Essay Example on Creativity: Thinking Beyond the Obvious

Introduction

Simonton (2018) defines creativity as the act of coming up with many ideas for a certain subject. It can also be regarded as a trait found in unique people through which people come up with fresh ideas to build an efficient community. Creative people are capable of developing their potential to utilize their thoughts and express themselves freely. Creativity undergoes the process of thinking in various forms with innovation, originality and flexibility. Creativity is a result of intelligent minds and can be measured by divergent thinking (Mishra & Henriksen, 2018).

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Technology involves having an understanding of how information and knowledge are applied creatively to structured undertakings that involve individuals and machinery that meet viable goals (Rotolo, Hicks & Martin, 2015). There exist various aspects to define technology. Technology concerns itself with action taking to achieve the needs of humanity rather than just comprehending the acts of nature. It utilizes more than scientific knowledge and contains values such as theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge and facts. Bedsides, technology entails structured ways of performing things. It covers both the unintended and the intended interfaces between systems, products and the individuals who use them, make them and are impacted by them in several ways. There are several technologies developed depending on various aspects of life such as communication technology, construction technology and education technology among others (Mishra & Henriksen, 2018).

According to SueChan & Hempel (2016) conceptualization of creativity is a process of cognition in which through an individual's thoughts, a new idea is mentally formulated, designed or explained. The psychological creation of an idea is seized as an image in the eye of the mind through visualization. The major aim of conceptualization involves the psychological innovation of fresh ideas that are improved systematically or build up from preexisting ideas. From an organization perspective, creative concepts can be generated through outsourcing to a creative agency or through holding a design workshop with various stakeholders. There are several components of creativity conceptualization such as sensory input which entails physical sensation, real time insights, and memorable impressions. There is also psychological synthesis which involves the merging two or more ideas which are unrelated in the brain to form a new entity. Finally there is the conveyed thinking which involves a creative person transferring the visually generated image on paper for analysis (SueChan & Hempel, 2016).

Conceptualization of technology involves manifesting various forms of technology. These involve objects of technology such as artefacts. These objects are physical or functional nature of objects. We also have activities in technology. These activities entail problem solving, innovation and coming up with programs that solve problems or increasing the efficiency of doing things. The other way which technology can be conceptualized is through the human feature of technology. This entails aspects such as past experiences and societal values (Purkovic, 2018).

Theoretical Models of Conditions that Facilitate Creativity

The four P's creativity model is a theoretical model used to abstract conditions that facilitate creativity. The P's stand for person, product, press and process. In this model, the person requirement entails info about intellect, personality, physique, characteristics, and value systems and behavior. For a person to be creative, they must be intelligent. The higher the intelligence, the higher the creativity. Besides for one to be creative, they must be sensitive to difficulties, have divergent thoughts, and also have a complex temper. In the process section, the model puts forward an argument that for a person to come up with innovation there is a process that should be followed. The process entails preparing, incubating, illumination and verifying stages. For press, creativity is a result of the surrounding which we are brought up in. The final P is the product. One can trace the creative thoughts of an individual by studying the output of an innovation (Jordanous, 2016).

How Schools Use this Model

Schools use this theoretical model in several ways. In order to enhance creativity in classrooms teachers ensure that there is autonomy among students because creativity is independent in every individual. For this reason, schools are also implementing Bring Your Own Device and the 1: 1 divide initiative which seeks to equip every student with a personal device so that every student interacts with devices independently (Jordanous, 2016). Besides, schools are implementing the student based curriculum to ensure that every student is attended to depending on their capabilities. This can be linked to the model under the person section which states that creative people are different from the rest. Teachers also provide a compassionate and tolerant the environment to enhance creativity. From the model, environment is a great component of creativity. Teachers also give students several tasks that require them to come up with a product out of creativity (Henriksen, Mishra & Fisser, 2016). For instance implementation of practical learning whereby students are given tasks to interact with computers and come up with programs out of their creativity. Students are also guided through the process of creativity whereby teachers show the students the instances where students should be creative

How Technology Hinders Creativity

It has been observed that as the world has experienced technological advancements, there has been a decrease in the level of creativity (Marcial, 2018). This has particularly been noticed among young people and children born past major technological innovations such as the internet and computers. The predominance that technology and devices that are a result of advancement in technology such as computers and smartphones have tipped the views that our overreliance on these devices has killed our creative thinking. The continuous aspiration for technology is to keep us amused but it also sacrifices our initial thoughts. We end up having no space for solving problems and coming up with our own solutions (Dawson, 2016).

