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"The most powerful thing she said was something that education policy makers will ignore at all costs. That is that Creativity is the next essential literacy. Now keep in mind I am just beginning to try and wrap my mind around what that may look like. My first belief in this discussion is that creativity is something that begins at a young age. I also believe that creativity and imagination go hand and hand. When I teach my courses for the college I refer to imagination as a sense of wonder because often people are distracted by the word imagination. This is because it brings up a short time in their life when they were encouraged to imagine. As an education system we ignore imagination and we have quickly weeded out that perceived "unnecessary" tool over the past 20 years. "

"Inspired by the short film, 'Caine's Arcade,' the Global Cardboard Challenge is an annual event presented by the Imagination Foundation that celebrates child creativity and the role communities can play in fostering it. This September, kids of all ages are invited to build anything they can dream up using cardboard, recycled materials and imagination. Then on Saturday, October 10th, 2015, a day that commemorates the flash mob that made Caine's day in the short film, communities come together and play!"

"Inspired by the short film, 'Caine's Arcade', the Global Cardboard Challenge is an annual event presented by the Imagination Foundation that celebrates child creativity and the role communities can play in fostering it. This September, kids of all ages are invited to build anything they can dream up using cardboard, recycled materials and imagination. Then on Saturday, October 10th, 2015, communities will come together to play!"

"It's easy to take digital technology for granted these days. To students who were practically born with an iPad in their hands, it's hard to imagine a time when a world of history and knowledge wasn't just a few swipes away. But if the infographic below, entitled, "Remarkable Advances in Computer Engineering," is any indication, there are advances in the pipeline that will stretch the imagination of even the most jaded kindergarten digital savant. On this, the second day of Computer Science Education Week, we're once again celebrating these advances with a look forward. Whether you're a computer science teacher or you teach a more generalized classroom, show this infographic to your students to spark discussions about the future of technology, to stretch imaginations and student conceptions of what's possible, and to inspire your students onto the computer science track. Even students who lead less computer-centric lives will be interested in discussing applications of these shifting capabilities to their own interest areas."

"Regardless of whether you think every infant needs an iPad, I think we can all agree that technology has changed education for the better. Today's learners now enjoy easier, more efficient access to information; opportunities for extended and mobile learning; the ability to give and receive immediate feedback; and greater motivation to learn and engage. We now have programs and platforms that can transform learners into globally active citizens, opening up countless avenues for communication and impact. Thousands of educational apps have been designed to enhance interest and participation. Course management systems and learning analytics have streamlined the education process and allowed for quality online delivery. But if we had to pick the top ten, most influential ways technology has transformed education, what would the list look like? The following things have been identified by educational researchers and teachers alike as the most powerful uses of technology for learning. Take a look. 1. Critical Thinking In Meaningful Learning With Technology, David H. Jonassen and his co-authors argue that students do not learn from teachers or from technologies. Rather, students learn from thinking-thinking about what they are doing or what they did, thinking about what they believe, thinking about what others have done and believe, thinking about the thinking processes they use-just thinking and reasoning. Thinking mediates learning. Learning results from thinking. So what kinds of thinking are fostered when learning with technologies? Analogical If you distill cognitive psychology into a single principle, it would be to use analogies to convey and understand new ideas. That is, understanding a new idea is best accomplished by comparing and contrasting it to an idea that is already understood. In an analogy, the properties or attributes of one idea (the analogue) are mapped or transferred to another (the source or target). Single analogies are also known as sy

Includes ten tips to help encourage children's imaginations

"One of my favorite things about working with students is their ability to routinely blow my mind. Amazing things happen when students are given the opportunity to use their imagination, and think outside the box with no fear of failure. Give your students access to the 5 tools below, and let them blow your mind! "

When I go home, I'm no longer a dad. I transform into a sidekick to the world's coolest superhero. I become a nurse to a stuffed animal surgeon. I get to help an architect and a builder in forts made from couch cushions. I become second in command on a pirate ship made of the swing set. I morph into a lab assistant to an always-curious scientist. I turn into an astronaut in a planet in our backyard. That's the power of imagination."

"Get into the holiday spirit the Destination Imagination way-with a little creativity! For this year's Great Graham Cracker Challenge, we want you to design and create a graham cracker structure inspired by your favorite book. Your structure must incorporate at least two special features. Special features must be physical things that are attached to or associated with your graham cracker structure (e.g., extra floors, a magical cape, etc.)."

