McMahon, G. (2009). Critical Thinking and ICT Integration in a Western Australian Secondary School. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12(4), 269-281.

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to “examine the relationship between students working in a technology-rich environment and their development of higher order thinking skills (p. 269). The scope of this study is a group of 150 female students. The group participated in a six year program in which students used a notebook computer in all subjects everyday at school. The study group included students that were in ninth grade and had between one and five years experience with using the notebook computer on a daily basis. The methodology included a case study. Teachers were expected to collect student data as part of their instructional duties. Additional data was collected through interviews and classroom observations.

Findings include:

a) The length of time students spend in an environment with explicit expectations of technology has a positive effect on development of higher order thinking skills.

This is a "must watch" video.  Dan Meyer teaches math and demonstrates here an old principal (make it relevant) in a new way.  For those times when leading students through difficult material and helping them understand concepts is the task at hand, Dan has ideas that help make it relevant.  That is why we include it as a "Best Practice."

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Know other ways of teaching that deserve this recognition?  Help the site, leave a comment and we'll look into whatever you suggest.  Learning what others do helps us all decide what skills we think belong in the Future(s) of Education.

Abstract and Critique on Engendering Thinking Skills in Young Children as a Best Practice: by Melissa Smith, Jones International University: Salmon, A. (2008). Promoting a culture of thinking in the young child. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35, p. 457-461.

The purpose of this article was to show that “the social environment plays an important role in nurturing a culture of thinking in children as they construct their understandings about the world” (Salmon, 2007, p. 457). The scope of this article was to determine the importance of an adult’s role in helping children engage in thinking activities while including teachers in an action research project.

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Abstract and Critique on Engendering Thinking Skills in Young Children as a Best Practice: by Melissa Smith, Jones International University

Salmon, A. (2008). Promoting a culture of thinking in the young child. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35, p. 457-461.

The purpose of this article was to show that “the social environment plays an important role in nurturing a culture of thinking in children as they construct their understandings about the world” (Salmon, 2007, p. 457). The scope of this article was to determine the importance of an adult’s role in helping children engage in thinking activities while including teachers in an action research project. The research design and methodology was a study that consisted of 70 children and six teachers the teachers asked questions that were given to them form the researcher and documented their students growth in using thinking activities. The findings and conclusions of the article were that “the study found that when thinking is part of the daily routine, children become alert to situations that call for thinking, and , as a result, they build up positive attitudes toward thinking and learning” (Salmon, 2007, p. 461). A limitation of the article is there was a small group of participants and the results could have changed if the group was larger. This contributes to the course because it is important as an educator to help children think on their own and this article could help other educators promote this at their schools.

Critique

Promoting thinking is very important in young children because if they are able to think for themselves then they are able to accomplish more as they grow and develop throughout life. When teachers instruct a culture of thinking in their classrooms children get use to thinking individually (Salmon, 2007). The article is very important to education because many teachers have students that are not able to think through problems and this affects a child’s ability to perform in school. Teachers need ways to help their students think for themselves and this article is a good starting point. It is great that this article had participants that ranged from age three to six because if children are taught in early childhood how to think for themselves then there will be a smarter race of children that turn into wonderful adults. This article did include pictures of students trying to make their thoughts visual but it could have included so graphs to show the growth and development of children being able to complete thinking activities. All in all, the article is a good starting foundation for an educator to help improve a students thinking ability.

Disruptive Innovation in Education and it Potential Promise for Africa or India

I am currently reading Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (2008) by Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn and Curtis Johnson. This book analyzes the needs of education from the position of disruptive innovation theory. A disruption is defined as a new business product or practice that is used by a consumer audience not previously addressed, which then gets a foothold, is improved, and ultimately takes significant marketshare from the original technology. We saw this happen with digital cameras, personal computers, and transistor batteries.

These authors make a convincing case for the efficacy of schools to have managed through four types of potential disruptions caused by policy adjustments since their beginnings as one room schoolhouses. Schools now promote democracy, accommodate all ages and varieties of learners, ensure competition in a world market and try to eliminate poverty, all things they were not designed to do. Perhaps it is just this ability to adapt which has helped the school model grow to its current behemolithic proportion in education.

Chrsitensen et. al.  go on to discuss online education as disruptive- and its potential to be student centered. Because they are advancing the hypothesis that student centered instruction is inherently intrinsically motivating and that motivation is what has dropped out of schools, Disrupting Class is written with the apparent goal of showing how schools can adapt to the disruption of computers, build student centered learning and get back “on track.” These ideas are worth discussing, yet I remain unconvinced because it is my sense that they don’t go far enough. I believe that unless we also consider disrupting the context of schools, the buildings, the huge administrative hierarchies, the mandated curriculums we will miss an opportunity that individualized online learning is offering.

The provocative idea for me in their model is that disruptive innovations take hold in a market not previously reached by the older model. Where in the world has the previous model (schoolhouses and curriculum based education) NOT taken hold? (interested? to finish the story follow the REad More link)