Assignment 17: “Creativity”
paper: Fischer, G., Giaccardi, E., Eden, H., Sugimoto, M., & Ye, Y. (2005) "Beyond Binary Choices: Integrating Individual and Social Creativity," International Journal of Human-Computer Studies (IJHCS) Special Issue on Creativity (eds: Linda Candy and Ernest Edmond), p. (in press). http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/~gerhard/papers/ind-social-creativity-05.pdf
Briefly discuss the following issues:
1. what did you find
1.1. interesting about the article?
1.2. not interesting about the article?
I really like the quote on p 3, "In addition, a ppropriate socio-technical settings can amplify the outcome of a group of creative people by both augmenting individual creativity and multiplying it rather than simply summing up individual creativity." I think this is a power vision for the influence that individual creativity can have on other individuals and on the social context or group.
2. what do you consider the main message of the article?
The main message is that there is an "and" not a "versus" relationship between individial and social creativity. We need to start thinking with a both/and mentality rather than an either/or mentality when it comes to the power of creativity. What this means is that the power of individuals becomes multiplied rather than just added together in the group potential. It is a powerful message to remind us how importantly our individual creativity is fostered by our environment and by other people and in turn how we foster others' creativity. If we are not striving to push our limits of creativity that we may be limited others capabilities as well as our own, by not being the best we can be.
3. pick ONE of the four systems described in the article (Envisionment and Discovery Collaboratory, Caretta, Renga Creations, CodeBroker) and discuss which aspects of individual and social creativity they support!
Caretta: individual users are given opportunities to work in their own personal space through their PDA's which enhances the diversity of design plans; users can easily move back and forth between their individual design space and the collective space of the SensingBoard and back again which enhances the interactions among users as well as the efficiency of integrating multiple visions and plans.
4. have you encountered interesting “boundary objects?” which ones? what features made them interesting?
I believe WebCt was utilized as a boundary object by my undergraduate classes to communicate about the material we we exploring as well as reflecting on the class itself. I am also currently using email as a means to pose questions to a small seminar class about the readings which serves as a tool for communication and coordination among various perspectives. The EDC is a prime example of a boundary object.
5. describe the most creative activity from your OWN life and analyze the individual and social aspect of your creative act!
I'm not sure if this is the most creative activity, but one that I engage in weekly is playing soccer. I am able to be creative because I know the game well enough to have the confidence and the skill to take risks with dribbling, passes and shots. I love making creative plays and I am constantly looking for holes in the other team that I can exploit. A lot of my skills have been developed through my interactions with other soccer players, with coaches, and by watching professionals or other players play and imitating and then improvising with what I see. It is a fun, stimulating process to be creative.
6. which computational systems do you know which support individual and/or social creativity?
There is currently multimedia being used in teacher education which allows preservice teachers to view a lesson, hear teachers' thoughts before and after the lesson is taught, view lesson plans, and student work and have discussions about what occurred, why, and what could have been done differently. It powerfully supports learning and creativity through individual reflection and group discussion. It would be awesome to design a program where preservice teachers were able to manipulate some aspects of the environment or tasks or children's behavior to see what would occur in the classroom.