Lesson 8 Higher Thinking Skills through IT-Based Projects

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.

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. 

1. Resource Based Projects

In these projects, the teacher steps out of the traditional role of being a content expert and information provider, and instead lets the students find their own facts and information.





 2. Simple Creations 

Students can also be assigned to create their software materials. Of course, there are available software materials such as Creative Writer (by Microsoft) on writing, Kid Work Deluxe (by Davidson) on drawing and painting, and Media Weave (by Humanities software) on multimedia).

In developing software, creativity as an outcome should not be equated with ingenuity or high intelligence.

Creativity is said to combine 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.

3 Guided Hypermedia Projects

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

• Such as in the production by students of a power-point presentation of a selective topic.
•  Such as when students do a multi- media presentation (with text, graphs, photos, audio narration, interviews, video clips, etc.).

It can be approached in two different ways. First, As an Instructive tool, such as in the production by the students of a power point presentation. sections among ideas, does generating interesting or new ideas.

• Promoting- selling of a new ideas to allow the public to test the ideas themselves. And Second, as a communication tool when students do a multimedia presentation to stimulate a television news show. It is easy for the teacher to discuss about news or literature if they have tools like television or you can use your own video clips in order to present the topic they wanted.

4. 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 too sophisticated and time consuming for 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.