Long Tran

Adam Padgett
ENG 102-27
22 November, 2016
Technology: Beneficial to Learning and Creativity?

Commented [PA1]: Try to specific what kind of technology.

Technology is a tool or invention that humans can use to make life easier or more
enjoyable. According to Rollo May, Creativity is the process of bringing something new into
being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was
previously hidden and points to new life (creativityatwork.com 1). Technology can range from
the invention of the computer for data storage and media streaming libraries like iTunes or
Netflix. Computers today are far more advanced than when they were first introduced to the
public. Computers can now do a variety of different tasks such as: writing papers, making graphs
and charts, becoming a movie and music library, and browsing the internet for news and
information. Technology gives people access to a plethora of information literally at the tip of
their fingers. Creativity can be benefitted by technology in many different ways. Technology
now offers new mediums in which artists can express themselves. Technology can be beneficial
to learning and creativity in the education system if it is able to be efficiently integrated into the
classroom setting.
With all the recent advancements in technology that society has gone through, it would
seem to be common sense that all aspects of life are made easier, especially in education. With
all the technology todays world has to offer, the way things have been done in the education
setting have changed rapidly over the past decades. Currently todays classrooms have high tech
projectors and smartboards that can easily erase anything and everything on screen with the
touch of a button. Smartboards can replace the chalkboard that many students once knew.

Commented [PA2]: What kind of source is this? How would

you rate its credibility?

Physical books can now be replaced by digital copies on a computer or with something called ebooks that have recently surfaced. With these recent e-books, the growth and popularity of
digital content in the form of e-books that are delivered to electronic reading platforms has been
significant (Hyman, Moser, Segala 36). The authors are implying that this new technology is
now making digital reading more accessible and popular. This new platform for reading has
authors of textbooks incorporating audio, video, and text-to-speech capabilities as part of their
information delivery strategy (36). Having all the information of multiple books condensed into
an electronic device that is portable and can fit in a persons hand is incredible. It can make life
easier for a college student who has to carry around multiple textbooks and notebooks all day
long. It can help students learn better because it is easier to be motivated when all the material is
in one place.
Commented [PA3]: Make it clear which color is which year.

The chart above is the percentage of 8th graders in California who are at or above proficiency
level in a standardized math exam from 2007 to 2009. All the percentages stayed the same
except for the Hispanic percentage, which increased by 1 percent (United States Education

Dashboard 1). The Native American percentage is not shown because it did not meet reporting
standards.

The above graph is the percentages of 8th grade students in Hawaii who passed a math
proficiency exam from 2007 to 2007. There was change of 6 percent who were at or above basic
proficiency, a change of 4 percent by those who were proficient, and a change by 1 percent in
those who passed with advanced proficiency(United States Education Dashboard 1). Both of the
above graphs show increases in percentages of those who pass the standardized math exam from
2007-2009, which could be the possible result of increased innovations in technology or teaching
methods.
The future is unknown for libraries because of new changes in todays technology. Since
physical books can be replaced, whole libraries can either be transformed or can be eliminated
from the equation completely. There is a possibility in the future that libraries with physical
books will become extinct. The question is: How soon? A research poll was conducted by Pew
Research Center to find out what American citizens thought about libraries in todays society.

According to the data that Pew Research Center compiled into a chart, most Americans want
libraries to: support local education, serve special constituents such as veteran, active duty
military personnel and immigrants, help local businesses, job seekers and those upgrading their
work skills, and embrace new technologies such as 3-D printers and provide services to help
patrons learn about high-tech gadgetry (Horrigan 1). This means that American citizens would
still want libraries around for their children and for their local communities. Since the digital age
has come around with new innovations, libraries are now equipped with computer labs and other
types of digital media. In todays local libraries and campus libraries, physical books are still
available, albeit not as popular. The trend of Americans actually going to libraries has ebbed
somewhat over the past several years, though it is too early to identify a national trend (1). This
means that some books will be replaced with digital media, but libraries will not get rid of books
completely. About 30% of American citizens that are 16 years old and older think libraries
should definitely move some print books and stacks out of public locations to free up more
space for such things as tech centers, reading rooms, meeting rooms and cultural events (2).
These new technological implementations in the library offer new types of benefits that can help
people advance their knowledge.
Creativity and technology are two things that compliment each other and can advance
each other as long as technology can be properly implemented. There are multiple digital
mediums that help showcase artists creativity and knowledge. These new digital mediums range
From Google to Facebook, from cloud computing to YouTube channels and digitality has
altered how we live, work and connect with each other (Henriksen, Mishra, Fisser 27). These
are the products of societys rapid improvements in technology. Henriksen, Mishra, and Fisser
believe that we must consider learning technologies alongside creativity instead of in isolation

