Why is Creativity Important in the Classroom?
Creativity has become an essential asset, now more than ever, and provide students with an arsenal of knowledge and relevant skills in society. With video games already commonplace, being able to utilise can have an enourmous impact in the classroom. A study by Masood & Naeini (2012) found that using the educational game ‘I Spy, Treasure Hunt‘ in the classroom directly correlated to a higher score in a test of creativity.
Studies have shown that applying creativity in the classroom has a multitude of benefits, such as fostering problem solving skills, stimulate student interest and encourages divergent thinking (Gallaghar & Grim, 2018; Henriksen, 2014; Masood & Naeini, 2012). Henriksen (2014) found that students were excited to learn and explore science, when creativity was actively incorporated into their learning.
How does Bloxel Foster Creativity?
As a game, Bloxel already introduces students with the basics of design, creativity and even programming. It provides a variety of tools and gadgets (such as water blocks, power ups, and coins) that provide students an environment to showcase their creativity while also stimulating their learning and cognitive thoughts.
When utilised in various subjects, such as english, design, programming and science, students have the ability to bring their ideas to life. With infinite applications in the classroom, it provides teachers with opportunities to enhance creativity and learning in the classroom.
Bloxel as an educational tool is something that can constantly enhance our thinking and creative processes, while at the same time, invoking students interest in the subject itself.
Practical Uses
A major limitation with this techonlogy is time. In order to fully explore students creativeness, students will need alot of time to fully experience and utilise the app, without sufficient time to maximise the benefits of enhancing creativity.
Similarly, while the gamemaker offers many tools in the creation, it also limits their options as there are a finite amount of variation in the blocks available to them. Furthermore students are also easily distracted by the prospect of a game (Henriksen, 2014).
While this helps them develop creativity, teachers also need to properly utilise reflection so both teachers and students are able to maximise the benefits and learning within the classroom. As Guthrie & McCracken (2014) noted, reflection helps to individualise the students experiences and make it meaningful.
References
Budge, K., Beale, C., & Lynas, E. (2013). A Chaotic Intervention: Creativity and Peer Learning in Design Education. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 32(2), 146-156.
Gallagher, D., & Grimm, L. (2018). Making an impact: The effects of game making on creativity and spatial processing. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 28, 138-149.
Guthrie, K., & McCracken, L. (2014). Reflection: The importance of making meaning in e-service-learning courses. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 26(3), 238-252.
Henriksen, D. (2014). Full STEAM Ahead: Creativity in Excellent STEM Teaching Practices. STEAM, 1(2), 1-9.
Naeini, F. H., & Masood. M. (2012). Effect of Educational Computer Games on Student Creativity. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 4(23), 5280-5284.
I really like your introduction, where you address creativity more broadly. In all fields of knowledge and learning, creativity can and should be fostered in order to help students develop a more personal interest in what they are learning about. Given their likely familiarity with digital technology – as you pointed out – there is no reason to expect they will not thrive with these technologies given they are guided appropriately by the teacher. I do agree with you regarding the limitations of Bloxels though. I feel it would not be all that rewarding unless a student was allowed a significant amount of time to really be creative in their level designs. The prospect of essentially making a platform game a-la-Super-Mario is very tantalising, but with a realistically-timed session, it might be hard for the students to really experience the full potential for both the program and their own creativity.
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A useful review of Bloxels in sense of providing an understanding of what the technology is. Moreover, there is a good focus on the technologies ability to enhance creativity. Additionally, the blog is effective in exploring the criticisms of the technologies ability to foster creativity. It clearly highlights concerns with time taken to use the product, the finite variation of blocks available and the necessity for teacher reflection to be involved in the learning process.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really enjoy reading this well-constructed blog.
In the first part, you give us the idea of why we need a creative classroom environment.
Next, you introduce us about how Bloxel works for foster a creative classroom, which I can see that Bloxel is a game-based learning pedagogy, hence can enable students to create and encourage interactions (Bower, 2017).
In the last part, you explain the limitations from using Bloxel, which shows that you interpret the technology in the practical aspects and I can understand that while applying Bloxel in the classroom, an educator should take a role to guide students to use it as learning purpose.
Good work! Thank you!
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Thanks so much for this Blog post about Bloxels. You presented great reasons why creativity is important in the first section. I think your comments on how Bloxels stimulate creativity are too shallow. I would have loved to see some of these points in your second section supported with evidence. For example, you say that the design, creativity and programming elements of Bloxel enable stimulation of students’ cognitive thoughts. How?
I appreciate that you presented some great limitations of this digital technology under your “practical uses” section, but would also like to see some practical uses of how you personally would introduce this to a classroom, and for what subject ares? This is your blog! I am reading not only for information but for your point of view.
Overall, I consider this to be an introduction to Bloxel for someone who has not encountered this technology before, but needs some consideration to real-world applications,
Thanks for the read.
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Hi Jason,
You have provided a very insightful blog about Bloxels and the importance of creativity within the classroom. You mentioned great ideas to why creativity is important in the classroom and I do agree with you that it stimulates student interests and encourages divergent thoughts. I like how you recognised many different limitations under the ‘practical use’ section. Maybe you could possibly look at ways to implement Bloxel into the classroom using specific examples?
Awesome blog!
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