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Digital Tools in the Educational Environment Empower Student Collaboration. A Study Case in Higher Education

Abstract

Today educational institutions participate actively in empowering students to get involved in projects, to participate but also to collaborate in this major change in order to overcome internal and external vulnerabilities in the learning process. Digital education has great potential for innovations and investments, offering huge opportunities for universities to allow digital transformation and allow students to learn in their rhythm. Academic researchers are trying to secure the vulnerabilities of the online environment in higher education through the development of multiple digital tools.

The work is based on a qualitative methodological approach, through content analysis. Content analysis was used as the main technique of data collection and analysis, from the specialised literature, from international databases, regarding the importance using digital tools in the higher education environment. Based on content analysis, this research presents the most important tools that support digital collaboration among students by offering a study case for overcoming learning barriers and focusing on students’ creativity in how they approach problem-solving. The study case is based on “Six Thinking Hats” and it is used to support creative thinking in achieving a good collaboration between teams in an educational project. The tools that support digital collaboration among students facilitate communication, increasing the opportunities for academia to interact with as many users as possible.

Keywords

digital tools, higher education, creative thinking, educational projects

JEL Classification

A23, I15, I23, I25

1. Introduction

Presently a consistent networking of all economic sectors and an adaption of actors to new circumstances have seen mounting pressure and acceleration on digital transformation, a new connected world, where important attention is given to the usage of data mobility and cloud solutions (Kraus et al., 2021; Vial, 2021; Zaoui and Souissi, 2020). Institutions are trying to adapt their infrastructure through digital solutions so they can provide better services to clients, such as storing personalised information online, order prioritisation, online customer service, or transactions through mobile access (Plekhanov et al., 2022; Zaoui, and Souissi, 2020).

Higher education adopted the digital approach because there is an urgent need to bridge the gaps in digital literacy of individuals, and in using digital technologies for communication between individuals and institutions (Josué et al., 2023). Digital higher education development in developing countries in our days represents a lever that can create economic outcomes and determine new prospects for future generations. The new wave of digitalisation in the current educational environment is on the rise in Europe and beyond. European countries with the highest rate of digital skills are moving away from the approach of digital education as a separate optional or compulsory subject in schools, instead integrating it transdisciplinary in the vast majority of fields of study (Alordiah et al., 2023). Widespread digitised education disseminated through various platforms gives rise to new opportunities for learning and gaining new digital skills and competencies necessary for employment, education and training, self-development, and participation in society. Digital technology has achieved unprecedented growth in many industry fields (Okoye et al., 2024). Digital drivers like machine-to-machine communication, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies have conducted new collaboration opportunities for the parties involved.

2. Literature Review

Digital transformation has also created niches for the higher education system by developing the best educational platforms (Diaconescu and Tamasila, 2022). We encourage to use free and paid digital content, digital courseware, Small Private Online Courses (SPOC), and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). Digital changes reshape the material, human, and social dimensions and offer solutions when society is facing the biggest challenges (ex. pandemic COVID-19).

During the pandemic COVID-19 higher education has reoriented its strategy and forced universities towards digitised education by imposing necessary measures to analyse digital techniques used, those that support education and training systems (Egielewa et al., 2022).

Consequently, all these changes had a remarkable influence on the educational environment, respectively it was a beneficial road to adapt the teaching/learning methods focusing on creative techniques and innovative technologies (Meirbekov et al., 2022). The advantage brought by digitised education is that it disseminates timely information through various platforms and encourages students to experiment with new learning means, developing new digital skills and competencies that are necessary for self-development but also good employment in market work (Baigi et al., 2022). According to the current educational situation, students must face multiple changing demands on their competencies, and skills, especially as problem solvers in projects (Bakracheva, 2020). These demands come from the educational systems that continue practices from the 20th century, hindering the progress of the student’s varied learning styles or the devotion of learners as well as proper integration into the labour market. In this sense, project-based learning is a solution to preparing students for the 21st century because projects focus on learning objectives, including skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration and self-management (Makri et al., 2022).

Reorienting universities towards digitised education impose the necessary measures to analyse digital techniques used, respectively those that support the education and training systems. Improvement initiatives in education and technological changes have certainly influenced the new directions in society, creating structures that have the ability to empower digitalisation in industries (Diaconescu et al., 2019). The advantage brought by digitised education is that it disseminates timely information through various platforms and encourages students to experiment with new learning means, developing them new digital skills and competencies that are necessary for self-development but also good employment in market work. As innovation changes the nature of work globally, developing countries are witnessing the emergence of new job roles that require digital skills and expertise. Developing countries must prioritise investments in education systems that emphasise STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, digital literacy programmes, vocational training and lifelong learning opportunities to upskill the general population. By doing so, they can bridge the digital skills gap and empower their workforce to use digital tools and technologies effectively.

Through this paper, the author highlights the importance of collaboration in education and how its evolution will revolutionise the way students explore practice workshops with the help of online tools. Also, there are collaboration challenges in higher education and are explain some digital tools for developing students’ skills based on projects. The present paper highlights the necessity of adopting a novel movement in higher education where there is an urgent need to encourage students to explore innovation to their received projects. The new generation of students is willing to absorb and integrate more creative tools into the current learning process.

