Creative School

In 2020 a generation of Europeans born during the dawn of social networking graduated into an era of social distancing and isolation. For many of them, their last days of school took place not in the classroom but on their digital devices. While the circumstances that led to this definitely were not normal, the student experience of inhabiting and interacting in the digital space was. Diametrically opposed understandings of offline and online have completely dissolved for this generation, and ‘digital literacy’ should therefore no longer be distinguished from, or considered as supplementary to our 21st century understanding of literacy – a fundamental human right to the basic knowledge and skills needed for a rapidly changing world. If humanity is to face the challenges of this world, it is clear that there must be an informed and empowered citizenry that has a critical and adaptive knowledge of digital technologies. In the Creative School project, Ars Electronica is working with european partners to support the shaping of such citizens by developing an open access learning toolkit that integrates critical and creative thinking skills with digital cultural heritage.

The Creative School project evolves from previous projects, the Creative Museum and the Making Museum, that explored how new and democratising digital technologies could foster connections between our cultural organisations and their communities. The Creative School builds on the innovative methods and tools developed in these projects to design new open learning modules for children and school teachers that can respond to the challenges of the 21st century. Adopting strategies from open source cultures and the maker movement, Creative School seeks to further the development of an integrative educational ecosystem that activates teaching and learning resources within cultural organisations.

Partners:
Ars Electronica (AT), Dedale (FR), Cap Sciences (FR), Michael Culture Association (BE), STePS (Italy), Radiona Makerspace (HR), Heretic (UK), Chester Beatty Library (IE), Finnish Museums Association (FI).