LEGO Foundation report

Short Version

Edith Ackermann, David Gauntlett, Thomas Wolbers, Cecilia Weckström

LEGO® Learning Institute 2009

Short Version

2. Systematic Creativity in the Digital Realm [Short version]

Digital technologies are changing the ways in which we

play, learn and create. This report explores what it is like to

‘grow up digital’, and looks at the similarities and differences

between physical and virtual activity. The idea of systematic

creativity shows that effective creative activity is often

facilitated by systems and platforms, whether in music,

architecture, or the LEGO system. In the digital realm, the

systematic and platform-based approach takes an even

stronger role. Blending the physical and digital LEGO®

idea enables systematic creativity through immersive play,

learning and creative experiences for children of all ages.

This summary is based on a detailed 86 page report,

Defining Systematic Creativity in the Digital Realm, written

by Edith Ackermann, David Gauntlett, Thomas Wolbers,

and Cecilia Weckström, and published by the Lego

Learning Institute.

3. Systematic Creativity in the Digital Realm [Short version]

Introduction

4. Contents

Systematic Creativity

Bridging the virtual and physical through play

Drivers of play in the digital realm

Embodied Cognition

The essence of digital creativity

A digital LEGO system in play

5 - 8

9

10-11

12-13

14-15

16-17

5.

Systematic CreativityThe LEGO® Learning Institute’s 2008 report, ‘Defining Systematic Creativity’,

established some conclusions which will be built upon here:

• Creativity is the ability to create ideas and things that are new, surprising, and

valuable.

• Systematic creativity is a particular form of creativity that combines logic and

reasoning with playfulness and imagination, and is therefore central to many

different types of activities and disciplines, whether ‘art’ or ‘science’.

Children and adults develop creativity through the attitudes of curiosity and playfulness.

These orientations enable us to be creative in one (or more) of these three key ways:

1. Combination - combining existing elements to produce something new, surprisingand valuable.

2. Exploration - developing something new in order to expand our understanding of anarea or creative domain.

3. Transformation - making something which transforms the way we see or understandthe world.

There are many myths about creativity, which tend to suggest that it is a unique and

magical property, typically held by an isolated artistic genius. In reality, everyone has the

potential to be creative, and creativity is found in all fields and professions, often

resulting from inspiring collaborations.

Rather than resting on unpredictable ‘Eureka!’ moments, creativity is a process of

thinking and combining, exploration and iteration. Creativity does not necessarily begin

with a ‘blank page’. Great creative achievements come from working with a particular

system or set of tools to make something that has never been made before. Indeed, for

children to develop as creative thinkers, they need constraints – a structure or

framework to guide their activity, but also enough freedom to explore and experiment.

1

Systematic Creativity in the Digital Realm [Short version]

Systematic Creativity

5.

6.

Children, young people and growing up digital

In recent years the debate around technology has intensified. Technology can be seen

as a force for young people’s liberation – a means for them to reach past the constrain-

ing influence of their elders, and to create new, autonomous forms of communication and

community. Technology is said to be helping to create a generation that is more open,

democratic, creative, and innovative than before.

Has childhood changed?

Every child needs to be held, heard, and respected for who they are. Children also need

room to explore, grounds to settle in, friends to share with and, most importantly, they

need to be given a second chance if they make a mistake.

Certain interests and abilities relate to age, or developmental stages, and are reasonably

predictable, although personal identity is shaped by many different factors, from

individual family background to general cultural trends.


7.

New ways to play, learn and createWe have identified six distinctive, related areas of difference to previous generations.

Each area constitutes a dimension that, together with others, informs how today’s

children play, learn, and create.

1. Sharism — Today’s children increasingly like to circulate half-baked ideas and

diverse links, usually at a fast pace, instead of keeping things to themselves. They

are more likely to mingle before they make, and share before they think, leading to

a growth in co-creation over individual construction.

2. Shifting identities — Boundaries are shifting between what is perceived as me

(private) and not-me (public), between where I/mine ends and where you/yours

begins, and between what gets incorporated (taken in) and projected out

(objectified, seen as ‘other’).

3. Border crossing – More than in previous generations, today’s children engage in

parallel adventures, and belong to multiple tribes. They move between virtual and

physical worlds, and may be more interested in crossing borders, both geographic

and cultural. Optimists argue that this engenders a deeply felt sense of belonging to

a global family or village.

4. Literacies beyond print — Writing is becoming more like a quick assembly, or collage,

of cut-and-paste fragments, whilst reading becomes a more active process of

highlighting, earmarking, annotating, linking, and tagging. Today’s children tend to

mix and match media rather than start from scratch: they borrow from those who

inspire them, and address their creations to those who matter. They make their own

mark by adding, reconfiguring, and repurposing.