Exploring creative thinking at an early stage can provide graduates with relevant occupational skills in today’s work communities. The next step of the research analyses a comprehensive set of creative thinking techniques potential to stimulate students’ creativity in conducting educational projects. These types of creative thinking techniques allow students to develop tactics for business thinking and solve imminent issues.

3. Methodology

The methodological approach of the research was qualitative and the main technique to collect and analyse data was content analysis from the literature review of review articles on “digital educational tools in higher education”. For this paper, bibliometric research was performed using b-on, a resource that allows access to thousands of scientific texts in places such as ScienceDirect Elsevier. For the beginning of the segmentation, the terminology “digital educational tools” was used as the initial filter, obtaining 62,489 results publications.

Subsequently, new segmentations were used, limiting the number of articles: “Review articles 5,722 results” and then “digital educational tools in higher education” obtained 3,643 results”. With the introduction of the subject areas “Engineering” (174 results) we obtain a smaller number of publications, which will set a total of 100 results when the time horizon of research for the last 3 years is reduced (2022-2024), Based on access type “Open access & Open archive” was obtained 25 articles. (Table 1)

Year	Keywords from 25 review articles on “digital educational tools in higher education”
2022	Human factors; Ergonomics; Patient safety; Healthcare education; SEIPS 101; Product-service systems; Digital twin; Systematic review; Systematic mapping; Building performance simulation; Performance-driven design; Operational optimisation; Digital twin; Building-to-grid; 5G technology; COVID-19 pandemic; eHealth and mHealth platforms; Internet of medical things (IoMT); Telemedicine and online consultation; Unmanned autonomous systems (UAS); Design for safety; Prevention through design; Scientometric review; Construction; Review; Circular economy; Sustainable development; Higher education institutions; University; Campus; Digital twin; Simulation; Process industry; Literature review; Barrier; Enabler.
2023	ChatGPT; Language model; GPT-3.5; Generative AI; Conversational AI; Context understanding; Natural language processing; Extended reality; Augmented reality; Virtual reality; Manufacturing; Education; Technology readiness level; ICT; Undernourishment; Africa, Mediation; Control education; Outreach; Industry; Curriculum; Air transportation; Review; Human-technology interaction; Digital systems; Web3; Decentralization; Blockchain; Digital transformation; DApps; Zero-Trust architecture; Digital twin; Machine learning; Artificial intelligence; Cyber-physical system; Internet of things; Data mining; Building performance simulation; University campuses; Decarbonisation; Carbon emission; Energy performance; Smartness; Augmented reality; Drill; Evacuation; Fire; Learning; Serious game; Training; Virtual reality; VR; Building schools; Classroom; Environmental conditions; Learning performance; Students; Food waste; Waste prevention interventions; Consumer behaviour; SDG12.3; Sustainable consumption; Urban freight; Urban freight logistics; City logistics; Urban freight planning; Freight logistics education; Land use planning education.
2024	Aging; Ageing; Manufacturing and service industries; Learning; Systematic literature review; Sociotechnical system; Industry 5.0; Computational intelligence; Next-generation wireless networks; Softwarized network architectures; Intelligent Network-in-Box; Multi-tenant service orchestration; Network management and orchestration; Open RAN; Factories-of-the-Future; Education; Human–robots collaboration; Industrial communications; Industrial digital twins and Metaverse; Long-term low carbon strategy; Nationally determined contribution; Energy review of Morocco; Power sector; Transportation sector; Building sector; Agricultural sector; Industrial sector; Decarbonisation scenarios; Systematic review; Industry 4.0; AEC sector; Technology; Digitalisation; Performance gap; Energy efficiency; Building; Magnitude; Simulation; Lifecycle; Circular economy; Bioeconomy; Sustainable transition; STEEP methodology; Carbon-intensive industry; Transformation

Table 1. Keywords based on 25 review articles on
“Digital educational tools in higher education” from ScienceDirect

Based on the content analysis, the hypothesis is that the interest in integrating digital tools in education has applicability in various educational sectors. Also, from the content analysis is observed that technical domains have practical implications and are more appropriate to attract the interest of students to integrate digital tools in education. Starting from this analysis the author started to identify how digital educational tools are integrated into higher education for engineering students.

Another hypothesis extrapolated from the content analysis is a positive relationship between digital education and students’ eagerness to learn new technologies like ChatGPT; Language model; GPT-3.5; Generative AI; and Conversational AI. Also, it highlights, the integration of electronic collaboration tools, including digital twin, that expanded the possibilities for student-to-student and student-to-instructor interactions, bridging the gap between traditional classroom instruction and the digital realm.

Starting from the hypotheses presented above the author focuses on demonstrating that collaboration through digital educational tools changes the trajectory of traditional education in higher education.

3.1. Digital educational tools in Higher Education

There was a time when technology was seen as an additional tool to traditional learning methods, but now technology is a vital component in education. While the term “digital education” has existed for several decades, in recent years there have been changes in technology-based education systems that have brought a wave of change in higher education practices. Innovative teaching approaches, such as virtual classrooms, online education and blended learning programmes, have opened the door to unlimited opportunities for both students and educators.

