How do we teach imagination and innovation?

I was asked to attend the Promethean U.S. Summit at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA the past two days. This was a two-day (all expenses paid!) forum for senior education professionals from across the nation to come together to network and share their vision and best practices for the use of technology in classrooms. I was very interested in the use of the Activboard for the new classrooms at Bonsall Elementary School. These presentation whiteboards demonstrate how interactive technology is changing the classroom and student learning and bringing the K-12 learning environment into the 21st Century. I think these boards will be the main instructional feature in the new school, if we can find the money.
The Keynote Speaker was Alan November. I first met Alan through the books he has written about technology. He is a fascinating guy and extremely knowledgeable about best practices for students. He is recognized internationally as a leader in education technology. He began his career as an oceanography teacher, but is now better known as a practitioner, designer, and author. He has guided schools, government organizations and industry leaders as they attempt to improve quality with technology.

The best part of the time was meeting other professionals who also believe that children are changing, and if we don’t change with them, we will not prepare them properly for the 21st century. It is probably the first time in human history that teachers are expected to train children for professions that may not have even been invented, yet. We have a moral responsibility to prepare children to be intellectual, innovative, and imaginative. In this new era of “knowledge workers,” it is not enough to retain knowledge. People need to know where to find it, how to search for it, and what to do with it after they obtain it.

So how do we teach imagination and innovation? With the type of instruction we are providing today, it will never happen. Technology will help, but it will take a complete revision of our own ideas of what the classroom and teacher look like in order for the learning to succeed. Perhaps tools like the Activboard, Activslate, and Activote will move us farther down that road faster.