Lesson 8: Higher Thinking Skills through ITBased Projects

In this lesson, we shall discuss four types of IT-based projects which can effectively
be used in order to engage students in activities of a higher plane of thinking. To be
noted id the fact that these projects differ in the specific process and skills
employed, also in the ultimate activity or platform used to communicate completed
products to others.
It is to be understood that these projects do not address all of the thinking
skills shown previously in the Thinking Skills Framework. But these projects
represent constructivist project.

Key Elements of a constructivist approach:

a)

The teacher creating the learning environment.

b)

The teacher giving students the tool

c)

The teacher facilitating learning.

Now let us see four IT-based projects conducive to develop higher thinking skills and
creativity among learners.

I.

RESOURCE-BASED PROJECTS

The teacher steps out of the traditional role of being an context expert and
information provider, and instead lets the students find their own facts and
information.

The general flows of events in resource-based projects are:

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

TRADITIONAL AND RESOURCE-BASED LEARNING

Traditional learning model

Resource-based learning model

Teacher is expert and information

provides

Teacher is a guide and facilitator

Textbook is key source of information

Sources are varied(print, video.

Internet, etc.)

Focus on facts

Focus on learning inquiry, quest, or

discovery

Information is packaged
In neat parcels
The product is the be-all and end-all
of learning

Emphasis on process

Assessment is quantitative

Assessment is quantitative and

qualitative.

II.

SIMPLE CREATIONS

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.
Three kinds of skills/abilities:

Analyzing- distinguishing similarities and differences/ seeing the project as a

problem to be solved.

Synthesizing- making spontaneous connections among ideas, does generating

interesting or new ideas.

Promoting- selling of a new ideas to allow the public to test the ideas
themselves.

The five key task to develop creativity:

Define the task- clarify the goal of the completed project to the student.
Brainstorm- the students themselves will be allowed to generate their own ideas on
the project. Rather than shoot down ideas, the teacher encourages ideas exchange.
Judge the ideas- the students themselves make an appraisal for or against any idea.
Only when students are completely off check should the teacher intervene.
Act- the students do their work with the teacher a facilitator.
Adopt flexibility- the students should be allowed to shift gears and not follow an
action path rigidly.

III. GUIDED HYPERMEDIA PROJECTS

The production of self-made multimedia projects can be approached into different

ways:

Instructive tools- such as in the production by students of a power point

presentation of a selective topic.
Constructive tools- such as when students do a multi-media presentation (with text,
graphs, photos, audio narration, interviews, video clips, etc. to simulate a television
news show.

IV. WEB-BASED PROJECTS

Students can be made to create and post web pages on a given topic. But creating
new pages, even single page web pages, maybe tool sophisticated and time
consuming fort the average student.

It should be said, however, that posting of web pages in the Internet allows
the students (now the web page creator) a wider audience. They can also be linked

with other related sites in the Internet. But as of now, this creativity project maybe
to ambitious as a tool in the teaching-learning process.