The digital transformation of education is accelerated by the rapid advancement of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing and blockchain technologies. Like the major technological advances in the past, digital transformation affects how people live, interact, study and work. Grimoni, Belico dos Reis, and Tori (1998) describe the success of using multimedia for their existing electrical engineering on-campus students.

Kondo and Ishijima (1999) presents a distance learning system for engineering education via the Internet, using multimedia technologies and mathematical tools for a course in control engineering (Ariadurai and Manohanthan, 2008). Strenger et al. (2017) explain how digital, virtual and e-learning elements will allow students to strengthen their intercultural competences while working on real engineering and technical problems, in online courses where they can conduct experiments, analySe and interpret their results in international teams (Renzulli, 2015).

Lieberman and Cheung (2007) discuss the development of remote-controlled laboratory exercises for their distance laser and fibre-optics engineering technology programmer. To address problems inherent in hands-on laboratories and teaching such laboratories at a distance, many institutions now use computer simulations as an inexpensive way to expose more students to the power of real laboratories without them having to incur the burden of costs associated with time and travel. Simulation software enables delivery of laboratory facilities to the front door of students’ homes (Gorrell, 1992). Constant software upgrades have also resulted in aggregate improvements in distance education for engineering students. Internet-based simulations can be used flexibly by students anytime, anywhere. According to Alhalabi et al. (2004), however, although simulations can serve important purposes, in some cases, such simulations are an inadequate substitute for real, hands-on laboratory experiences. Although simulation serves the purpose of initial experimentation, these authors opined that it cannot provide the same range of possibilities that manipulating physical material does. In some fields, such as electrical and mechanical engineering, actual experiences with real physical elements are necessary. Coșkun et al. (2019) in their recent article describe an important part of the tasks in the preparation for Industry 4.0 is the adaption of the higher education to the requirements of this vision, in particular the engineering education. In the research paper they introduce a road map consisting of three pillars describing the changes/enhancements to be conducted in the areas of curriculum development, lab concept, and student club activities.

Diversity of educational projects restores the capacity of educational institutions to be actively and practically involved in initiatives for integration and improvement of individual learning behaviour. Improvement initiatives in education and technological changes have certainly influenced the new directions in society, creating structures that can empower digitalisation in industries (Diaconescu et al., 2019; Schweer et al., 2017). In January 2018, an Action Plan for Digital Education was drafted and disseminated at the level of the European Union, which mainly considers education and training to be the best investments in the future of Europe, with an important role in creating a European identity, starting from common cultures and values.

Attempts to imagine the future of education often highlight new technologies – omnipresent computing devices, flexible classroom models and innovative visual screens. The existential factor that shapes the future of higher education is something that people cannot touch or see: “great data and analysis.” Undoubtedly, important analyses and data have an important role to play in the future of higher education, especially collaboration through technology. Educators, students and administrators need a good collaboration to fortify the foundation and adopting change. For educators, the availability of a real-time understanding of student performance, including students at risk, can be a significant help in planning teaching activities. For students, receiving information about their performance in relation to their colleagues or about their progress in relation to their personal goals may be motivating and encouraging (Siemens and Long, 2011).

Collaboration through technology changes the trajectory of traditional education as we know it. We have already seen how the Internet has radically changed the classical approach to learning in classrooms, introducing digital resources and providing a wealth of up-to-date knowledge that supports teachers and students. Through connectivity, it is opening up a new world of global learning: classrooms include students from all over the world, and collaboration between experts exposes valuable knowledge to provide new learning experiences. The captivating world of video creates opportunities for students not only to explore new areas with ease but also to collaborate with others in engaging and fascinating ways. Passing the years, as the innovations and investments in the digital space have grown considerably, the opportunities for various universities to collaborate with each other have also increased. Some universities have enjoyed partnerships with the IT industry and allowed shared knowledge and good practice for online environment. Currently, the incentive demand for using the data and the digitisation is at the helm of these new-age collaborations, in such a way that the intra-industry and universities partnerships complement each other forming a strong alliance. Given the evolution of the epidemiological situation at the international level and the adoption of legal restrictions to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus, it has forced higher education institutions to switch to online platforms allowing safe educational activities. Thus, the teaching activities that require the physical presence of students in educational units and institutions have suspended, being configured in online format. Hundreds of digital education tools have been created with the purpose of giving autonomy to the student, improving the administration of academic processes, encouraging collaboration, and facilitating communication between teachers and learners. To embrace digital transformation must be considered several smart applications easy to implement.

