In this blog, we will look at creative thinking, why it’s important to organisations and how to integrate creative thinking in eLearning design.
What is creative thinking?
What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘creative’? You might instinctively think of an artist or musician. Many people might think ‘I’m not a creative person’. But the idea of being creative is a lot broader than our learned and sometimes narrow view. Creative thinking can be a daily act. A general consensus is that it involves making, inventing or building something new, finding novel solutions to problems, or offering a new and unique perspective. The common denominator is that to be creative means to offer something new, a new way of thinking about something or combining pre-existing elements in a different way.
We are born creative. However, over the course of our lives we can become ‘schooled’ in a certain way of thinking; the ‘right’ way to do things, the way we always do things. Often we forget that there is a rainbow of possibilities. Creativity fuels innovation and in our highly competitive global environment, this is exactly what organisations need to stay ahead.
Why does it matter?
If asked about the top skills that employers want for their organisations, you might say economics, accounting, leadership, business or financial management. But what organisation would thrive without creative thinking? They need it to be entrepreneurial, to be innovative, to find solutions to problems, and to see opportunities. Even if a job seems routine or mundane, there will be some degree of creativity required. Creative thinking is about being flexible and thinking outside the box.
According to data from LinkedIn (2023), there are 50,000 different professional skills! In a 2018 LinkedIn study, 57% of senior leaders valued soft skills above hard skills and the skill they were most looking for was creativity! Demand for different skills changes with the climate, but even core skills, such as management or communication can benefit from creativity. In a survey by IBM, 1,500 chief executive officers agreed that creativity was the number one factor for future business success (Landry, 2017).
How can we promote creative thinking in eLearning?
eLearning can sometimes have a negative reputation of being bland, boring and repetitive. But it doesn’t have to be formulaic. Consider using some strategies to surprise your learners and get them thinking creatively.
- Creative thinking can be stimulated with an image, a word, a quotation, a statistic, and so on. Give the learner something to ask questions about for a virtual face-to-face session or on a discussion forum. Equally you could set up a scenario or case study, and encourage the . Don’t just ‘feed’ the learners information. Allow them to ‘construct’ the knowledge by asking questions and coming up with or discovering possible answers.
- Encourage learners to make connections: Thinking creatively involves seeing the big picture as well as the parts, noticing patterns and the connections between things. Give the learner time to connect the new learning with previous experiences and think about how to apply it in different contexts. This will help them to be more creative in how they use the new skills or knowledge.
- Ask learners to reflect: This can happen before or after learners engage with an eLearning course. By asking learners to reflect beforehand, you encourage them to generate their own ideas or recall what they already know on the topic. Reflection opportunities after the learning experience will allow learners the space to identify where and how the knowledge can be used, which may lead to creative and innovative thinking.
- Incorporate problem-solving tasks: Creativity lies at the heart of finding novel solutions to problems. Instead of just presenting the problem and solution to learners, challenge them. This may involve the learners sharing ideas, collaborating on a problem and presenting their solution in a short video.
Including activities to boost creative thinking will help to make your eLearning course unique and memorable as well as benefitting the learners and ultimately the organisation. As an instructional designer you will also have the added bonus of getting your creative juices flowing too!
References
Landry, Lauren. (9th November, 2017). The Importance of Creativity in Business. Northeastern University. Retrieved from https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/creativity-importance-in-business/
LinkedIn learning Blog. (20th February 2023). LinkedIn 2023 Most In-Demand Skills: Learn the skills companies need most. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/top-skills-and-courses/most-in-demand-skills
Petrone, Paul. (31 December, 2018). The Skills Companies Need Most in 2019 – And How to Learn Them. LinkedIn. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/business/learning/blog/top-skills-and-courses/the-skills-companies-need-most-in-2019-and-how-to-learn-them?trk=lilblog_12-31-18_creativity-most-important-skill_tl&cid=70132000001AyziAAC