Young adults and children who are always engaged in their devices lack exposure to imaginative actions that help the mind trigger creativity. The brain the main body part which feeds off tediousness to enhance creativity that is associated with fantasizing. Fantasizing enhances creativity. When one is continuously attached to a device the brain is occupied with information and activities that hinders someone's creativity (Marcial, 2018). Actually the constant interruption may end up destroying our imaginings and the nervous stimuli do not give room for imagination.

Dawson (2016) states that previously, before the onset of technology children used to entertain themselves differently as compared to the present manner. Children engaged themselves with outdoor activities such as riding bikes, making artistic objects and participating in sporting activities. Besides there used to be imaginary games that the kids would come up with as they interacted with nature. These activities used to enhance creativity for instance through creating forts. These games required minimum or no parental supervision. In the contemporary world, children are dependent on technological innovations for entertainment such as video games. As a result, their imagination and creativity is limited. In addition, their cognitive and optimal sensory development is also limited. With the rapid technological development there has been an increase in certain disorders in children ranging from psychological, physical and behavioral (Marcial, 2018). These disorders are a challenge to the creativity ability of a person

Youths use technology especially social media platforms to keep in touch with various people and to keep themselves with the trending events in the society. This increased engagements in these platforms result to an increase in mental issues, lack of concentration and problems of self-regulation. According to Dawson (2016), these mental problems hinder creativity to a great extent because creativity is a cognitive process. It has also been found out that whenever most youths are faced with a certain challenge, they rush to the internet hoping to find solutions to their problems. In such a case creative thinking is at a risk.

How Technology Has Improved Creativity

With the advancement in technology, people are enabled to continuously explore certain things and learn new things that were unknown to them previously. This information makes us become educated and have an avenue to express our thoughts. This outlet connects the creativity of various people. This enables sharing of ideas between individuals which promotes creativity. For instance sharing videos and information through social media platforms (Henriksen et al., 2016).

As society becomes technologically advanced, the potential of individuals to involve themselves in certain experiences which improves creativity such as video games (Crombie, Moffat, & Shabalina, 2016). These experiences and information available due to technology empowers people to create anything. In academics, it has been proved that people use technology has enhanced creativity among learners. By storing photos, videos and other recordings students are able to listen to them better at their convenience. Due to this move students have shown a high level of creativity in the way they handle assignments and projects be it in groups and as individuals (Penuel, 2006).

Henriksen et al., (2016) states that Professors and tutors are making use of modern technology to enhance creativity in learning. They use the media devices to give assignments such as instructing students to create videos of themselves applying the knowledge that they are taught. This makes a student think critically and end up becoming creative. In learning of some subjects such as STEM use of technology and creativity are inseparable (Spektor-Levy & Granot-Gilat, 2012). Students are given the opportunity to be creative by the technology than ever before. For instance learners are given the ability to create virtual representations of their gadgets.

Technology has also lead to the formation of hubs and makerspaces in learning institutions. These spaces are entirely created for innovation purposes. Social networks which are a result of technology also encourage creativity. These platforms allow learners to interact and share ideas online and also get recommendations where one is stuck. This enhances innovation by making it easy for people to build on an existing idea as well as reducing the time required to come up with an innovation.

References

Crombie, W., Moffat, D. C., & Shabalina, O. (2016, October). Video games can temporarily increase creativity; especially puzzle games. In European Conference on Games Based Learning. Academic Conferences International Limited (pp. 152-158).

Dawson, J. (2016). Is technology hindering creativity?. Innovative Practice in Higher Education, 2(3). Retrieved from http://journals.staffs.ac.uk/index.php/ipihe/article/view/103

Henriksen, D., Mishra, P., & Fisser, P. (2016). Infusing Creativity and Technology in 21st Century Education: A Systemic View for Change. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 19(3). Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.19.3.27

Jordanous, A. (2016). Four PPPPerspectives on Computational Creativity in theory and in practice. Connection Science, 28(2), 194-216. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540091.2016.1151860

Marcial, D. E. (2018). Facil...