Smart applications allow task coordination between students and improves projects efficiency, responsiveness, and effectiveness. Coordinate homework tasks for students and synchronise information can be achieved by tools like Edmodo, Socrative, Projeqt, Thinglink, TED-Ed, cK-12, ClassDojo, eduClipper, Storybird, Animoto or Kahoot and offer an optimal modality for individuals to communicate with each other in every moment of the day using text, audio or even video. The advantages provided by smart applications have an important asset in improving students’ interaction, especially among for those geographically dispersed. In this sense different tools provide screen sharing and video chat for different discussions about the problems encountered in the project. (Table 2)

Digital educational tools Facilitating communication between teachers and learners
Engineering Unit Converter App	https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobile.unitconverter&hl=en	Allows students to easily do conversions and engineering calculations
Finger CAD	http://www.ngcybit.it/iTunesApp/fingercad/	This application gives students the opportunity to design anything they do using computerized CAD operations.
Simple Physics	https://jundroo.com/app/simplephysics/	Students complete various construction challenges using physics. For example, students build structures that should withstand different forces. Students earn points as they learn to use physics concepts to build sustainable structures.
Instructables	https://www.instructables.com/	A site that has teaching tools for engineering and includes projects and lesson plans for teaching engineering with fun and practical activities.
Wolfram Alpha	https://www.wolframalpha.com/	An online database of engineering materials where students and teachers can simply ask engineering questions, and the application will search the database for relevant materials that should answer the question.
Edmodo	https://new.edmodo.com/	It is a personalized educational tool and aligned with the opportunities brought by technology and the digital environment. Teachers and students are connected in a social network. Teachers can create online collaboration groups, manage and provide educational materials, measure student performance, and communicate with parents, among other functions.
Socrative	https://www.socrative.com/higher-ed/	It is a system that allows teachers to create educational exercises or games that students can solve using mobile devices, whether they are smartphones, laptops or tablets.
Thinglink	https://www.thinglink.com/	Allows educators to create interactive images with music, sounds, text and photos. It offers teachers the opportunity to create learning methodologies that arouse students’ curiosity through interactive content that can expand their knowledge.
TED-Ed	https://ed.ted.com/	It is an educational platform that allows the creation of educational lessons in collaboration with teachers, students, generally people who want to expand knowledge and good ideas. This website allows the democratization of access to information, both for teachers and students, both parties having an active participation in the learning process of the others.
cK-12	https://www.ck12.org/student/	This platform has an open-source interface that allows the creation and distribution of educational material via the internet, which can be modified and contains videos, audio and interactive exercises.
ClassDojo	https://student.classdojo.com/#/login	It is a tool for improving students’ behaviour: teachers give their students instant feedback, so that the friendly mood in the classroom is “rewarded” with points, and students have a more receptive attitude to the learning process.
eduClipper	https://explore.participate.com/educlipper	This platform allows teachers and students to share and explore references and educational materials. It also offers teachers the opportunity to organise a virtual class with their students and create a portfolio in which all the work done is stored.
Animoto	https://animoto.com/projects	Animoto is a digital tool that allows to create high quality videos in a short time and from any mobile device, inspiring students and helping to improve academic lessons. The Animoto interface is friendly and practical, allowing teachers to create audiovisual content that adapts to educational needs.
GroupMap	https://www.groupmap.com/features	GroupMap gives a simple, yet powerful tool to Design, Discover and Deliver meetings, workshops and training sessions that help students think better together.

Table 2. Digital educational tools

Collaboration challenges in the higher education must be overcome through linked digital tools for develop students’ skills based on projects. Projects stimulate better collaboration for higher education and explore the many applications of technology in today’s learning environment. For example, in educational projects, a major important element that requires creativity exposure is the design project. Most of the time, students receive this task in the final years, after having thoroughly laid the theoretical foundations. However, these projects should be from day one and spread throughout the programme to develop skills and encourage active learning. In the current situation, the educational system requires a creative approach regarding digital education that response to global innovative initiatives in higher education. Thereby taking into account the opinions of other researchers the intensity of the technological boom in education starts from the premise that today’s students are the first generation of digital natives, who have grown up using technology since birth. They are also early adopters of the latest technological advances and demand access to the latest technology in everything they do. We are also seeing a growing demand for experienced technology professionals in the modern workplace. Adopting an active status through the use of the Internet and social networks or the use of smartphones and other mobile devices, modern students expect a more collaborative and interactive learning environment. Starting from this premise, taking into account the requirements of the new generations of students, the educational institutions did their best to introduce new friendly and easily accessible interfaces for online learning.

4. Results and Discussions

The diversity of educational projects has a major impact on today’s society because the transfer of knowledge is no longer enough, it must supplement with projects that focus on developing students’ skills and changing behaviours, values and lifestyles. The primary objective of the paper is to motivate academics to invest in applied workshops for students according to the economic realities. These workshops emphasise the skills and abilities of the students, offering the chance of being selected for a good job position in the most prestigious companies. Creative thinking develops tactics for responsibility distribution, finding accurate resources, encouraging collaboration between people, and helping the future workforce comply with rules and regulations.