(27). YouTube is a place where artists such as choreographers or musicians can showcase their
artistic talents to the world and at the same time be able to teach that same piece. YouTube is full
of how-to videos with multiple people showing their own creative ways of doing something.
This is a prime example of how creativity, technology, and learning can mesh together.
Henriksen, Mishra and Fisser believe that in order for technology to be implemented in a
classroom, teachers must understand the range of ways in which technology can present content
creatively, and see how this interacts with different pedagogies (30). What they are saying is
that in order for things such as PowerPoint presentations to be truly effective in a classroom
setting, teachers must be able to present large and boring amounts of information in a manner
that is captivating and creative. Students most likely prefer to not be bored by a plain
presentation that was thrown together last-minute by the teacher or professor. Having a
presentation that is creative and that is designed well can easily keep the attention of students and
help them take in and retain the information better. New technology implementation in the
classroom can present new opportunities to interact and become engaged in discussion or class.
An example of this concept in action is a channel on YouTube called Veritasium which focuses
on physics, and the choice of topics is often driven by questions sent in by his audience
allowing learners all over the world interact directly with science ideas and each other via his
site (31). This allows the audience of the channel to stay interested in the videos the creator
produces. This also helps the creator of the channel because he is able to retain his subscribers
because the topics are what his viewers want to watch. Students in a classroom setting obviously
cannot choose the topics that they want the teacher to go over, so this imposes a barrier in this
kind of implementation. Henriksen, Mishra, and Fisser believe that there are three major parts to
the implementation of technology and creativity and education: Teacher education, Assessment,

and Educational policy (34). For teacher education, it is important to be able to teach them to use
these new technologies efficiently and in a creative way in order to improve teaching methods.
For Assessment, it is important to find a way to test creativity in the learning environment. It will
prove a challenge, because creativity is something that is very unusual and difficult to measure.
A challenge in educational policy involves convincing policymakers that there is a clear or
definitive answer, where creativity can only be learned by actually doing and finding it for
oneself and cannot be taught as a skill.
Another way technology can help benefit students in the classroom is through increased
efficiency in intercultural learning. In todays society, it is very important that we have
knowledge of other nations cultures. This became important when countries started doing
business internationally. Businessmen should be able to communicate in others countries
languages in order to be courteous and respectful towards them. Today, we have the
responsibility to teach the next generation these cultural skills in order to prepare them and
should be one of the aims of todays educational systems (Ciftci 313). Technology can play a
big role in helping kids learn other cultures and languages quicker and more efficiently. The
internet and technology in todays society lets people communicate with people from all over the
world. This is possible with apps such as Skype, where users can video chat with each other from
anywhere. This can make things such as taking classes online possible. It allows an instructor to
clearly communicate with his or her students. There was a study conducted which shows figures
that USA is the most popular country for technology-oriented intercultural studies (316).
Overall, those who participated in the study completed the intercultural projects with a feeling
of enjoyment as a result of using technology to establish some types of communication with
native speakers of their target language or with people from another culture (317). Instructors

Commented [PA4]: True.

can possibly think of creative ways to teach students about other cultures. Finding other ways to
make learning about other cultures more enjoyable is important because it is better to teach
students who are more engaged and care about the culture they are learning. Technology brings
advantages to intercultural learning such as flexibility and in-depth exchanges (320). This
flexibility can most likely be seen as a teacher scheduling class around a tie when the students is
not as busy or overwhelmed with work. If the class is scheduled to be over Skype, it can yield indepth exchanges because there are less students to be taught at one time through asynchronous
methods.
A school district in Florida has already tried to integrate technology into third, fourth, and
5th grade classrooms. The teachers have the capacity to integrate technology into their
classrooms, but barriers preventing this can further deter them. A study shows that The
strongest barrier to technology integration was a lack of available computers/hardware, followed
by factors relating to the time required to develop and implement lesson plans that incorporate
technology (Pittman, Gaines 1). These barriers are difficult to overcome because more money is
required in order to install the new computers and hardware into these classrooms and because
more time would be needed to develop lesson plans that involve the use of technology
integration. If these barriers can be overcome, learning will reach a new milestone as children as
young as third graders will learn about the importance and use of technology in todays world.
They will be able further advance their knowledge and creativity through the introduction and
use of technology. They will be able to learn things through interaction, rather than sit there and
listen to their teacher lecture them. Younger children have a smaller attention span compared to
older children. Children would be intrigued by the technology instead of having their mind
wander off while their teacher talks. There was a big gap in teachers who show high and low

