Note: having re-read my posting I apologize for the length - I actually removed a lot but felt it needed sufficient background to hopefully make a little sense.

Hi,
Having looked at the last few days of comments I write with some caution since I am clearly not "of your world", although I have similar interests from a very different perspective.

To explain: I do work part time for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (Univ of Toronto) - OISEUT- but am involved with only one small course of the Initial Teacher Education (Design Thinking and Problem Solving in the Classroom) plus I am the Principal of a series of Additional Qualification courses for teachers in the areas of Computers in the Classroom, Computer Science and Business Studies.

I am as they say "long in the tooth" and most of my thoughts are based on my own experiences in both classrooms and in a central coordinating role in the area of computer use. What I have created as my "belief" system would probably not pass any test by academe, but it has worked well for me and I get to share the ideas with new teachers, who seem to be able to relate to many of the ideas.

I have been labelled as an idea person and as a big picture person but is just the way I understand the world and particularly learning; the core of teaching as I see it. I have given many presentations on problem solving and especially a method I devised many years ago for ensuring that I exposed children to open-ended problem solving, since that is the one we use most in life. In the process I created an overview of all problem solving methods. It is a loose model but one I find useful since it shows how some things relate to each other. The models I develop are for very much for practical purposes and have a minimum of "theory" but are useful for ordinary teachers I think.

I have also spent many years developing and presenting about the use of PowerPoint - PPT (gulp - a sometimes much berated tool) but not merely on a technical level - more as a creative partnership with the presenter.

Having set the stage I will try to add something that may be of use but since I have been using the online world since the late 80s I am aware that I may be "barking up the wrong tree"! Just tell me please.

It's really good to see you on our list, Geoff. I have read your inspiring postings on the Mirandanet
list and I wonder if you would like to share some insights into how teachers & teacher researchers
might use ICT/multi media to help them develop their own and their students' learning in schools?

I need to set more detail of the stage at this point. I found the following quote in an obscure book by Marshall McLuhan and feel he touched on the essence of a significant problem with academe and technology (I will present it in two parts):

"The children of technological man respond with untaught
delight to the 
poetry of trains, ships, planes, and to the beauty of machine
products." 

As a teacher I found this to be so true. The words "untaught
delight" led me to think that something must drive this innate
interest and the conclusion I have come to is that there are things
within us that are driven by curiosity and creativity - there is a subtle
balance between the two which seems to be missed in the educational
systems where I have worked, with clear dominance being given to one side
only  - curiosity. I think that creativity has been given a most
inappropriate place in education and that has affected it's role in
teaching styles.

The next part revealed the disturbing part that I could easily relate to
based on my experience.

"In the school room officialdom suppresses all their natural
experience; 
children are divorced from their culture. They are not permitted to 
approach the traditional heritage of mankind through the door of 
technological awareness; this only possible door for them is slammed in 
their faces."

I was seconded for two years to OISEUT many years ago, and while I was there I had the opportunity to spend time looking at the whole area of technology and it is intriguing to see the difference in treatment one receives in an academic institute when you describe your interests lie in technology. BTW I am actually a Math and Geog teacher by background but have taught Art and gifted children.

Using technology is loaded with negative connotations in the academic world yet computer technology has two strengths that can be tapped for education as I see it, along with the observations of McLuhan. - it can develop efficiencies/productivity but it can be used creatively. As teachers I believe that we need to use the latter more than the former.

Using PPT as an example we can use it as a glorified chalkboard that focuses on efficiency (and the major "cute" factor) or we can enhance learning with a technology that "belongs to this generation" and has so much to offer. It like many pieces of software, can be used to address the creative side of a child but to do that we must reveal our own creativity and take the risks it involves. I think living what we preach is critical.

If we are to develop both curiosity (very well covered I believe, in most countries) AND creativity in it's widest sense and not merely the Arts(no insult intended here at all), then we have to include creativity as something worth developing and encouraging in all teachers. This is not an add-on, but a basic human need so why should it not be fostered and encouraged in teachers who are helping children reach their potential?

It is time creativity came clearly out of the Arts closet. I think in order to do that we have to understand and accept the full spectrum of problem solving approaches. I actually prefer "solution seeking activities" since it encompasses opportunity development which I see as "positive" problem solving. This involves the roles of logic, curiosity and creativity in those methods. I feel they can be delineated in order to clarify their roles but of course they are completely inter-related in the real world. This would then better ensure that we cover the underlying skills that children will use, but in a balance that such skills will be really needed in their life. I know I am touching on sensitive issues here - no malice intended!

Time to climb of the "personal soapbox" since it is better to find what interests people - or not! Hope this adds something useful to the discussion Sarah.

Geoff