It is noted that academia and industry work together to develop programmes that end the separation between university and market work, in a way that provides equal opportunities for all students, regardless of context and career aspirations. For example, educational programmes for engineering sciences should enhance and emphasise the creative and innovative nature of engineers’ work, although knowledge of mathematics and science is important and necessary, they must not have a monopoly on the necessary skill set. Engineering students enlist and enthusiastically seek out authentic and relevant engineering experiences. Training a professional engineer is a process; one that involves education, training and experience. Creative training in the case of engineering teams demonstrates how creative interventions through specific methods can produce the best results for the assigned projects. Liu and Schonwetter (2004) believe that creative engineers must have the ability to explore and examine available data or information, possibly to find new solutions to solve specific engineering problems or to produce a unique product. There are a comprehensive set of creative thinking techniques that allow students to develop skills in imminent issues and tactics as problem solvers for educational projects.
There are presented as follows:

- - Mind mapping (known as brainstorming or spider diagrams) helps idea generation. The necessary clue behind the use in mind mapping is to take into account every idea that arises. Mind mapping provides a path of the mind that comprises a network of concepts, connected and chained together. This path transposes some visual, nonlinear representations of their ideas and relationships (Biktimirov and Nilson 2006). The advantage of this method besides “free-form” and unconstrained structure is that any opinion can be harmoniously arranged to any other. Spontaneous, free, intuitive thinking offers creative associations between ideas (Davies, 2011).
  - The Checklist represents a standardised group of objects used to remind the main thinker of the multitude of possible variants for approaching a problem and obtaining a solution. The checklist can refer to the five senses, human needs, physical attributes. This method can also have custom checklists. The personalised approach can be used individually to refresh ideas even when are involve more factors in the game. Checklists are useful in keeping the creator of ideas active or solving problems alert to many aspects of the problem.
  - Six Thinking Hats appeared due to the creation of Edward de Bono in 1985 and has become an easy-to-use tool through which the business environment is stimulated to approach an innovative vision. This creative tool offers different features in related stages when moments of analysis and debates around issues are needed, indicating an optimal decision. This method has, through the creative approach, a distinct set of coloured areas, a kind of creative stage of analysis of a problem, through which the initiator finally reaches an innovative decision. More precisely, this creative tool allows the change of the individual’s thinking, triggering six directions of creative analysis. These directions lead to six coloured areas called White Hat – Past Facts, Red Hat – Emotions provided, Black Hat – Reasoning, Yellow Hat – Logical Arguments, Green Hat – Adding New Ideas, Blue Hat – Surveillance (de Bono, 2006).
  - Lateral thinking is a tool elaborated by Edward de Bono (1970) that describes a type of thinking that is unconventional (Butler, 2010). Lateral thinking is a skill that can be accessed by everyone and can be developed through training. De Bono encourages users to look at their situation differently and to re-analyse their problem from a much more creative perspective.
    Although the concept of lateral thinking has not emerged recently, the method offers a special feature by trying to separate the individual characteristics of decision makers and identifying lateral thinkers. The knowledge gained through this approach develops a better ability to understand decision makers who use heuristic rules. Lateral thinking generally makes mental connections in three ways, namely similarity, closeness or opposition. Lateral thinking seeks to find a different answer. It is not particularly desired to stagger correct steps in lateral thinking, because the correct answer is not sought. Lateral thinking uses the premise of stepping stones, looking for available stones to switch thinking elsewhere. Lateral thinking involves two categories: techniques that involve metaphor (looking for similarities and closeness); and techniques involving reversal (search for oppositions).
  - Random Word Stimulation represents a dynamic procedure through which the practical method consists in accessing the mind of the individual’s subconscious, through which other information is used, to generate new original ideas. In practice, the applied method allows the brain to make quick connections, giving it a way to adapt to this style of thinking in free form. This adaptation strengthens the connection with the subconscious mind and endows the practitioner with creativity and brings improvements to critical thinking.

Whatever the applicability of creative methods, group, or individual, these intend to improve the knowledge transfer, in so being performed innovation (Badea et al., 2013).Creative thinking techniques allow individuals to apply strategies for identifying problems, making decisions, and finding solutions both in and out of learning class.

Currently, creativity is a vital tool for innovation in educational projects. Most innovations in technology came to life due to creativity. Technology influences creative thinking and facilitates the applicability of analytical thinking (Charyton and Merrill 2009). In the practical approaches it was observed that the set of creative thinking tools are based on the same structure repeating the same methodical models (Kohls, 2012). The great successful personalities schematically implant a strategic vision about life and business in a very rational and positive way. This planning is part of the reason why most viewers have been successful. But in their evolution many times, they encountered difficulties in how to perceive a problem from an emotional, intuitive, creative, or negative point of view. These difficulties have developed some notable shortcomings in their development of underestimating resistance to plans or the inability to make creative leaps and essential contingency plans. Due to these difficulties, the “Six Thinking Hats” method developed by de Bono (1971) came to aid focusing on an individual’s creative potential.

Investigating described above techniques, we considered appropriate for creative process teaching and practice, the application of the “Six Thinking Hats” method for an educational project.

4.1 Methodology Six Thinking Hats

During the last decades, learning prospects for future generations of students have experienced radical changes in many business areas. Now interdisciplinarity and globalisation have transformed student communities into a uniform arena of collaboration which is expanding beyond culture and context, and where creativity becomes an important milestone in developing educational projects for students. Educational projects harness students’ creativity, and subsequently, allow an examination of how creativity techniques are applied in the classroom by providing students with a set of tools to use further in their exploratory behaviour. Creative curriculum has quickly become a topic of great interest in recent years due to digitalisation in teaching and learning. In addition to training in creative techniques, students must have good communication skills, collaboration, information networks, feedback and reception, teamwork, and even in some cases cultural understanding.