integration into classrooms. There was a recommendation that professional development

programs should focus on teacher attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors and should include mentor
programs or workshop training to expose teachers to successful integration in a positive and
practical way (541).
Technology can be beneficial to learning and creativity in the education system if barriers
in successful technology integration can be broken, so educators can develop and implement
better, more efficient teaching methods. The barriers to successful integration include: lack of
available hardware, lack of available computers, lack of teacher training, and the amount of time
needed to develop lesson plans for the children. Another large barrier to successful integration is
bridging the gap between these informal learning experiences with expected outcomes of formal
learning as required by educational institutions (Voogt, Knezek 2). Schools also need new ways
to track progress as technology is beginning to be implemented into the school system. A
possible conclusion to the teacher training and lesson plan problem is to develop teachers
attitudes and beliefs towards technology and have them be professionally trained as Pittman and
Gaines mentioned in their study. The education system would need to find a way to fund the
purchase and installation of the computers and hardware as the newest and best technology can
be quite expensive. These issues may take a long time to overcome, so it is important that
educators start solving the problem to these barriers in order to implement new technology
efficiently as soon as possible. The sooner new learning technologies can be implemented into
the school system, then the sooner children will be able to further advance their knowledge and
creativity.

Works Cited
ifti, Emrullah Yasin. "A Review Of Research On Intercultural Learning Through ComputerBased Digital Technologies." Journal Of Educational Technology & Society 19.2 (2016):
313-327. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Education, U.S. Department of. United States Education Dashboard Detail. United States
Education Dashboard Detail. N.p., n.d. Web 22 Nov. 2016.
Henriksen, Danah, Punya Mishra, and Petra Fisser. "Infusing Creativity And Technology In 21St
Century Education: A Systemic View For Change." Journal Of Educational Technology
& Society 19.3 (2016): 27-37. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Horrigan, John B. Libraries at the Crossroads. Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech
RSS. N.p., 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Hyman, Jack, Mary Moser, and Laura Segala. "Electronic Reading And Digital Library
Technologies: Understanding Learner Expectation And Usage Intent For Mobile
Learning." Educational Technology Research & Development 62.1 (2014): 3552. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Naiman, Linda. "What Is Creativity? | Creativity at Work." Creativity at Work. N.p., 07 Nov.
2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
Pittman, Tiffani, and Trudi Gaines. "Technology Integration In Third, Fourth And Fifth Grade
Classrooms In A Florida School District." Educational Technology Research &
Development63.4 (2015): 539-554. Academic Search Alumni Edition. Web. 22 Nov.
2016.

Voogt, Joke, and Gerald Knezek. "Guest Editorial: Technology Enhanced Quality Education For
All -- Outcomes From Edusummit 2015." Journal Of Educational Technology &
Society 19.3 (2016): 1-4. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

Long,
The breadth and scope of your topic is impressive, and I think you've done a good job walking
your audience through the complicated network of research you've compiled here. This is a
complicated issue, and I like how youve incorporated your charts into the discussion. But this
does, at times, feel more like a report rather than a research paper. By which I mean, there is a lot
of really interesting information and context here, but no real argument guiding it. In the end,
you make an argument about the beneficial role of technology and creativity, but Im wondering
who would disagree with this. While I think this is certainly the case, you should be gesturing in
some kind of specific direction. Your discussion of poverty and education could be a way to
make a stronger argument about the role of technology. All of this is really to say, you dont
really need to do research to make a claim about the benefit technology bring in the cultivation
of any real trait (be it creativity, problem solving, math, etc.), so use this opportunity to say
something specific about the direction we should, perhaps, take ourselves. I know this is a value
claim that youre making, and Im necessarily asking you to make a policy claim, but simply
gesture toward that policy, if that makes sense. Otherwise good work here.