Mindtools
- 1. MINDTOOLS
- 2. DEFINITIONS OF MINDTOOLS Mindtools are computer-based tools and learning environments that have been adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher order learning
- 3. WHAT ARE MINDTOOLS? Mindtools are cognitive tools such as selected computer programs that stimulate learning and thinking in students.
- 4. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? With the use of mindtools, the teacher is able to perform lower-level operations that enable the learner to devote more time to meaningful mental processes. The teacher and student provide the intelligence, not the computer . 1. Educational Reasons
- 5. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? Mindtools facilitate knowledge construction in which students organize and represent what they know. 2. Theoretical Reasons
- 6. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? A lack of available software, cost and efficiency are reasons for using mindtools. When purchasing even just a few computer-assisted instructional programs, many school districts opt out due to the great expense. The use of these mindtools is more time-efficient because less time is spent learning to use different programs. 3. Practical Reasons
- 7. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? All mindtool applications can be used in assessing a student's progress. Mindtools often yield many solutions and involve multiple, sometimes conflicting, criteria so the student is compelled to make elaborations and judgments. 4. Pedagogical Criteria for Evaluating Mindtools
- 8. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? Critical thinking is the dynamic reorganization of knowledge in meaningful, usable ways. It involves making judgments, measuring against a standard, as well as assessing reliability and usefulness. 5. Critical Thinking Skills
- 9. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? Creative thinking is closely related to critical thinking. Creativity requires going beyond accepted knowledge to generate new knowledge. A student is able to summarize main ideas into his or her own words. 6. Creative Thinking Skills .
- 10. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? Complex thinking combines the basic learning and recall of both critical thinking and creative thinking into larger processes. Using mindtools, students produce new ideas and make decisions by selecting between alternatives in a systematic way. 7. Complex Thinking Skills
- 11. WHY USE MINDTOOLS? The use of mindtools can make better communicators and more sensitive students. Leadership skills should be modeled by the teacher and cooperation with group members. 8. Collaborative Use of Mindtools
- 12. REFERENCES Jonassen, D. 1996. Computers in the Classroom: Mindtools for Critical Thinking . Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Merrill. Jonassen, D. 2000. Computers as Mindtools for Schools: Engaging Critical Thinking (2nd Edition) . Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill. Denise S. Averill, River Vale Public School, N.J. Using Mindtools in Education, from http://thejournal.com/articles/17216