European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │ Issue 12 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.1117108 CREATIVITY AND EDUCATIONAL FREEWARE CHOSEN BY FUTURE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS Michael Vitoulisi Lecturer, Department of Early Childhood Care & Education, A.T.E.I. of Thessaloniki, P.O BOX 141, GR - 57400, Thessaloniki, Greece Abstract: This research aims to study the prospects of cultivating creative thinking of pre-school children from the perspective of the use of educational software by potential pedagogues of pre-school children. The survey involved 104 future educators who chose freeware spontaneously in order to utilize it in the pre-school children's learning process. They analyzed, evaluated and prioritized the software in their discretion through an assessment grid developed by the researcher. In this context, the prospects for the cultivation of children's creative thinking in the development of the use of technology by future pedagogues were studied. According to the results, the potentially positive perspective of cultivating creative thinking of children is examined in view of the intention of educators to exploit learning software. It seems that the spontaneous choice of freeware aims to cultivate children's creativity. The pursuit of creative thinking seems to be one of the main criterion for educators' software selection. They, also, estimate positively the software which is designed to practice creativity. Moreover, future educators seem to identify and recognize the added value that new technologies offer in cultivating creative thinking of pre-school children. Keywords: digital pedagogy, creativity, early childhood education, pre-school, learning software, freeware 1. Introduction Creativity, from early enough and through time, has been approved as one of the core values of society Faure, 97 , an essential competence ‛eghetto, Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 7 and its 145 Michael Vitoulis CREATIVITY AND EDUCATIONAL FREEWARE CHOSEN BY FUTURE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS contribution is considered to be decisive to the development of the knowledge society (Markkula, 2006; EC, 2009). Its cultivation and development is a challenge for education (Faure, 1972). It is increasingly recognized that creativity is a crucial issue for society, economy, technology and consequently education (Craft, 2010). The meaning of creativity is often associated with that of innovation (Fischer, 2005). Innovation is considered as the consequence of the creative process, something which arises from the application of new, creative ideas into concrete contexts and which is recognized as valuable by the society. Creativity is regarded as a complicated issue, is difficult to define clearly, and seldom appears as a direct observable ability (de Klerk 2008; Ferrari et al. 2009). According to the approach taken by Gardner, creativity is approached as a cognitive process in which various forms of intelligence are working in harmony (Gardner, 1999). It has been supported by Torrance that creativity can be defined and measured in a framework of three dimensions originality, fluency, and flexibility (Piffer, 2012). Solutions to problems that are merely reproductive and common are defined as convergent thinking. However, new, unusual and innovative solutions, using lateral thinking and productivity that are not included in the conventional thought, are characterized as divergent thinking (Gardner, 1999). Loveless , echoing ‛runer s ideas, argues that creative thinking involves the representation in meaning derived from a dialogue between children and their work. Moreover, the concept of creativity and the concept of reflection are interdependent. Reflection is seen as a manner for transferring knowledge across contexts, to examine a given problem and adapt to it, applying knowledge from one context to another, thereby forming the basis for the creative implementation of knowledge onto new problems (Baterson, 1972). The ability of creativity today is mainly about being able to use knowledge across contexts, applying knowledge fruitfully to contexts for which it wasn t meant (Seltzer & Bentley, 2000). In order to cultivate creative thinking, the ability to apply knowledge cross-contextually needs to be developed, meaning to be able to think outside the topics and boxes that knowledge normally is organized in. The development and evolution of creativity have been studied from the early stages of childhood education and even from the age of pre-school children (Smolucha & Smolucha, 1985; Urban, 1991; Daugherty, 1993; Chae, 2003). Some of the practices that enhance creativity are considered to be the activity of problem-solving, encouragement of improvisation patterns, reasoning skills, strategies used to solve a specific problem, the reflective approach to thinking ad generating ideas and their evaluation (Muller & Perlmutter, 1985). European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 12 │ 2017 146 Michael Vitoulis CREATIVITY AND EDUCATIONAL FREEWARE CHOSEN BY FUTURE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS It is supported that actions which help creative thinking aim to enact suitable strategic solutions. Also, as favorable to creative thinking is recognized the ability to combine ideas, link concepts, the incitement of curiosity, the receptive attitude towards new solutions and finally the capacity to look at what is being done, judge it and encounter suitable reactions. It is accepted that creativity is favored through exploration via emphasizing discovery, interaction engagement, experimentation, reflection, imagination, and collaboration (Price et al. 2003). By interacting with teaching materials, children consider alternative ways in which they can complete a task or project. However, research has shown that different pedagogical practices influence creativity development in various ways (Besancon & Lubart, 2008). A form of the potential for creative expressions could be closely related to instances which children can explore the digital technology in playful ways and where a progression in use moves from the child s exploration to mastery of the technology (Brooks & Brooks, 2014). This concerns the type of technology that the child is the master, technology is subordinate and in that way the child is being offered digital creativity potential and specific play values (Brooks & Brooks, 2014). Interaction with the game can be creative, particularly when it comes to the way the player perceives the play activity (Lieberman, 1965). Creative abilities can be enhanced through the exploitation of new technologies, as it enables children to feel in control of their learning, while the use of multitask settings allow children the option to withdraw from problem-solving temporarily to pursue other useful activities (Wheeler et al. 2002). Technology could stimulate the development of creativity, conform one s potential, and lead to innovation (Shneiderman, 2000). Research has shown that the use of technology can help children's creativity by speeding up the process's completion time and the variety of results in their work (Saxon et al. 2003). Research already supports what techniques are considered to be useful to trigger and enhance creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; Hewett, 2005). As a result, there have been significant expectations about the exploit of digital technology to support creativity in different practices (Loveless, 2007; Shneiderman, 2007). One of the attribute and advantages of using interactive technology in education is that it often draws the children s attention and stimulates their interest in learning. Either in the closed frame stating how the participant should act within the game, encouraging them to stick to it or in the open frame thus allowing a broader array of solutions, technological means could contribute to the learning process. Appropriate use of computers enables the development of creative thinking to be enhanced (Edmonds et al. 2005; Lubart, 2005; Johnson & Carruthers, 2006). Meanwhile, European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 12 │ 2017 147 Michael Vitoulis CREATIVITY AND EDUCATIONAL FREEWARE CHOSEN BY FUTURE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS further research efforts are being developed that focus on the development of digital tools for the cultivation of creative thinking (Tzanavari et al. 2008; Sielis et al. 2009). For viewing / downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1286 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 12 │ 2017 148