Lessons to learn when teaching to be creative

I have been teaching for a while Technology in Fashion at Philadelphia University. You may think this is a very dry subject, full of machinery and computers. Fortunately, my class has become a lab where I have my students using their creativity. The very first semester, I was very much trying to show my students the advancements in terms of machinery, software applications, wearable technology and 3D printing. Tons of theory. The class went well, but I thought I was missing something.

I was always on the creative side. When I went to school for Textiles, I always wanted to come up with these projects where people could react in different ways. I made a woven cape of animal intestines, a shoe of ivy and flowers made with woven tapestry techniques, that I named Nike Primavera (Spring Nike), a window crocheted with wild Ives, and a fabrication for rivers Knitted with grass, among many more projects. Unfortunately, my creativity and curiosity stopped when I confronted the real world and I had to go to work and made a life of my diploma.

After my first semester teaching Technology in Fashion at Philadelphia University was over, I felt I had the opportunity to retake my creativity and  ideas and projects came to my head, like those old times when I was a student. The result has been wonderful. I have an unstoppable tool called technology to my service this time. I love to see how I am introducing my students to use technology not only to complement the actual business practices, but to use it as a tool where there are no limits. Technology is here for them to be used, not in the traditional ways of standardization, speed to market, etc. but to explore new fields and come with ways to do things that no one has sought before.