Creativity

Warr (2007) brings these categories of creativity definitions together to form one more unified definition: ‘Creativity in design is the generation of ideas, which are a combination of two or more existing bundles of knowledge to produce a new knowledge structure. For this new generated idea to be considered creative it should be: novel – unusual or new to the mind in which it arose; and appropriate – conform to the characteristics of a desired/accepted solution. Such creative ideas may then be implemented and embodied in a creative product’ (Warr, 2007). p. 3

Creativity is the ability to come up with ideas or artifacts that are original, surprising, and valuable It has also been associated with a form of self-expression, which might be problematic in formal education as Runco, explains: By definition, self expression requires that the individual student him or herself decides what to express. That assumes that the individual himor herself first constructs an original idea. Otherwise it is not self-expression but the expression of someone else’s thinking. This is not as easy as it sounds. Educators tend to have groups of students in the classroom, and there is a curriculum–a plan, if you will. Original ideas and selfexpressions are often contrary to that plan. (Runco, 2008, p. 99.) p. 3

Fischer et al. (2005) believe that creative activity grows out of the relationship between individuals and their work, as well as from the interactions between individuals. In fact, Warr & O'Neill (2005) show how social creativity has the potential to support greater idea generation than individual creativity, i.e. real groups have the potential to generate more creative ideas than nominal groups by taking advantage of shared domains of knowledge. Much of our intelligence and creativity results from interaction and collaboration with other individuals as Csikszentmihalyi (1996) points out. Fischer et al. (2005) take it a little further when they state that individual creativity and social creativity do not represent a binary choice; they can and need to be integrated to for instance develop innovative solutions to complex design problems, such as how the different knowledge, expertise, and perspectives that exist among individuals provide opportunities to collaborate toward more creative and sustainable solutions. p. 3 Kop & Carroll, 2011Kop, R., & Carroll, F. (2011). Cloud computing and creativity: learning on a massive open online course. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-learning. Special Issue on Creativity and OER.