Get Creative in School with Digital Media
This article was written by Julie Nightingale and discusses the
use of digital media in UK classrooms. Because this article is based off UK
classrooms, the statistics do not necessarily correlate to American classrooms.
However, much of the information in the article can be applicable to American
classrooms. Nightingale claims that the creative capacities of students need to
be addressed more within the classroom. She says this is so important because
employment in the creative industries has steadily increased even in the
difficult economic times. Nightingale believes that incorporating media
technology into the classroom can help flourish the student’s creativity. At a
school in Britain, students spend entire school days learning how to use video,
animation, and digital imaging. The teachers claim that the incorporation of
digital media into the classroom has helped all different types of students
flourish. One of the teachers said, "One student, one of the lowest ability boys I've
ever taught, couldn't really read and write properly and staff spent more time
talking to him about his behavior than his work. He particularly flourished
when I gave him control of the tools and told him that he could actually teach
himself.” The goal of this school
is to incorporate creativity into the curriculum and connect it to real-world
applications. The way they incorporate creativity is through the use of
technology. The school has been manipulated to form something like a town with
student-ran companies, a town council (student council, and even a bank. In one
project, one of the student-ran companies had to sponsor a charity. Through the
use of digital media, the students created commercials and a website and things
of this sort to set up a campaign for the charity.
I found this article to be very interesting. I agree that
creativity needs to be addressed more frequently within classrooms. I believe
that it is a disadvantage of the students to decrease funding for art classes.
Unfortunately, this is often the case for schools who are receiving a decrease
in funds. For this reason, I do believe that core subject teachers need to
incorporate creativity more within their classrooms. However, I do not necessarily
believe that creativity is something that can be taught. I believe that all
students have their own unique abilities. Some students may succeed in
academics, some in arts, some in athletics, and so forth. However, it is the
school’s responsibility to supply students with the resources to help them
succeed. I believe that incorporating digital media into the classroom is an
excellent way for students to combine their interests with their academics.
Digital media allows students to explore various topics through a wide array of
different resources. This also can allow students to guide their own learning
and creates a more authentic learning environment. For this reason, I plan on
incorporating projects like the one described above in my own classroom.
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