Sketchpad: A Learning Tool Supporting Creativity in Collaborative Learning Activities

Abstract

There is consensus among curriculum developers of Business Schools around the world that along with technical knowledge students should be trained to also acquire soft skills. Communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving are mentioned by some authors as the most important for professionals of the 21st century to be successful. In order to develop these skills learners have to perform learning activities where they need to apply them. In the literature we found many works about learning activities designed for training creativity which have been used in Business Schools. They do not make use of technology. On the other hand, there are many works about learning activities which make use of technology to train collaboration and problem solving skills. In this work we present a learning activity which makes use of a technologic tool for supporting it, which promotes collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. A first experiment shows that the perception students get from the activity and the ability of the tool for supporting these factors is positive.