Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on pedagogical and curricular approaches, such as constructionism, project-based learning, and multimodal learning, that emphasize the use of learning technology to enable children's creativity. It concerns creativity as both a means to solve societal and environmental problems and a means of expressing imagination and voice, in contributing to the growth and health of individuals and of equitable and humane societies—as a vital component of social justice. The chapter presents research in which colleagues and author have engaged related to student creativity and learning with computational media, such as Scratch and LEGO Robotics, as well as their research related to online science learning environments. It also focuses on a discussion of the effects of globalization on PK-12 teaching and learning in the United States.