Fostering Creativity in Tablet-Based Interactive Classrooms.

Introduction With the advent of information and communication technology, educators have become increasingly interested in adapting interactive and mobile technologies for classroom curricula and learning activities (Enriquez, 2010; Ifenthaler & Schweinbenz, 2013; Koile & Singer, 2008; Loveless, 2002). Interactive technologies, including smartphones, tablets, interactive whiteboards, and classroom response systems, have generated active discussions that focus on students' learning performance and abilities (Gikas & Grant, 2013). Recently, tablet computers have caught educators' attention because their versatility and mobility may afford students active and collaborative experiences. A tablet's features and capabilities allow students to access course content and to interact with their teachers and classmates in new ways (Gikas & Grant, 2013). For example, students in a mathematics class can transmit their solutions through their individual tablets to an electronic board to review the answers with their classmates and teachers. Additionally, teachers can interact more with individual students during a limited class period, adapt activities quickly in response to pupils' responses, and use students' errors and misconceptions as a teaching moment for the entire class (Muijs & Reynolds, 2011). Recently, the education field has begun actively researching ways of leveraging technology-supported interactive environments to foster students' creative experiences during classroom activities (Koile & Singer, 2006; Koile & Singer, 2008). Students can brainstorm ideas together, develop various alternatives to solve problems, share ideas and work, and develop solutions using various technological tools, such as 3D printers, painting tools, cloud-based notebooks, composition tools, and interactive management solutions for tablets and electronic boards. In particular, the relationships between the distinctive features of interactive technologies (tablet computers) and the characteristics of creativity open up new approaches and strategies for cultivating creativity in education. Tablet-based interactive classroom technologies have the potential to generate new ways of fostering creative experiences through drawing, seeing, expressing, learning, and engaging with instructional situations. These innovative technologies help teachers offer new ways for students to practice drawing skills as a creative activity to increase their creative understanding (Ainsworth, Prain, & Tytler, 2011). Thus, in the present study, the researchers utilized an instructional model designed to foster creativity. The model allows students to develop their own drawings and interact with others in a high-tech, interactive classroom. This model seeks to help students more creatively comprehend and express what they have learned. The current study aims to examine the effects and benefits of a model entitled "Visual Thinking through Tablet-based Classroom Interaction" (VTTCI) in terms of students' creativity after one semester of use. We further seek to better understand the effects of the model on students' creativity by examining the creativity subscales of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-Figural (TTCT-Figural, Torrance, 1990; Torrance, 1998) and by evaluating the differences between the treatment and control groups. This article describes the process that we follow in our evaluation of the model and the outcomes. We begin by discussing the general benefits and shortcomings of drawing as a creative activity in a tablet-based classroom interaction environment. Then, we identify the pedagogical attributes of drawing activities in classrooms that are supported by a high-tech, interactive learning environment. Next, we introduce the instructional model utilized in the study. Finally, we reveal the findings. Literature review Value of learner-generated drawings Drawing activities are known to promote students' creative imagination, i. …