All these qualities listed and corroborated with creative techniques helps in highlighting competencies required in implementing an educational project. Due to the usefulness of creative techniques, the author considered the application of the “Six Thinking Hats” technique by Edward de Bono (2006) regarding the development of the creative process within a teamwork project.

The methodology used in this paper is based on “Six Thinking Hats” and it is applied to support creative thinking in achieving a good collaboration between teams in an educational project. The method is useful when issues are debates from all possible angles, and problems must be solved to select the important decision. The basic idea behind the concept of the “Six Thinking Hats” method was that the human brain makes distinct reasonings that can be deliberately provoked.

These reasonings are organised in a structured way, so that appropriate spaces are allocated through which tactics can be developed for certain problems.The method signals the problems faced by the individual but gradually find the necessary solutions to solve problems. The graduality of the six ways of thinking can be accessed, when distinct programmes are created. (Table 3)

Six Thinking Hats
White Hat	Information gathering Data, information, facts — known and needed
	The white hat thinking provides the group with information on how to approach the problem.
Questions	What are the details of the problem description? What are the implications of these details? Are there any issues that are missing? What is the goal pursued? How will we get the missing information?
Red Hat	Feelings, intuition and emotions
The red hat thinking encourages the group to express their feelings about the course of an action.
Affirmations	I don’t think the idea suits me. I have a good feeling for this option. I am afraid to get involved in this approach.
Green Hat	Creativity, new ideas and possibilities
The green hat thinking offers an opportunity to find new approaches and innovative solutions.
Questions	What is the newest way we can do this? What are the views on tackling the problem in the opposite direction? What alternatives are known and have not been considered?
Yellow Hat	The logical benefits of solutions. The generally accepted vision.
The yellow hat thinking allows the group to emphasize the creative ideas of a new idea or a certain decision and how feasible they are.
Questions	What are the benefits of a new idea? How this new idea can be applied?
Black Hat	Expression of risks. Incompatibilities and potential difficulties.
The black hat thinking encourages the group to take into account the weaknesses of an idea or solution and to discover how to avoid or counteract them.
Questions	• What are the weak points of the new idea? • How to avoid weak points of the new idea?
Blue Hat	Process coordination. Managing productive thinking.
The blue hat thinking allows the organization and control of the thinking process and supports the discussion to be productive.
Affirmations	•All discussions have been processed. •When the solutions start to be productive.

Table 3. Six Thinking Hats description

The nature of the human being is to react to instincts, some of them adopt a positive approach to problem solving, while others try to solve problems more critically. The two approaches to obtaining decisions are indispensable, even if both are exposed. “Six thinking hats” highlight important, triggering and edifying aspects from both points of view. Obtaining the triggering and edifying aspects are analysed from a technical point of view after they have forced the initiator to think in six different situations. Using this technique, creating different scenarios we can get the best possible solutions to any problem. This method avoids those discussions in meetings where facts and opinions overlap in a disorderly way, without reaching a concrete conclusion. The “Six Thinking Hats” indicate first problems about an idea/product/service the thinker may come up with, and provide solutions which are analysed from several perspectives as:

-information gathering “white”;
-feelings, intuition and emotions “red”;
-creativity, new ideas and possibilities “green”;
-benefits and feasibility “yellow”;
-caution, criticism and assessing risks “black”;
-process control “blue”.

The methodology is presented in seven steps, when putting the technique into practice, as follows:

- - Step 1

In this step, the session is started by exposing the operating principles of the “Six thinking hats”. The method works when a target group/person is facing a specific problem. The method offers a different perspective on approaching problems and helps those who want to change thinking patterns in solving a problem. In the first stage, a trainer/moderator/leader is established to guide the group towards each scenario. In this step, the trainer establishes together with the group what problem is to be solved, in this way the sequence of hats will be clearly known. The trainer explains each coloured hat and what purpose they serve. The sketch of the method must be print out, namely the coloured hats, that are each attached to a separate sheet of paper where each group will write down their arguments in the assigned scenario. The materials must be distributed among participants that attend the meeting.

- - Step 2

Having known the procedure for carrying out the method in step one, we can move on to step two. Step two begins when the problem identified in step one went through a factual information overview. In step two the problem that needs to be solved will be assigned to a specific function of thinking, namely the white hat. Although an objective assessment of the problem is needed through facts, figures, information, the group must not offer any opinion, interpretation, criticism, or emotion.In step two the Information gathering, white hat, must be performed. Information gathering of the problem is performed within the group. In this step, the white hat group is noticed. If the group needs guidance, the instructor can provide the group with more key information about the problem in question but only after the group presents the known data about the problem. After the statement of facts, the trainer encourages the whole group to note what emotional states (red hat) the known information causes, following that in step three to explore more views and reactions to the problem analysed.

