AT1: Fostering creativity using technology
CREATIVE THINKING
Since the 1990s, creativity scores have been decreasing. One of the reasons for this is due to the advancement of technology (Pink, 2011). As stated by Hennessey and Amabile (2010), creativity is evident in contexts that are supported by an individual’s personal interests and involvement in challenging tasks. Creative thinking allows individuals to produce and apply new ideas in a specific context, view situations that currently exist in a new way, and identify different explanations (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, n.d). Hence, in classrooms, teachers should encourage students to develop creativity through meaningful activities that link to students’ personal interests (Beghetto and Kaufman, 2013).
OSMO
The Osmo brand, created by Tangible Play in 2013, has been designed for educational purposes and has a range of engaging hands on activities and materials, which connects to a digital tablet. It allows for interaction without physically touching the device screen. Osmo fosters students’ learning in key learning areas including STEM, numeracy, literacy and art, as well as puzzles and coding. The Osmo Genius Kit is one of several Osmo programs, and includes 5 smart games (Tangrams, Numbers, Words, Masterpiece and Newtown). The program consists of counting, addition and multiplication methods and transforms hand-drawn artworks into digitalised forms, which enhances students’ creativity.
A video highlighting the features of the Osmo Genius Kit is presented below:
Osmo is an effective program that can be implemented in the classroom for all stages of learning. Teachers can design for learning (Laurillard, 2012), by creating a motivating learning environment for students. For example, in the Words game, teachers can make activities with vocabulary from English units of work, where students use the letters provided as well as visual stimulus’ to showcase spelling, problem solving and visual thinking skills. Similarly, students can be tested on and develop their memory skills on scientific or mathematic terminology, historical events or geographical locations. Students could make their own game and demonstrate creativity by uploading images and creating words to match. The Numbers game could enhance creativity as there are problems with a range of possible answers and no time limits.
Students in the tutorial playing ‘Words’. Image taken by Michelle Trinh.
Laurillard (2012) conveys that when completing learning activities, students bring motivation, knowledge and skills to develop personal goals. Osmo is efficient, permitting students to work individually at their own pace and ability level, as well as collaborate or compete with their peers. It allows students to develop confidence in KLAs and creative thinking skills, and are encouraged to learn through the program’s points system. Practice environments allow for intrinsic feedback to be given to students, allowing students to become independent (Laurillard, 2012) and active learners. Osmo provides immediate feedback as a form of assessment as learning for students.
A video of the benefits of Osmo implemented in schools is presented below:
Check out Osmo’s packages here: https://www.playosmo.com/en/
References:
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (n.d.) Critical and Creative Thinking. Retrieved 8th March, 2019 from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/critical-and-creative-thinking/
Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Fundamentals of Creativity. Educational Leadership, 70(5), 10-15. Retrieved 10th March from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb13/vol70/num05/Fundamentals-of-Creativity.aspx
Hennessey, B. A., & Amabile, T. M. (2010). Creativity. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 569–598.
Laurillard, D. (2012). Chapter 5 – What it takes to teach. In Teaching as a Design Science – Building Pedagogical Patterns for Learning and Technology (pp. 64-81). NY: Routledge.
Pink, D. (2011). Creative fluency. In L. Crocket, I Jukes, A. Churches (Eds.), Literacy is not enough – 21st Century fluencies for the digital age. (pp. 43-54). Corwin.
Tangible Play. (2013). Osmo. Retrieved 13th March from: https://www.playosmo.com/en/
Digital creativity and learning 
Osmo sounds like a fun and engaging way for students to learn. When i was trying out the word game in class, i thought it was a great for students to build on their vocabulary. I also liked that fact that you can play as seperate teams or work together as one team which adds another level of engagement.
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Hi Michelle,
Great blog! I used Osmo in the classroom and definitely think that the interactive game provides many opportunities for creative problem-solving. For example, as the levels increased, Osmo forced me to think outside the box and look beyond the obvious. I agree that the game is efficient in promoting collaboration, especially within multiplayer mode as it is enjoyable and will motivate students to participate, share ideas with their team and build knowledge constructively.
A potential downside to consider is that teachers may utilise Osmo as a behaviourist teaching tool that corrects undesirable answers and rewards preferable answers (Lowyck, 2014). In such case, expectations are fixed and students’ creative contributions may be discouraged.
Cindy
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