Technology: A Catalyst for Creativity
“Technology doesn’t only enable creativity, but it nurtures it” (Ingram, 2018).
Coming to the end of ENTI 674 I would have to say the greatest change I have seen in myself is my confidence in using technology. Working with technological tools is something that has always been daunting to me. I would have considered my lack of technical knowledge as a weakness, coming from a more literary background. After completing this course, I am able to see the value in technological tools and how gaining an understanding of how they work can actually further foster creativity.
What about the course surprised you the most?
The part about this course that surprised me most was the value I could see in technological tools. Understanding the real-world impact that a Twitter bot could have on the political landscape of a country was fascinating to me. Knowing that this implication could be possible, I wondered what other kind of impact this kind of technology could have, both positive and negative. My group implemented a Twitter bot to do good in our final project. By having our bot tweet our appreciation messages for the donors to the LeftOver foundation we aimed to see an increase in donations and volunteerism for the foundation:
What part of the process was most rewarding?
The most rewarding part of ENTI 674 for me was gaining a better understanding of my technological capabilities. This was most evident during the two lab exercises that were required to be completed for this course. I have to admit that opening up for the first lab I was extremely overwhelmed. The requirements for this lab were far outside of my comfort zone and I had a difficult time conceptualizing how I was going to complete this assignment. I was determined to finish this lab assignment, however, and after hours of troubleshooting the components, I was able to successfully finish it. This was extremely rewarding for me as not only was I successful in completion, I was also able to see the value in using tools such as Zapier, Typeform, Wix, and Twitter bots.
Upon reflection of this experience, I believe I am able to apply Kolb’s experiential Learning Cycle to this instance (McLeod, 2017).
1. Concrete Experience: the new experience of encountering Zapier, Typeform, Wix (I used Wix after doing some troubleshooting with Weebly and not finding success), and Twitter bots.
2. Reflective observation of the new experience: During this part of the process, I did some research about how these different technologies worked, as I was unfamiliar with them. I watched some tutorial videos and did some troubleshooting. I was doing some troubleshooting with Weebly during this process and was not able to address my issues.
3. Abstract conceptualization: during this phase, I was modifying the step I was taking in using Weebly, this is where I decided to switch over to Wix and was able to create a site I was happy with.
4. Active experimentation: This part of the process is happening right now, as I am completing the final deliverables for this course with my group. We were able to implement a lot of the tools from this lab into our final project!
What advice would you give to a friend about how to learn the most in this course?
I think the biggest piece of advice I would have for someone about to embark on their ENTI 674 journey would be to take this course as a learning opportunity. While grades are important to anyone, especially eager graduate students, taking a step back to gain value in your courses is not always about a percentage entered into a D2L portal. This course provided me with an opportunity to broaden my knowledge of different technologies and processes. This was not necessarily a comfortable process, but it did expand my skill set and my creative/ innovative thinking. To gain the most value out of this course, fixation on grades may not get you there. For this reason, I would tell a prospective student to take this course as an opportunity to learn and grow.
What have you learned in this course that you could use in your future courses? In your Career?
The course concept that had the greatest impact on me, and that I will carry forward was Ideation. Brainstorming is a concept that will be relevant in any future course I take and will be relevant into my career as well. Having an opportunity to read into some more progressive ways of ideation, such as ‘How to Brainstorm Like a Googler’ was valuable to me. This article discounts the idea of brainstorming in an unstructured way and suggests a linear process. This linear process involving (1) Knowing the user (2) Thinking 10X (3) Prototyping (Lafargue, 2016), is something that resonated with me and that I will carry forward into future brainstorming sessions.
Final Thoughts
Throughout the course of this semester, I have had the opportunity to broaden my view of technology and see the value in its use. I will be able to use the tools we used throughout the semester to further creative and innovative thoughts. Having the learning opportunities I had during this course, I can understand the value of persistence and troubleshooting until you are able to find a solution to a problem. While innovation and creativity are driving forces in an entrepreneurial spirit, technology can be a catalyst from a good idea to a great one.
References
Ingram, J. (2018). Information and imagination: why technology isn’t killing creativity. Ranconteur.
https://www.raconteur.net/creativity- technology/#:~:text=Technology%20doesn’t%20only%20enable,and%20explore%20ideas%20an d%20techniques.
Lafargue, V. (2016). How To Brainstorm Like a Googler. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/3061059/how-to-brainstorm-like-a-googler
Mcleod, S. (2017). Kolb’s Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. Simply Psychology. simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html
Images
Lieberman, M. (2018). Technology Can Address Digital Accessibility- to an Extent. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/05/02/technology-can-help- address-accessibility-challenges-many-say
Group 15 ENTI 674. (2021). Final Project: LeftOvers Left Behind. https://twitter.com/RescuerOfFood