""If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve," Debbie Millman counseled in one of the best commencement speeches ever given, urging: "Do what you love, and don't stop until you get what you love. Work as hard as you can, imagine immensities…" Far from Pollyanna platitude, this advice actually reflects what modern psychology knows about how belief systems about our own abilities and potential fuel our behavior and predict our success. Much of that understanding stems from the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, synthesized in her remarkably insightful Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (public library) - an inquiry into the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, and how changing even the simplest of them can have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives. One of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves, Dweck found in her research, has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality. A "fixed mindset" assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can't change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled. A "growth mindset," on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. Out of these two mindsets, which we manifest from a very early age, springs a great deal of our behavior, our relationship with success and failure in both professional and personal contexts, and ultimately our capacity for happiness."

Imagine living in the magical world of Harry Potter, where the school hallways are lined with paintings that are alive and interactive. Now imagine creating an atmosphere like that for your students. Augmented Reality (AR) allows educators and students to do just that: unlock or create layers of digital information on top of the physical world that can be viewed through an Android or iOS device.

"Augmented Reality is the term used by apps which overlay content on top of real world objects. Imagine viewing a textbook page through your iPad and the pictures come to life with sound and animations. This can have some great educational uses. From bringing spacecraft or animals into the classroom, to bringing worksheets to life with interactive 3D models. The tech is still in its infancy. At the moment you still need to view things through some kind of device - a tablet, phone or webcam. Can you imagine what this would be like when viewed through something like Google Glass? But that's something for the future. There's many different apps out there, but here are a few of my favourites that could be used to teach Science."

Imagine collecting all the best free educational videos made for children, and making them findable and watchable on one website. Then imagine creating many, many more such videos… WatchKnow-as in, "You watch, you know"-has started building this resource.

"It's been more than three years since Caine Monroy's elaborate cardboard arcade in front of his dad's used auto parts shop was catapulted to fame by Nirvan Mullick's short film. But last summer, after two years and tens-of-thousands of customers, Cain "retired" on his eleventh birthday and closed Caine's Arcade to the public. The last day was probably a first step for Caine, though. The film has been seen 8 million times and counting, and it has spun into a movement that's spawned numerous think pieces, a scholarship fund, and a TEDx talk. Most notably, it spurred the creation of the Imagination Foundation, which aims to find, foster, and fund creativity in kids through programs such as the Global Cardboard Challenge and pop-up learning spaces called Imagination Chapters."

"Students only need a model and a push to do amazing things. Then a smart teacher gets out of the way and let's the magic happen. When I first became engulfed in the amazing world of Twitter, I couldn't imagine not sharing the experience with my students. What started as a little spark and a hot mess three years ago has turned into a full-on immersion of social media in my classes. Twitter has amplified the voices of my students well beyond the walls of our classroom and it's echoing through the global learning landscape. Now, social media is an integral part of the learning that transpires and I can't imagine why others aren't using it. Recently, I guest moderated an #edtechchat that highlighted the versatility of Twitter in the classroom. With the help of my students who participated at 8pm on a Monday night and amazing educators across the world, we discussed the vibrancy Twitter can add to student learning"

"Unfortunately, the way computer science is currently taught in high school tends to throw students into the programming deep end, reinforcing the notion that code is just for coders, not artists or doctors or librarians. But there is good news: Researchers have been experimenting with new ways of teaching computer science, with intriguing results. For one thing, they've seen that leading with computational thinking instead of code itself, and helping students imagine how being computer savvy could help them in any career, boosts the number of girls and kids of color taking-and sticking with-computer science. Upending our notions of what it means to interface with computers could help democratize the biggest engine of wealth since the Industrial Revolution."

"When you were growing up, what did you enjoy playing with? If you were like me, maybe it was Tinker Toys, an Easy Bake Oven, or Lite Brite. I liked designing and creating things. As a teenager, my imagination ran wild as my ideas turned into sketches which later covered the walls of my bedroom. (Thanks Mom, for never painting over the walls-even 25 years later!) My own children love building and messing around with things, too. It's amazing how long a few cardboard boxes or toilet paper rolls and some duct tape will keep them entertained. (We've built forts, spaceships, and garages for all their Match Box cars.) It's the nature of these learning experiences that allow young people to think creatively and use their imagination. With a focus on standards, accountability, and assessment over the last decade or so, it seemed that these opportunities disappeared from our schools. However, within the last few years, the tide is beginning to turn. I believe an exciting shift is happening in education as schools across the country are embracing the Maker Movement and returning creative, hands-on learning opportunities to their classrooms. Additionally, STEAM education has come to the forefront with an emphasis on preparing students for college, career, and beyond, focusing on the 4 C's: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. STEM has transformed into STEAM as the arts become an integral component to meaningful learning. In many schools, the STEAM and maker education are colliding. Hybrid models are being created that embrace the integration of STEAM components and the creative spirit of the Maker Movement. At the intersection between STEAM and making, powerful learning occurs. I would argue that a new movement is emerging-STEAM Makers."

"One of the most powerful learning tools human beings employ is the story. See how the story-form can unleash imagination and creativity in your teaching."