M C Squared · A Computational Environment to Stimulate and Enhance Creative Designs for Mathematical Creativity

The M C Squared project will design and develop an intelligent digital environment to support stakeholders from creative industries involved in the production of media content for educational purposes to engage in collective forms of creative thinking and working to co-design appropriate digital media. The focus will be on social creativity in the design of digital media intended to enhance creativity in mathematical thinking (CMT). The project will develop the 'c-book' (c for creative) extending e-book technologies to include diverse dynamic widgets, interoperability, collective design and an authorable data analytics engine. It will employ a range of creative industries involved in CMT (publishers, developers, researchers, school educators) and unite them in four distinct Communities of Interest with the shared goal to creatively think and design c-book resources reflecting 21st century pedagogy for CMT in schools and the workplace. The partnership includes four creative SMEs, the coordinator blending technological, academic, systemic and publishing expertise and five academic partners holding a unique combination of expertise and experience integrating a) CMT theory and practice; b) design for CMT activities; c) development of dynamic constructionist widgets for authorable e-book tools; d) design and development of AI infrastructures for collective creative activities. The emergence of creativity in digital content design is perceived as 'a system' involving collectives with tools. It will advance our knowledge by integrating two constructs for professional design, the 'documentational' approach and the 'boundary crossing with the use of digital media' approach. The results intend to have economic, societal, scientific and technological impact. The project will help re-steer recent economy of scale initiatives in digital resources for mathematical thinking from traditional paradigms to 21st-century engagement and creativity in school and the workplace.