5. A culture of gaming or ‘simuling’ — There is a growing expectation that the tools at

hand, and the worlds to dwell in, are responsive and forgiving. Risks can be taken, as

the ‘undo’ button means you are always given a second chance. ‘Simuling’ refers to

the creation of an alternative world, physical or virtual, that is ‘true to itself’ – but

not necessarily a ‘simulation’ which mimics an existing reality. This quality of digital

technologies encourages both a culture of iteration (try again, build on top, take

what you find a step further) and rapid prototyping.

6. A culture of bricoleurs – Today’s children are increasingly digital bricoleurs, eager to

modify content by hacking, mashing up and modding. When older, they develop

new ways of making things (crafting, fabricating), of making things ‘do things’

(controlling, programming), and of repurposing, mending, and trading things

(recycling).

These six dimensions form a system. They are mutually reinforcing in shaping how digital

natives play and learn, and how they come up with ideas, or create things that are new

and surprising to their friends and community. Clearly, not all youth exhibit all the traits

described here, yet the trends are worth paying attention to. The world as a whole is

increasingly wired, and we are charged with preparing our youth to face the challenges

of the future.

Systematic Creativity in the Digital Realm [Short version] 7.

8.

Continuous learningThe key to thriving in today’s knowledge economy is the capacity of to keep learning,

produce living knowledge, collaborate and be creative. Educators should adopt the

notion of the ‘edgeless school’, which sees the classroom as just one site of learning and

connects it with the others which exist in children’s everyday lives.

The ability of the digital realm to support learning experiences depends on whether the

learning experience can be structured by specific goals, providing opportunities to re-

flect and interpret alone and together, receive immediate feedback and have numerous

opportunities to apply learnings in new contexts. Importantly, it should be possible to

learn from others.

The changing nature of playA LEGO Group study of children who were relatively ‘advanced’ in the use of digital

technology, in 2008, identified five key findings regarding the changing nature of play:

1. The digital context has transformed children’s play. Fixed devices bring children’s

play into non‐traditional areas of the home, such as the office; whilst children

increasingly own what they can carry, and Gameboys, Nintendo DS’s, mobile phones

are all vehicles for more independent play and connecting with others.

2. The desire for tangibility is a barrier for digital products. Not only do parents struggle

with the notion of what constitutes ‘a good gift’ when it comes to products in the

digital realm, children also long to have a tangible outcome of play. It gives them an

enhanced sense of ownership and allows them to display creations they are

proud of.

3. Play moves seamlessly across physical and digital. More than any other generation,

children today see play spaces as fluid and connected between bricks and bits, or

physical and virtual environments. Children know what is real and what is not, but

they perceive the boundaries as more fluid and full of connecting links.

4. Digital play is driven by the desire to live out stories. Traditional play has often

involved creating stories around characters and environments, through which

children explore and learn about the world around them and understand their place

within it. Digital play is driven by the same impulse. Most children have a couple of

areas of interest about which they are really passionate, and around these themes

children will often form a web of content and expertise, a universe, which fuels their

stories.

5. The expanded play offered by networks is pulling children online. Online networks

enhance social play, and the networked digital playground is always on. Spending

time with peers is one way children define an identity independent from their

parents, and learn to collaborate. Being online allows children to expand the

collaborative audience for displaying, testing and affirming.


9.

Bridging the virtual and physical through play

The digital realm can augment play in different ways, and

the more compelling play scenarios are those where the

virtual and physical each play a part in enriching the

experience. We can identify four distinct kinds of play that

successfully incorporate the affordances of the digital

realm into rich expanded play experiences:

1. Play in an evolving virtual world – such as many online

games, social virtual environments, and computer games;

2. Play with ‘smart’ things – such as talking dolls,

intelligent bricks, relational bots, sensing devices;

3. Play in mixed realities – such as Wii, augmented

reality, location based devices, tangible table tops, the

web of things;

4. Play in multiple modes – combining any of the above

together, or with more traditional play, conversation, and

everyday life, moving back and and everyday life, moving

back and forth between digital and physical, between

solo play and playing with others.

Bridging


Drivers of play in the digital realmDigital play is driven by friendship, and by interests.

Friendship-driven activity is social and often connects

children with those they know already. Interest-driven

activity more often draws upon the global network of

enthusiasts for any topic. Drawing on research by Mizuko

Ito et al, and Nick Yee, we can identify three modes of

participation that describe different degrees of commit-

ment to media engagement:

• Social: a relaxed, friendship-driven mode, with no

particular purpose or goal apart from enjoying the

connection with others.

