LESSON 8: HIGHER THINKING SKILLS THROUGH IT-BASED PROJECTS
- 1. EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY II REPORTERS: ZULIETA, VIRGINIA S. YCOY, REGINE ANNE TARNATE, IRIES A.
- 2. EDUC 202: EDUCATIONALTECHNOLOGY II DR. MAREDIL R. AMBOS Page 1 LESSON 8: HIGHER THINKING SKILLS THROUGH IT – BASED PROJECTS CONTRUCTIVIST APPROACH: Information must be mentally acted on, manipulated, and transformed by learners in order to have meaning. Key elements of a constructivist approach to instruction: (A.) The teacher creating the learning environment. (B.) The teacher giving students the tools and facilities. (C.) The teacher facilitating learning. I. RESOURCE-BASED PROJECTS The general flow of events in resource- based projects are: The teacher determines the topic for the examination of the class. The teacher presents the problem to the class FOUR IT- BASED PROJECTS Resource- based Projects Simple Creations Guided Hypermedia Projects Web-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.
- 3. EDUC 202: EDUCATIONALTECHNOLOGY II DR. MAREDIL R. AMBOS Page 2 The students find information on the. Problem/questions. Students organize their information in response the problem/questions. The CENTRAL PRINCIPLE is to make student go beyond the textbook and curriculum materials. The resourced based project also highlights the inquiry approach or discovery approach wherein the "process" is given more importance than the "product", this means that the value of knowing "how to" is greater than the "end result.” This requires that the students, individually or cooperatively with members of his group, relate gathered information to the “real world.” TRADITIONAL LEARNING MODEL RESOURCE-BASED LEARNING MODEL Teacher is expert and provides information. Teacher is a guide and facilitator. Textbook is the key source of information. Sources are varied (print, video, internet, etc.) Focus on facts or information is packaged in neat parcels. Focus on learning inquiry, quest, or discovery. The product is be- all and end-all of learning. Emphasis on process Assessment is quantitative. Assessment is quantitative and qualitative. WEBQUEST AS A RESOURCE inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners are drawn from the web. It is designed to use learners’ time well, to focus on information rather than looking for it. It also supports the learners’ thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
- 4. EDUC 202: EDUCATIONALTECHNOLOGY II DR. MAREDIL R. AMBOS Page 3 II. SIMPLE CREATIONS. If resourced-based projects aim to develop the ability of the students in the information gathering aspect, simple creation focuses mainly on student's progression to effectively present information. Creative Writer (by MS) on writing, KidWork Deluxe (by Davidson) on drawing and painting are just some of the available software materials that can be used. CREATING is taught to be more consonant with planning, assembling, designing or building. It is said that creativity combines three kind of abilities or skills: Analyzing – it is by distinguishing similarities and differences while seeing the project as a problem to be solved. Synthesizing – making of spontaneous connection among ideas which makes an interesting or new ideas. Promoting – selling of new ideas for the public to test the ideas by themselves. In developing creativity, there are five key tasks that is being recommended: 1. Define the task. The goal of the completed project is stated and clarified to student. 2. Brainstorm. Students here are encourage to generate their own ideas on the project through active exchange of ideas and informations. 3. Judge the ideas. Students are let to judge, give appraisal or any against. Teacher would only intervene if the students are of completely off tracked. 4. Act. The students are ones to do the work and teachers are only to facilitate them. 5. Adopt flexibility. Students are allowed to change gears and not follow an action which is rigid. In this area, students are assigned to create their software materials to supplement the need for relevant and effective material.
- 5. EDUC 202: EDUCATIONALTECHNOLOGY II DR. MAREDIL R. AMBOS Page 4 III. THE GUIDED HYPERMEDIA PROJECTS _____________________________________________ What is Hypermedia? Hypermedia combines the concepts of hypertext and multimedia to allow rich interaction between the user and the material. Hypertext itself is basically the same as regular text except that it contains connections within the text to other documents (Hughes, 1994). Students as Audience of Hypermedia In the role of audience to hypermedia, students interact with hypermedia environments developed by others. Examples of this type of interaction would include reading articles in online encyclopedias, observing a PowerPoint presentation (with links and other multimedia elements) developed by a teacher, playing interactive adventure games, or looking at various interactive websites on the Internet. There are two different ways of approaches in the production of self-made multimedia project: As an instructive tool, such as in the production by students of a power-point presentation of the selected topic. As a communication tool, such as when students do a multimedia presentation (with text, graphs, audio, video, interviews and other more to stimulate the intellectual capacity of the student.) HYPERSTUDIO (by Roger Wagner Productions) is a kind of multimedia software. Handling the production of a similar computer software material is said to be too sophisticated or that technical for those average students. But, it is allowed for the students to produce poster design, computer tools and the required development of appropriate creative skills, as well.
- 6. EDUC 202: EDUCATIONALTECHNOLOGY II DR. MAREDIL R. AMBOS Page 5 IV. THE WEB-BASED PROJECTS ___________________________________________________ ______________ In this area students are to create and post webpages on a given topic. But creating this so- called WEBPAGE may be too sophisticated and time consuming in the part of the average students. However, posting of webpages in the internet allows the students, which is now consider as webpage creator, a wide and active audience. Students can also be linked with some other related sites in the internet in connection with the project. But as of today, this creativity project may be too ambiguous as a tool in the teaching-learning process. More teacher-librarians are discovering that the Internet can be a useful tool for resource-based learning. Online software and special sites like Fila mentality are being used by these educators to create online projects for their students. The WebQuest is becoming a favored approach, moving resource-based learning into the electronic learning environment. Whether you are using an email connection with other learners or implementing a fully developed WebQuest with your students, it is important to remember that "doing an Internet project" should never be the sole purpose for students, the Internet should be an interactive and exciting tool they use for individual or collaborative inquiry and problem-solving, and for creating knowledgeable and creative products; sharing their own learning with others. The web-based software must provide tools for planning, organizing and managing resources to achieve project goals and objectives.