productivity" for our classroom or is this what being "productive" has changed into?

How to find a balance between these two sides? Does one naturally lead into the other?

Comments

[Barbara]

I am not sure if I fully appreciate your dichotomy. Certainly your creative endeavors are productive on almost every level. Word and excel are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of productivity tools- but as you allude they are powerful tools and have a place. This leads to another idea which seems to be an extension of your questions about balance.

When technology is utilized outside of systemic change within a school community it not only leads to questions of equity from one classroom to the next but it places a huge burden to do it all on those classrooms engaged in Web 2.0.

As you know I am striving for systemic change in my school community.The advantage is that there s a kind of "scope and sequence" to what we are doing. Not a formal one or one driven by a program we bought into but rather an articulated set of learning expectations. We have targeted 3rd to 5th grade as the place to assure that the groundwork is laid. That is to say that keyboarding and basic productivity software is introduced and utilized and that issue of digital literacy are introduced. The purpose is to assure that all students entering Jr High (6 to 8) speak a common technological language and are ready to engage quickly in more advanced explorations, productivity and creativity.

What do you think? Is it harder to find balance when only some teachers are involved in Web 2.0? I think this interesting because it helps me clarify my plan and why I think it is important.

[Monica]

Whether it is productive or not can be measured by assessments based on objectives. If your objective is to teach students topic A during the production process, but students don't learn topic A, then the time may have been unproductive. If they learn topic B instead, then it may have been a side-effect of being unproductive with topic A. If they learn topic A while doing an activity planned to teach topic A that happens to include (or not) technology tools, then I would be more likely to deem that productive.

It seems to me that if you are getting lost in the technology without a clear objective, and your job is to teach clear objectives, then there would be a higher likelihood of the time being unproductive.

Just a thought....