- - Step 3

After gathering information, in step three the trainer starts the in-depth discussions to collect the opinions and reactions to the problem announced in step two. In this stage the group adds the most important constraints of the problem, referring to the factual information collected of white hat. In step three, the characteristics of the red hat are applied by bringing to the surface the emotions related to the central problem. In-depth discussions within the group start with the red hat. The instructor must have some control over the mentality of the red hat because this step requires a high emotional coefficient of thinking. The group assigned to the red hat has the task to present those intuitive activities or to express the direction of the actions to treat the problem according to the received vibrations. The advantage of the red hat is that it allows the emotional expression of individuals without the need for a rational explanation.

- - Step 4

Step four begins only when the discussions in step three are worn-out. After the factual information and the direction of the actions for treating the problem are presented, depending on the received vibrations, creativity can be started. Thus, in step four, the trainer assigns the green hat within the group through which innovative solutions are nuanced. Having already known the data about the problem as well as the specific situations of the problem, the support brought by integrating creative thoughts allows obtaining a positive scenario. In this step, the inventive abilities of the group are fully exploited. Green hat focuses all creative thoughts through which individuals gain creative support when they want to change, remedy, or accept given problems.

- - Step 5

Despite its apparent simplicity, the method allows extraordinary results, especially when it comes to a group discussion. In this step, it happens that there is more concern for defending the point of view in a discussion, but the method has the ability to combine group thinking to find the best creative solution. In this step, the instructor has the task to discover the set of ideas resulting from the interaction with the group and to use the outline of the printed method for the yellow hat and the black hat. At this stage the group is guided to address 2 states: an optimistic state yellow hat and a pessimistic state black hat in solving the problem. The yellow hat task allows the group to evaluate with optimism the approached problem. This state allows the cumulation of all the opportunities and advantages from the analysed situation. Although the gravity of the situation can be harsh, the mentality of this state offers those advantageous characteristics, bringing a positivism note in the analysis of the problem. The yellow hat runs after attracting all the harmonious actions, offering optimistic variants even when the arguments become unbearably harsh. Contrary to the thinking pattern of the yellow hat is the black hat. The pattern of the black hat works in a negative way. In this state, the group is forced to express its criticism, the pessimism that results from the analysis of the given problem. The mentality of the black hat can be a margin of protection to stop reckless actions in time, due to excessive optimism or greed. The purpose of the black hat is to provide an alternative, a rescue plan when events enter a critical state.

- - Step 6

Step six is for process control. The use of the blue hat has the task of monitoring the thinking of individuals throughout the entire decision-making process. This stage allows the trainer to make observations to the group on the previous states given by the other hats and to ensure the correct use of the hats. The trainer can use the blue hat to direct the group to another type of thinking, by changing the hats. The blue hat is the one that directs the group’s discussion and coordinates the whole thinking process of this method.This stage also has the effect of a boomerang because the inconsistencies between the other hats will make it difficult to summarize the major points of the discussion, as well as to make optimal decisions.

- - Step 7

After completing step six, the trainer is the one who requests the end of the work session, giving his consent regarding the actions that the group must take. Depending on the approved actions, the trainer assigns the activities necessary to solve the problem, as the case may be. The usefulness of the method is distinguished by the fact that it is allowed to assign different roles (emotional, critical, optimistic, creative) without a personal involvement. These roles in the form of metaphorical hats encourage individuals to express their irrational emotions about a business, or to expose a new and seemingly strange idea. Also, the negative element, the critique, of an action is seen as a necessary moment for the development of an idea. Those who use the method are very knowledgeable about human behaviour and intuitively notice individuals who react emotionally (Red Hat) objectively (White Hat), or critically (Black Hat). Hats are used as metaphors for every direction of thinking helping individuals face a variety of key situations and find solutions to problems.

4.2 Effectiveness of the Six Thinking Hats method in educational projects

The effectiveness of the method allows the analysis of the problem from all points of view, focusing each time on a single aspect, while the use of other methods overlaps the analysis functions resulting in neglecting other aspects of the problem. This creative method deals with the evolution of a problem taking into account the six states of thinking. During the thinking session, an individual’s domination over group discussions is not accepted. Due to the prohibition of this aspect, the ideas, decisions, and solutions attest to the fact that they have unwavering robustness in solving problems.

Thus, the metaphor of hats is an optimal system that requires changing the register when the data is confusing, in a negative and seemingly hopeless situation, “changing the hat” may be the simplest system to find the solution. In addition, using this system quite often, it is possible to create a kind of conditioned reflex, which will make the procedure more and more effective.

In educational projects, a major important element that requires creativity exposure is the design project. Most of the time, students receive this task in the final years, after having thoroughly laid the theoretical foundations. However, these projects should be from day one and spread throughout the programme to develop skills and encourage active learning. In the current situation, the educational system requires a creative approach regarding digital education that responds to global innovative initiatives in higher education. Given the current need for creative learning based on competencies and skills, the author put into practice an educational project to involve students in the product creative area. Because in the past during traditional brainstorming sessions, individuals tended to use sophisticated thought processes and were undecided about what outcomes must be implemented this time authors decided to apply another method that has more valences for creative development. This change occurred because the authors noted in previous implementations of other educational projects, situations in which the implementation of new ideas was not debated on all levels correctly and this issue influenced the target group that did not identify with the practicability of the last idea. These issues have emerged because new educational projects based on digitalisation involve many more factors and opportunities in digital systems that are not properly mastered by all students. Thus, during the educational process, different emotional problems are generated, perceived by the students on distinct levels.

