Creativity

The video clip we watched in class was stressing the importance of creativity in education. It said that creativity is becoming as important as literacy in education. I don't believe that 20 years ago when I was in school, that my teachers were concerned with encouraging creativity. I don't really remember being encouraged at all to be creative, until I took a ceramics class in high school. I believe we do, just like the video said, all have a capacity of creativity. It's what we do with that capacity that matters though. If we foster and stimulate ourselves, and even stretch ourselves to be creative, the outcomes could be amazing. But if we do nothing with our capacity to be creative, we are just ordinary and probably won't stand out, or be unusual, but rather just an ordinary Joe. Now, there's nothing wrong with being ordinary Joe if that's what you want to be, but why not push yourself to be something bigger and better? Even by furthering our education, we are being more creative than the average Joe. The video said that a lot of people believe that we have to do things better than we did in the past. I believe that is true to some extent- and that's because we have way more people now, resources are low, and we have an entirely different world now- because of technology. But, I don't believe that statement is true in the whole realm of our living. I think some things need to slow down in a sense. We need to work harder. We need to be kinder to each other. We need to be more flexible, and less demanding. We need to appreciate the things we had and did in the past, and appreciate the easiness technology has given us in our present day life. Creativity is at our fingertips, now go out there and do something with it!

Reflection

I have always used and been fluent in Word. I have had a lot of experience with Excel as well. I went to a computer training trade school for 7.5 months several years ago, and MS Office was one of the things we learned. I hadn't had MS Office on my computer at home for a long time, until just recently. My brother introduced me to OpenOffice.org. I have been using that program for the last year and a half. What I didn't know anything about was Googledocs. That was completely new and foreign new me. Though all the tabs and icons were basically the same as Open Office or Word, so it wasn't hard to navigate. I had to redo my Google spreadsheet like 4 times. I finally triumphed! My problem was the formatting, not the formulas or anything. I had a hard time visualizing how it should look and what should go where. I have learned that I am not as patient with myself as I thought. I will need to remember this in the future and practice it regularly. This will definitely help me in my learning. Slowing down. Slow and steady wins the race.

Technology As An Aid

I remember the first time I used any form of technology to help me in my learning. I was about 8 and I used a calculator for the first time in math. While I thought it was awesome, it didn't help me in my learning. Instead, it did the work for me and gave me the answers. I used it for all my homework and I always got an A. However, when it came to test time, I would usually get a low score because I found that I didn't really know how to do the math because the calculator was always doing it for me. So while it was cool, it hindered my ability to learn. Oops! I got into big trouble and had to buckle down and study hard. In my freshman year of high school, we were transitioning from typewriters to computers. I took a typing test half the class on a typewriter and half on a computer. This little bit of technology helped me learn how to navigate the simplest of tasks on a computer and it helped teach me the basics of typing. This obviously aided me in how to write papers and type correctly, etc. There was no Internet when I was in high school and I didn't go to college right away. I waited a decade. When I was in my mid twenties, I attended at trade school that was business and computer focused. This obviously aided me in my learning. I learned how to format letters, memos, doing mail merge, email, and many other computer related tasks that would then help me get a great office job. When I decided it was time to get a real college education, I was amazed at all the different ways one could go to school. I took most classes in the classroom on campus, but there were other options too, that I partook in. A student could take classes online, or through distance learning. There was  an option to take a class through local cable television. You would just tune in on specific days at specific times. Without the technology of the television and cable, one wouldn't be able to do that. Because of the Internet, I was able to take a bunch of online classes (including the one that is requiring me to type this blog right now)! Without the technology of the computer and the Internet, I would not be able to research and write and watch videos that have all aided me in my learning. There is so much information that I have gained as a result of technology. Technology is nothing but a good thing in my opinion. Look where we are today, all that we know and all that we can do! It truly is amazing!