Stephen Downes

John Spencer returns from a big problem-based learning conference full of flashy and high-level demonstrations and feels he isn't really up to the standard being set. But then he argues that what's at stake isn't the project or the publicity but rather the cultivation of the creative process, which is a lot more basic and simple than these conferences would suggest. "Underneath those extraordinary creations are practices that look remarkably ordinary: show up, do the work (even when it gets boring), and keep going... This idea is at the heart of routine creativity. It embraces both meanings of the term routine. Creativity can look routine. It's small and mundane and unimpressive from the outside. But routine also means habit. It's the idea that we can integrate creative routines into our practice as learners and makers." I agree with that.