Working backwards from your questions/thoughts, I believe creativity exists within all of us so I don’t think it needs to be taught per say, as much is it might need to be encouraged or nurtured. I often dismiss the title of a “creative individual” as I think this individual, for whatever reason, was encouraged (or simply failed to listen when told otherwise) to explore their free thinking thoughts from a young age. Everyone has new ideas, but some have more than others and even fewer feel confident enough to express them.

It’s interesting to me that what seems to be valued most in curriculum is a student’s ability to regurgitate information. I don’t ‘blame’ the students who do this, since they’re simply being smart and following the system’s requirements but I do wonder what the educators assume the students are gaining by doing this? Are they truly learning how to become leaders who think on their feet when they are being awarded to memorize and repeat? There is definitely a middle road between those who are BS-ing (because they likely don’t know the content) and those who are repeating.

We are coincidentally going to be in Waterloo tomorrow for the Link Business Conference where our company, My City Lives (www.mycitylives.com), will be the basis of their case component. If you’d like to chat further, drop me a note and we’ll pop by when we’re done speaking – adil@mycitylives.com

Cheers

p.s. thanks for the Wilfrid reminder!

But it raises an interesting question…from the standpoint of a university education and course design, should creativity trump correctness? Or vice versa? For example, as a university professor I get some very “creative” answers to examination questions, but unfortunately they are wrong in that they fail to answer the question as posed and completely disregard the course material upon which the examination question was based. Some would simply dismiss such answers as bullshiting, but often these “creative” responses are a heck of a lot more thought provoking and fun to read than a standard, hackneyed response that simply regurgitates the text and lecture materials (and often generates an A level grade).

But perhaps an even more compelling question is…can creativity actually be taught? Encouraged yes, but taught??? Hmmm…

What are your thoughts, Adil?

Adil

Streetview has certainly proven since the time Adam has written this to have some value for me as well. It’s handy to use to get orientated around places that you’re unfamiliar with although it’s limitation in only taking you to the door is where My City Lives becomes a huge asset because we ‘take you inside’.

The link you provided did not work unfortunately but Streetview has had many issues related to and pertaining to the law. There was even this article I just saw about a woman who was captured in 43 streetview images (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20002799-71.html). I don’t think they broke the law here but it’s a good reminder that it’s far from perfect but I suppose that’s to be expected from something as ambitious as it.

Thanks for your comment.

There was a really interesting article just yesterday about a proposed solution to the congestion/safety issues around China Town: http://www.thestar.com/yourcitymycity/article/797428–would-a-bridge-at-dundas-and-spadina-save-lives

Would this be along the lines of what you mean by an integrated infrastructure database?