The world is a tapestry woven from the threads of creativity, and at its core lies the concept of remixing. Remixing is the art of taking existing materials, whether they be musical notes, images, ideas, or even emotions, and transforming them into something new. It’s a process that empowers us to be more creative, allowing us to make music without instruments, build software without coding, and craft complex ideas from simpler ones.
The human species has been copying each other since the beginning of time. From Ancient Times to Contemporary Times the human condition has improved from learning from what people did from the past. In particular with technology and Artificial Intelligence now becoming more prominent in education you can hear from all stakeholders the alarmist tone. Many people would argue that the current education system is now outdated. I would like to think that our educational system is strong and resilient enough to evolve. Just take a moment and ask yourself “our we in the most remarkable shit in education in the history of humankind?”
I think we are, which makes it even more important to address the changes in education through pedagogical lenses. We need to reframe our pedagogical practices in the era of technology and in particular Artificial Intelligence. We will know if we are on the right track with the results we see in our day to day encounter with students and their learning experiences. Teaching social emotional learning and leveraging technology is key. Benjamin Bloom has mentioned the importance of mastery learning skills.
We need to get student engagement in the classroom and I think technology and Artificial Intelligence might be one tool that can help address this issue. In particular I think that 3 pedagogical theories that can have immediate impact during this shift in education would be social/cultural, Behaviorism and constructivism. Why would I mention this. It comes from the video call Everything is a Remix. They make a quote that really rang true for me. Actually, I mentioned a similar sentiment when I was teaching a grade 3/4 class how to code. Yohji Yamamoto stated “Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself.” I think this is where constructivism really fits in well. Bring in many parts and creativity and have the students make something truly their own. That said it this statement applies to all of us.
One thing that came to mind when looking at this documentary was the natural tendency for humans in a holistically sense use the “engineering design process”.
In a nutshell, we as a species are always trying to modify past practice to improve efficiency and outcomes. As pointed out in the Everything is a Remix video, you can see it in how we create catchy tunes that we listen to, the games we play, the movies we watch, and the memes we share, remixing is everywhere. How we think is exactly how we have used coding principles as a foundation on how we Artificial Intelligence.
As a drummer I really appreciated how the documentary did a historical dive into music. I am always watching various drummer’s and see what their style is. One such example they mentioned was the technique, known as “breakbeats,” evolved into the core of rap music, with MCs adding rhythmic spoken word over the beats. To find a novel idea that is done by another musician is logical. David Grohl and Steve Smith are incredible musicians and to learn techniques from them is really a no brainer. It simply accelerates your learning curve. I makes you learn how to think outside the box.
Educational pedagogy and remixing helps opens the door for you to use the concepts presented to you to construct something that is a product from yourself. Isn’t that what constructivism is? I was talking to a teacher this past week about how it is important to keep students accountable when it comes to academic integrity. That said I also said that students will look for concepts from the digital world. So how do we achieve academic integrity and students using the digital tools at their disposal? I made a short video for teachers explaining how to track students work so you can see the evolution of their learning.
It’s important as educators to become comfortable with the new educational landscape. The concept of sampling, does not occur only in our classrooms it happens all the time from taking snippets of existing music to trying to make sense of our current world through a meme.
This process of copying, transforming, and combining is not simply a matter of imitation; it’s a vital part of the creative process. It allows us to learn, grow, and ultimately develop our own unique voices and styles.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced a new dimension to the remixing process. Artificial Intelligence systems, trained on vast datasets of images, text, and music, can now generate new creative works, blurring the lines between human and machine creativity. This issue certainly polarizes people. If I want a strong reaction regarding this issue all I need to do is talk to my daughter who is in performing arts. I look forward to the conversation with her ….NOT…. just kidding.
While AI’s ability to synthesize existing information is impressive, it raises ethical questions about the use of copyrighted material and the potential for AI to replace human artists. I think that the issue of diffusion as defined by IBM makes a point. They state “Diffusion models are generative models used primarily for image generation and other computer vision tasks. Diffusion-based neural networks are trained through deep learning to progressively “diffuse” samples with random noise, then reverse that diffusion process to generate high-quality images. So in short I don’t think it’s copyright. It’s taking multiple samples not just from source.
As mentioned another important point is that, AI’s creative potential should not be feared. Instead, it should be seen as a powerful tool that can augment human creativity, allowing us to explore new possibilities and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Ultimately, the future of creativity lies in the hands of humans. As educators we need to foster and promote creativity in our students. They need to work outside the box. Humans are the ones who decide how AI is used, and we are the ones who will shape the future of education and everything beautiful in this world. That said we need to be aware of the draw backs still and place some guiderails so people know how to use the technology in an ethical manner.
As we navigate this new era of technological advancement, we must remember that creativity is a collaborative process. It’s a journey of learning, sharing, and building upon the work of those who came before us.
The world is a remix, and we are all part of the creative symphony.