LESSON 8 Higher Thinking Skills Through IT-Based Projects

In this blog we will add up our knowledge about the four types of IT-based projects which can effectively be used in order to engage students in activities of a higher order of thinking.

It is to be understood that projects differ in the specific process and skills employed thus saying that these projects do not address all of the thinking skills shown previously in the Thinking Skills Framework. But these projects represent constructivist projects, containing the key elements of a constructivists approach to instruction, namely:

a)     The teacher creating the learning environment

b)     The teacher giving students the tools and facilities

c)      The teacher facilitating learning

On the other hand, it is the students themselves who demonstrate higher thinking skills and creativity through such activities searching for information, organizing and synthesizing ideas, creating presentations and the like.

In tackling about the four types of IT-based projects which are the following:

a)     Resource-based Projects

• In these projects, the teacher steps out of the traditional role of being a content expert and information provider, instead the teacher lets the students find their own facts and information. The general flow of events in resource-based projects is:

1. The teacher determines the topic for the examination of the class.
2. The teacher presents the problem to the class.
3. The students find information on the problem/questions.
4. Students organize their information in response to the problem/questions.

Ex. WebQuest, an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the
 information used by learners are drawn from the web.

b)     Simple Creations

• Students are assigned to create their software materials to supplement the need for relevant and effective materials. In developing software, creativity as an outcome should not be equated with ingenuity or high intelligence. Creating is more consonant with planning, making, assembling, designing, or building. Creativity is said to combine three kinds of skills/abilities: analyzing, synthesizing and promoting.

Ex. Creative Writer, by Microsoft, an available software material on writing.

c)      Guided Hypermedia Projects

The production of self-made multimedia projects can be approached in two different ways:

• As an instructive tool, such as in the production by students of a power-point presentation of a selected topic.
• As a communication tool, such as when students do a multimedia presentation to simulate a television news show.

Ex. HyperStudio, by Roger Wagner Productions, a multimedia software.

d)     Web-Based Projects

• Students can create and post webpages on a given topic. Posting webpages in the Internet allows the students a wider audience. They can also be linked with other related sites in the Internet.