From material to be consumed to material to be used
Most open educational resources are designed to be read, watched or worked through. A creativity-focused resource is different: it is written as a starting point for something the student makes. The learner might build a model, write a story, compose a short piece of music, design a poster, solve a problem in an unexpected way, or improve the resource itself.
This changes the author’s job. Rather than delivering a complete explanation, you supply raw material, a purpose, some constraints and a way to get feedback. Whether such activities improve creativity is hard to measure, and research on teaching creativity gives mixed results, so this article presents design ideas that are plausible and widely used, without promising any particular outcome.
Why openness suits creative work
Open licenses give permission to copy, change and combine material, which is exactly what remixing needs. Students working with openly licensed text, images, data or code do not need to ask for permission or worry about infringement, as long as they follow the license terms, usually crediting the source. This makes open resources a natural fit for teaching approaches that treat students as creators and not only recipients. Such approaches are often grouped under the label of open pedagogy, and one form is student-created content that is shared back openly for others to use.
Remember that a license only covers what is actually licensed. Make clear which parts of your resource can be remixed, and list the sources and licenses of every image or clip you supply as raw material.
Designing a good creative brief
A common mistake is to say “be creative” and stop there. Many students freeze when faced with a blank page, and a very open instruction can feel harder than a structured one. Useful briefs usually contain:
- A clear purpose. What is the project for, and who is it for? A poster for younger pupils differs from one for adult visitors.
- Some constraints. Limits on time, materials, length or format often spark ideas rather than block them. “Explain this idea in 60 seconds” or “build it from three components” are examples.
- Starting material. A set of sources, data or examples to draw on, with licenses stated.
- Freedom of choice. Several routes to the goal, such as a choice of formats or topics, so students can follow their interests.
- Examples, used carefully. A sample can reassure, but if students see only one model, many will copy it. Offer several different samples, or show the process instead of the product.
State what a successful result looks like without prescribing what it must contain.
Types of activity
There are many ways to invite making. Some that work well in open settings:
- Remix and adapt. Students take an existing open resource and change it for a new audience: translating it, simplifying it, localizing examples or converting it into a different format.
- Create a resource for others. Students write a short explanation, quiz or activity for peers, which pushes them to understand the topic well enough to teach it.
- Design challenges. A problem with constraints, such as designing a low-cost way to keep food cool, or a simple game that teaches a rule.
- Open-ended investigations. Students pose their own question within a topic and plan how to explore it.
- Creative responses. A story, comic, song or artwork that interprets an idea, accompanied by a short written reflection explaining the choices.
- Collaborative builds. Groups contribute pieces to a shared project, which fits well with collaborative projects in open settings.
Each of these can scale from a ten-minute classroom task to a multi-week project. Choose scale based on your learners’ time and access to tools.
Process as well as product
Creativity rarely arrives complete. Resources that ask students to sketch several ideas, choose one, test it, get feedback and revise help them see work as iterative. Consider building in:
- a planning step where students list ideas before choosing one
- a draft stage with peer comments, using simple prompts such as “one thing that works and one thing that could be clearer”
- a short note on what changed between versions and why
This also gives teachers more to look at than a final object, and it makes it harder to pass off someone else’s work as one’s own.
Innovation and risk
Innovation involves trying things that might not work. Students who are anxious about marks may avoid taking risks. Designing low-stakes opportunities, where trying and learning from an unsuccessful attempt is valued, can encourage experimentation. Explain that failed attempts are information, and encourage students to record what they learned from them. Treat any talk of building an innovation mindset with some caution; it is easy to claim and hard to demonstrate, so keep your wording modest.
Safety deserves attention in making activities. Avoid tasks that involve hazardous materials, tools or unsupervised online publishing, and add a note for teachers where supervision is needed. If students will share work publicly, advise them about privacy and about not including personal information, and consider the implications of a lasting digital footprint, especially for younger students.
Assessing creative work fairly
Assessment can undermine creativity if students feel marked down for taking risks, yet it is also expected. Some principles:
- Assess against clear criteria shared in advance, such as how well the work meets its purpose, how well it shows understanding of the topic, how well sources are credited and how thoughtfully the process is explained.
- Avoid marking down for personal taste.
- Include self- and peer assessment so students learn to judge their own work.
- Consider a portfolio that shows development, rather than one piece judged once.
This approach resembles authentic assessment, in which tasks mirror real-world work, and it is part of wider thinking about assessment redesign. Rubrics help, but they should describe qualities, not enforce a single “right” kind of creativity.
Practical points for authors
- Provide editable source files so students can really remix them.
- Offer low-tech routes, such as paper and household materials, for learners without devices.
- Include accessibility options so that students with different needs can take part in making, not only in viewing.
- Tell students how to attribute the material they reuse and how to choose a license for their own work, and note that licensing rules vary by country, so they should consult official guidance if unsure.
- Invite students to share their creations back, with their consent, to build a bank of examples. Never publish student work without clear permission.
A cautious closing thought
Creativity can be encouraged but not guaranteed. The most practical aim for an author is to remove obstacles and supply good raw material, a clear purpose and useful feedback, then see what students do with them. Gather their reactions, and let their ideas shape the next version of your resource.