• Exploratory: a curious, interest-driven mode, where the

user searches, tinkers and remixes material based

on whatever grabs them.

• Intense: a more determined interest-driven mode,

involving a significant commitment of time, creativity

and emotional energy in relation to a specific tech-

nology, genre, or media property, often with a goal of

‘mastery’ of this domain.

These modes are not exclusive, can be combined, or

moved between, and do not necessarily come any one

particular order. (The three modes are called ‘hanging

out’, ‘messing around’, and ‘geeking out’ by Ito et al, whilst

Yee calls them ‘social’, ‘immersion’, and ‘achievement’,

respectively).

10.

3


Drivers

11.

PlatformsOnline platforms mirror the LEGO System itself, in that

they provide a framework which invites participation,

but then are open to any kind of idea, theme or content

that will fit into the framework. To bring this alive they

also foster a community, which is central to all the activity

that takes place, sharing, discussing and inspiring.

The emotional rewards of participationPlay, participation and creating in the digital realm are enjoyable because the economy

of engagement is an economy of feelings, in which positive emotions – pride, curiosity,

love and feeling smart – are the ultimate rewards for participation. It has been argued

that most players turn to games specifically to produce the emotional high associated

with accomplishing something concrete, feeling capable, and being recognised for their

successes. Similarly, in online networks, users want to feel challenged, to make their

mark on the world, and to make a positive difference. Whether in play, creativity or

learning, the ability to get in ‘Flow’ is an essential prerequisite for continued engagement.

The ingredients of Flow – immediate feedback, clear objectives, visible failure states, a

staged set of challenges and the lack of time pressure – are essential in creating con-

texts for maximum possible engagement.

Similarities and differences between physical and virtual creativityThe primary motivations for creativity remain similar regardless of context, but the

digital realm makes it easier to collaborate and share, it can remove the constraint of

materials, can be small and mobile, and with possibly a lower environmental impact. It

typically, of course, involves less face-to-face social interaction. Between the physical and

virtual realms, there is ‘hybrid’ or ‘mashup’ creativity, which brings the two worlds

together. This realm adds a fruitful tension between real-life hands-on creativity and the

less physical, often screen-based virtual worlds. The comparison of non-digital with

digital does not necessarily show that online activity is ‘better’ or more convenient.

Instead we should aspire to a powerful collaborative interface between the physical and

the digital, enabling people to come together using a combination of physical and digital

tools and environments, to create new ideas, art, play and knowledge.


12.

Embodied Cognition


13.

Embodied cognitionThe idea that we need to ‘think with the body’ – and therefore that creative activity

cannot simply be transposed to screen-based media – has gained support from a

convergence of new evidence from psychology and neuroscience. These theories

emphasise that cognitive processes such as learning and memory are strongly

influenced by the way we use our bodies to interact with the physical world.

Importantly, the shaping of the mind by bodily actions and sensations starts

from the very first moments of our lives and is hence crucial for the successful

development of a growing child. Research into embodied cognition has high-

lighted five qualities of the physical LEGO® System in Play that are essential for

Systematic Creativity. They are therefore likely to be necessary to enrich hybrid

or digitally augmented play, combining the virtual and physical realms in an

expanded play experience. This experience should support:

Spontaneity – When a system has an inherent logic, and a set of constraints that can be

grasped, it can support endless possibilities. It should be easy to pick up, and yet enable

development, experimentation and expansion.

Multimodality – When a system offers a range of different materials, or interfaces,

and engages multiple senses (such as sight, touch, and hearing), then our senses are able

to educate each other, so that we can imagine new ways to use an object or a material.

This enables more flexible and deeper learning about the environment, and richer explor-

atory possibilities.

Reduction of workload – We can increase our efficiency by arranging objects or

visual reminders, within our field of vision, in order to reduce the number of things

the brain has to deal with at once. This is true when building with physical LEGO

bricks, and will have parallels in the digital realm.

Motor actions – Haptics (grabbing) and gesturing (waving, signaling) are important in re-

ducing our mental workload when expressing ourselves, and equally appears to play a role

in learning. Gestures prove useful for more intuitive control of digital

realms and a way for younger children to understand and express their ideas or

learning more readily.

Using a tool – Tools are useful for making actions simpler, achieving complex goals, and

finding novel solutions. A good tool should encourage experimentation, and be self-explan-

atory. In a LEGO context an essential part of this is creating consistency between similar

tools in the digital realm, and making it easy to learn from others using the tool.

The more we can enable multimodality, support gestures, and create a close link to the

behaviour of physical LEGO bricks, the greater the opportunity for children to be creative

within a digital environment, and enable the creation of new, surprising and valuable tools.


