Student Creativity with Technology

Without a doubt, the main thing that draws teachers to the profession is the joy of watching young minds "spread their wings" as they discover the world around them in unique ways of their own. Now with the increasing availability of and student access to digital technology, students now have new ways to new avenues to express their creativity.

Sadly, I have yet to witness an occasion when students had the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity due to the lack of technology available to students in the classrooms I have visited. However, one instance in which this has occurred is Armstrong Elementary third-graders incorporate 21st-century skills in classroom projects.

The idea here is simple yet profound: have third-grade students use technology to video record a presentation about their science project. 

This results in the participating students taking initiative to:

1. gather information within a content area (e.g. science), 
2. present the information to an audience,
3. record the presentation using digital technology.

By structuring the assignment in this fashion, the lesson designer(s) have essentially made student creativity a requisite to completion. Furthermore, students are not just learning about a component of scientific knowledge, but they are also practicing public speaking and working with digital technology--both essential "college and career readiness skills," as Common Core so often puts it.