Any digitised process is instrumented by programmes with different menus, functions and commands. This generates the need for digital skills combined with the necessary knowledge of the study process in the digitised system. Many students do not have this combined knowledge at the same level so in the case of creative teamwork emotions or frustrations can be generated due to these differences in knowledge and skills.

To avoid this, the author proposed another approach that would bring new innovative proposals and arouse the interest of the target group. Thus, the use of the “Six Thinking Hats” method was taken into account. Before starting the creative process, the students attended a workshop for the creative design process by specialists. By using the method, indications were suggested that everyone in the project should think about the same issues at the same time. Then each problem was going through the filter/hat for each way of the thinking method. A particular type of thought process was applied for problem-solving. (Table 4)

Brainstorm and Analyse Ideas activities	Hat sequence
Initial Ideas	White, Red, Green, Blue
Quick Feedback	Black, Red, Green, Blue
Identifying Solutions	White, Red, Black, Green, Blue
Problem-Solving	White, Red, Green, Yellow, Black, Blue
Choosing between alternatives	Green, Yellow, Black, Red, Blue
Process Improvement	White, Yellow, Black, Green, Red, Blue
Strategic Planning	Blue, Red, Yellow, Black, White, Blue, Green, Blue
Performance Review	Red, White, Yellow, Black, Green, Blue

Table 4. Hat Sequence

In May 2023, the author considered appropriate for creative process teaching and practice, the application of the “Six Thinking Hats” method for distance learning (DI) students. 120 DI students enrol participated on educational project. Within the Politehnica University of Timisoara, in certain curricular materials, there were difficulties regarding the examination procedure with the students on the university virtual campus. The examination procedure had several variants where topics given to the students had on the virtual campus a limited term for uploading the studied materials / projects “Cute-off data” as well as combined evaluation topics.

Specifically, in certain curricular materials, teachers who knew how to use the virtual campus interacted with students to choose between different work options for their optimal examination. For the examination of the students, four variants were presented as follows:

bibliographic researches to be studied in which the students had as evaluation method a quiz with limited time;
depending on the material taught at the online course, the students had to solve a questionnaire with limited response time;
a real-time solution in which students received a limited amount of time to give the correct answer and to upload pictures of how to solve the problem;
combinations from quiz-questionnaire-application in different proportions and variants from such combinations depending on digitisation skills and emotions.

By using the application of the “Six Thinking Hats” method students were involved in Problem-Solving (White, Red, Green, Yellow, Black, Blue), namely:

White: the teacher established work options and work instructions for the examination.
Red: the teacher received emotional responses regarding the presentation of the examination variants.
Green: the students propose combinations of examination variants and the teacher formulates the variants also from an emotional point of view, details that he obtained through the red hat.
Yellow: the three optimal examination options were selected, which offer opportunities for all students enrolled in the exam to obtain a passing grade.
Black: the most extensive and complicated examination variant was identified.
Blue: took over the simple check-list algorithms so that all the information in the other hats was processed.

5. Conclusions

Modern challenges and global problems that require the most attention from the new generation of students will be solved by collaborating with digital tools and developing the skills to create customised learning solutions. The growing popularity of digital services in education will also contribute to the demand for cyber security.

Widely digitised education, disseminated through various platforms, gives rise to new learning opportunities and offers new practices for acquiring the digital skills needed for employment, education and training, self-development and participation in society. More than ever, students must approach creative problem-solving in collaboration with stakeholder groups (actors, participants, customers, and users) to address problematic situations through collective creative thinking based on technology (Aberšek, 2018). Therefore, there is a great need to teach students to identify creative deepening methods and techniques that will help them solve problems. These creative approaches will bring an advantage by completing the traditional understanding in solving problems and developing an extremely rational and programmed process. The method helped to make creative educational decisions, obtaining combinations of the four explicit methods to help students. It also helped to find the best examination solution for a series of 120 students and for them to be involved in the learning process through digitised methods.

Following the results obtained after the examination, the feedback was 85 percent positive regarding the completion of the subject. In other words, it is relevant that educators have an optimal collaboration with students in framing their competencies that need and vital for the involvement and highlighting of the labour market. This collaboration is especially important because it encourages students to improve their transferable skills and employability. Students must be prepared to generate innovative ideas through appropriate experiences, such as undertaking complex projects, working in interdisciplinary teams. Modern challenges and global issues that demand the most attention from the current group of students will not be solved by any discipline but through teams from all disciplines, who gather their skills and expertise to create innovative solutions.

As a point for educational limitations, the digital transformation is trying to emerge with small steps, developing economies have begun to realise that their old approaches to workforce development are becoming redundant and ineffective. Future investment and continued technology adoption is a must to overcome workforce challenges – failure to do so could be detrimental to economic growth.

About the Author

Andra Diaconescu

ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7485-9892

Politehnica University of Timisoara, Faculty of Management in Production and Transportations

andra.diaconescu@upt.ro

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