Promoting creative thinking through the use of ICT

TLDR

Web‑based technologies have been widely studied for learning, yet little research has examined their role in fostering creative thinking, which this paper seeks to address. This paper reports on a pilot study investigating the creative impact of ICT in a rural primary school in South‑west England. The study involved 41 Year 6 students each with a personal networked computer, and a small group of six were interviewed about their learning activities over the year. Initial findings reveal a model of creativity with three interrelated modes—problem solving, creative cognition, and social interaction—and provide new insights into creativity within computer‑based learning environments.

Abstract

Abstract A great deal has been written about the use of web‐based technologies such as the Internet in promoting learning in education. In schools, research has focused primarily on social interaction and group work, student achievement levels and curriculum development. Very little study seems to have been brought to bear upon the promotion of creative thinking by the use of online technologies, and this paper attempts to contribute to this field of study. This paper reports on a pilot study which has investigated the creative impact of information and communication technology (ICT) in a rural primary school in South‐west England. The school is unique because it provides a personal networked computer for each of its 41 Year 6 students (aged 10–11 years). A small group of students were interviewed about the learning activities they engaged in over the year, and this paper reports on initial findings with a special emphasis on creative working and thinking ( n = 6). A model of creativity is presented with three discrete but related modes of activity — problem solving, creative cognition, and social interaction. The paper provides new findings about the nature of creativity in the context of computer based learning environments.