Sowing the Seeds reflect for a More Creative Society imagine share imagine New technologies help students navigate the creative thinking spiral create play By Mitchel Resnick n the 1980s, there was much talk often unprepared for the challenges In this article, I discuss two tech- about the transition from the In- that they encounter after graduation, nologies developed by my research Idustrial Society to the Information in their work lives as well as their group at the MIT Media Lab with the Society. Then in the 1990s people personal lives. Many students learn to explicit goal of helping people develop began to talk about the Knowledge solve specific types of problems, but as creative thinkers. The two tech- Society, noting that information is they are unable to adapt and impro- nologies, called Crickets and Scratch, useful only when it is transformed vise in response to the unexpected are designed to support what I call the into knowledge. situations that inevitably arise in “creative thinking spiral.” In this pro- But as I see it, knowledge alone is today’s fast-changing world. cess, people imagine what they want not enough. In today’s rapidly chang- New technologies play a dual role to do, create a project based on their ing world, people must continually in the Creative Society. On one hand, ideas, play with their creations, share come up with creative solutions to un- the proliferation of new technologies their ideas and creations with others, expected problems. Success is based is quickening the pace of change, ac- and reflect on their experiences—all not only on what you know or how centuating the need for creative think- of which leads them to imagine new much you know, but on your ability to ing in all aspects of people’s lives. On ideas and new projects. As students go think and act creatively. In short, we the other hand, new technologies have through this process, over and over, are now living in the Creative Society. the potential, if properly designed they learn to develop their own ideas, Unfortunately, few of today’s class- and used, to help people develop as try them out, test the boundaries, ex- rooms focus on helping students creative thinkers, so that they are bet- periment with alternatives, get input develop as creative thinkers. Even stu- ter prepared for life in the Creative from others, and generate new ideas dents who perform well in school are Society. based on their experiences. Copyright © 2007, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. 18 Learning & Leading with Technology | December/January 2007–08 reflect imagine Crickets Today’s world is full of objects Cricket that sense and respond: doors that open automatically when you walk toward them, outdoor share imagine lights that turn on automatically when the sun goes down, stuffed animals that talk to you when Cricket Sensors: you squeeze them. Children Light sensor, touch sensor, sound sensor, resistance sensor. interact with these objects all of the time, but most have no idea how they work. And if children want to create their own interactive objects, most have no idea how to do it. Cricket Outputs: Multi-colored light, sound box, numerical display, motor. create The Cricket is designed to change that. Children can connect lights, mo- play tors, and sensors to a Cricket, then program their creations to spin, light up, and play music. Children can use Crickets to create all types of interac- sunrise occurs tive inventions: musical sculptures, in- at very different teractive jewelry, dancing creatures. In times over the course of the process, children learn important the year, so the alarm clock wouldn’t Mindstorms kits are designed espe- science and engineering concepts, and be very reliable. Richard thought cially for making robots, Crickets are they develop a better understanding about this problem, and when he cre- designed especially for making artistic of the interactive objects in the world ated a poster about his project for the creations with colored lights, sound, around them. public exhibition at the end of the music, and motion. Crickets are now At a week-long workshop in Ice- workshop, he included a warning at sold commercially as part of a kit, land, for example, Richard, an 11- the bottom: “For Export Only.” called the PicoCricket Kit, that in- year-old boy, decided to use a Cricket As Richard worked on his alarm cludes not only Lego bricks and elec- to create an automatic alarm clock to clock project, he actively engaged tronic parts, but also arts-and-craft wake him in the morning. He con- in all parts of the creative thinking materials such as pom-poms, pipe nected a light sensor, a motor, and spiral: he came up with an idea, cre- cleaners, and googly eyes. By provid- a sound box to a Cricket, and he at- ated a prototype, experimented with ing a broader range of materials and tached a feather to the motor. Then it, shared his ideas with others, and supporting activities involving light Richard programmed the Cricket revised his plans based on the feed- and sound (in addition to motion), we so that it would play a melody and back. By the end, Richard was full of hope to encourage a broader range of gently twirl the feather against his ideas on how to improve his alarm projects—and spark the imaginations face when the light sensor detected clock—and he had refined his skills as of a broader range of children. We the sun shining through his bedroom a creative thinker. are especially interested in broaden- window in the morning. Richard ex- In many ways, Crickets are similar ing participation among girls. Even perimented with his new alarm clock, to the Lego Mindstorms robot con- with strong efforts to increase female and it seemed to work well. But a struction kits now used by millions of participation, only 30% of the par- friend pointed out a problem. Because students around the world. But there ticipants in Lego Mindstorms robot- Iceland is located so far to the north, are also important differences. While ics competitions are girls. In Cricket Copyright © 2007, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. December/January 2007–08 | Learning & Leading with Technology 19 alize their own interactive inventions. As Julia explained, “With Crickets, you don’t have to use what someone else made. You can make it yourself.” Scratch Just as Crickets give students the power to create and control things in the physical world, Scratch gives them the power to create and control things in the online world. For many students, the Web is pri- marily a place for browsing, clicking, and chatting. With Scratch, students Richard with his Cricket shift from media consumers to me- alarm clock, and the pro- dia producers, creating their own gram controlling the clock. interactive stories, games, and anima- tions—then sharing their creations on the Web. In classrooms, students have begun to use Scratch to create reports and presentations—replacing traditional activities at museums and after-school At the same workshop, an entrepre- PowerPoint presentations with con- centers, participation has been much neurial 12-year-old named Anthony tent that is far more dynamic and more balanced among boys and girls. came up with a business idea: a wear- interactive. At the Expo Elementary Crickets have become especially able jukebox. He cut a coin slot in the School in St. Paul, Minnesota, one popular in Hong Kong, where govern- top of a cardboard box, then installed student created a book report on Ben ment and industry leaders are con- sensors on the underside of the slot to Franklin, including an interactive cerned about the outward migration measure the size of the coin inserted. game inspired by Franklin’s experi- of manufacturing jobs to other parts He then programmed the Cricket to ments with lightning. Another student of China, and thus feel an urgent need play different songs based on what created an animated documentary on to develop a more creative workforce. coin the customer put into the box. the dangers of mercury in their school Cricket workshops in Hong Kong For Julia and Anthony, the Cricket building. At another school, students provide a glimpse into an alternative provided a way to create and person- created a penny-flipping simulation, educational approach, where creative thinking is a top priority. At one Hong Kong workshop, an 11-year-old girl named Julia was in- spired by a pair of shoes that she had seen that contained embedded lights that flashed as the shoes moved. But Julia wasn’t interested in buying shoes with pre-programmed lighting pat- terns; she wanted to create her own patterns. So she connected a Cricket and a series of lights to her boots, then installed a sensor near the bottom of the boot, where it could detect the Workshop participants in Hong Kong engage their up-and-down motion of her foot. She creative thinking to de- programmed the Cricket to change the velop Cricket projects. colors of the lights, based on how fast she was walking. Copyright © 2007, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l), [email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. 20 Learning & Leading with Technology | December/January 2007–08 Scratch projects.