14.

The essence of digital creativity

• Creating and sharing ideas and things within a community;

• Exploring, combining and transforming ideas and things, in collaboration with others;

• Integrating offline activity with online social networks;

• Using graceful tools, which encourage tinkering and experimentation;

• Experiencing freedom, to be original, without constraints on materials or time;

• Enjoying a gift economy, where elements, ideas, and support can be shared;

• Feeling pride and recognition for contributions; Experiencing an effective connection

between the physical and virtual worlds,

• with an active, ‘hands on’ orientation to the space and ideas;

• Expressing individuality and making a difference within the system.

The six faces of digital creativityDigital creativity is experimental and can be said to have six interconnected faces:

THE CONNECTOR: Making connections between diverse domains; from individual

ideas to inspired collaborations; and between the virtual and the physical worlds.

THE GIVER: Sharing the gifts of experience, ideas, and knowledge with a group or

community; contributing to collaborative projects which are much greater than the

contribution of any individual.

THE ARTIST: Taking up new opportunities for expressive communication; breaking

down the division between ‘online’ and ‘offline’ to open up connected worlds of

play, learning, and creativity.

Exploring, combining and transforming ideas and things, in collaboration with others;


The essence of

15.

4

THE SCIENTIST: Using problem-solving skills, and logical thinking, to make the most

of digital environments; and innovatively engineering new connections between

digital and real-life environments.

THE BRICOLEUR: Making, repurposing, recycling, mending and trading, inspired by

the global community of makers, hackers, and hobbyists, who put things together in

new ways.

THE ACTIVIST: Stimulating and enthusing around any issue of shared interest, raising

awareness in creative ways through online social networks.


A digital LEGO® System in PlayThe physical, tangible nature of LEGO bricks means that making and sharing is simple and

feels natural. To make the most of the affordances in the digital realm, it should be just as

easy to produce creations, pick them apart, share them with others and reuse them in

a multitude of creative contexts. A platform in the digital realm should be able to support

both the interconnection of parts and creations, as well as linkage over time, and across

communities.

A valuable system must therefore embrace the following design principles:

1. Multiple points of entry – Enable users to engage at their level of experience and

complexity, making it easy to get started.

2. Experimentation – Encourage play, problem-solving and tinkering, with no way to

make a ‘mistake’. Equally, users should be encouraged to take their time.

3. Engagement – Encourage emotional engagement by providing opportunities for the

positive emotions of pride, curiosity, love and feeling smart.

4. Evolvability – Enable the experience to evolve from simple to complex as users

become more sophisticated, and provide meaningful dimensions for mastery.

5. Linkage – Enable multiple creative experiences to connect over time and creations

to be modified, re-used and shared on users’ terms.

6. Spontaneity – Encourage discovery of new experiences and new ways of engaging

with existing experiences, as well as ways of combining these.

7. Community – Encourage connections, interaction, collaboration, giving gifts and

connecting personal experiences into a wider world of creativity.

8. Extensibility – Encourage the creation of new value, novel combinations and sharing

of content by providing open systems and platforms for user‐created value.

A note on digital ‘clutch power’The difficulty of creating an enduring method of connection between creative

components in the digital realm is not to be underestimated, as this involves far more

than a visual reference to the physical studs and tubes of the LEGO System. It is more

about mirroring the experience of the engineering brilliance behind ‘clutch power’ – the

ability of LEGO bricks to be joined or disassembled easily, yet stay connected firmly, even

in young hands – and the uncomplicated route to unlocking imagination and creativity

through this easy and natural combination of elements. Similarly, diverse digital content

should be held together by consistent, reliable connectors.

Systematic Creativity in the Digital Realm [Short version]16.

A 21st Century LEGO® System in PlayA holistic LEGO System enabling creative experiences

that embrace the affordances of both the physical and

virtual is a compelling vision for the 21st Century:

A holistic LEGO System bridging the virtual and physical

alongside the artistic and scientific modes of inquiry has

the capacity to form the foundation for developing critical

21st Century literacies: the ability to play, collaborate and

create, in ways that flexibly combine, explore or transform

our knowledge or emotions, bringing us to a new place in

the world. As the LEGO Group continues on its journey

to invent the future of play, the LEGO idea, once simply

conceived in the form of a brick, proves to be a powerful

metaphor and tool for the kind of creativity possible in the

21st Century.


LEGO, the LEGO logo, the Brick, Knob

configuration and the Minifigure are

trademarks of the LEGO Group.

2010© The LEGO Group.

LEGO Foundation report

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