What kinds of digital tools promote and encourage critical thinking? (I’m an ADST teacher, will be examining from a lens of design & problem solving).
Scratch – online coding software, ages K – whenever.
Image retrieved from https://en.scratch-wiki.info/wiki/File:Logo.png
I used to work as an after school coding instructor and this was the software I used to introduce grades 4 – 7 students to coding. The platform is free to all and allows both creation and sharing of projects ranging from interactive games, adaptations of books and movies, or even lessons (such as worked examples of math questions). Students can view other’s projects / work to get ideas for their own designs, or simply explore them for fun or learning. The critical thinking piece which I focused on when using this is from creation of projects, in whatever form that may take. The coding aspect of the platform requires students to assemble Boolean logic blocks in a logical fashion in order to create a desired effect.
Image retrieved from https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/296819/?page=1#post-3061077
A simple example of moving an image towards the right could be constructed in multiple ways:
Use the [Move ___ Steps] block
Use a [Change X by ___] block.
Use a [Move to Mouse Pointer] block, and move your mouse to desired location (right).
Use a [Go to X = ___, Y = ____] block, and designate the desired Cartesian coordinate.
The intricacies of coding and design come from analyzing a complex motion into basic steps, and rearranging them into sequential orders, command priority, limits and exceptions, and so forth. Not only can students demonstrate their own critical thinking by solving their problems through demonstrating how they set up a solution, or by looking for ways of “self-help” such as examining other projects’ codes and recreating / adapting them, or simple trial & error. The most complex project I assigned my students was to create a complex maze with a fully controllable character, who has to make it to the goal without a) touching any walls, b) within a set time limit, and c) have multiple stages of difficulty (this was the ‘extra challenge’).
Design-focused video games (Minecraft, Terraria, etc)
Depending on the game, critical thinking can be demonstrated in solving problems such as how to re-create images or object using what is available within the game.
Again, multiple core competency skills are involved in designing and creating such as identifying investigation question (what does Hogwarts look like), challenges (how to create it – what type of textured blocks for certain parts), self-reflection (comparing design to original work), and so on.
How does critical thinking influence narratives and perspectives?
Ideally, students can examine other individual’s works to see the logical framework behind it’s creation. Using Scratch for example, a person choosing to use simpler commands such as [Move ___ Steps] could be due to them being new to the platform, thus haven’t found the other alternatives. If it’s a simple, scripted story, then there would be no need for more complex commands when a simpler version is available. On the other hand, it could be that the creator does not understand Cartesian Coordinate systems, thus they are unable to utilize the [Move X = __, Y = __] commands. This was evident during my experiences when I noticed the older elementary students being fully comfortable with using ordered pairs, while younger students chose ‘easier’ options like [Move to Cursor]. Students conducting these sort of analysis also leads them towards inquiring about higher order processes to understand how to use those commands for themselves, and help broaden their perspective of different ways to approach and address similar questions.
While Rheingold’s article on information literacy and fact-checking credible sources promotes several good practices relevant for citizens in this digital age, I believe that an addendum should be added where even credible, reputable sources should be looked at under scrutiny. A few (in)famous examples include Andrew Wakefield’s RETRACTED 1998 paper in The Lancet which linked autism to MMR vaccination (which is great when discussing Scientific Methods), and more recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fiasco around hurricane Dorian. The aphorism of “don’t trust everything you see online” seems to be more important than ever.
As educators, we’re likely to have already created a happy little bubble from which we draw our ideas or practices from. Whether it’s a globally renowned site like Pintrest or more private channels like a fellow teacher’s course page, we’re always trying to find newer inspirations to toy with. However, one of the biggest concern is filtering the information to make sure it’s Credible:
“News websites” (once upon a happier time, we could cite this as a joke… now we worry if students know the difference…)
Filtering techniques such as checking the website’s reputation, statement of their purpose & goals, or red flags (such as biases) in their past publications are all solid choices. Other than individuals whose job or reputation relies on distributing 100% certified facts all the time (such as journalist, and maybe presidents?), the general public should not require in-depth “detective work” for every bit of information they come across online. Common sense and a healthy bit of skepticism is often more than enough. Often times, those individuals who are more invested in the topic or perhaps true professionals will shed light on any fake articles as they rigorously test them. Rheingold’s interview with Ito where she stated “those who contribute information online, show higher concerns about credibility” (Rheingold, 2012) resonated with me the most from the reading. The timing also coincides with a recent White House briefing where the doctor commented about needing the young generation to stay healthy because they bring forth innovations like speedrunning in video games. The fact that they can delve so deeply into the mechanics of a game and create conditions which borderline cheating, which the community will religiously and meticulously check against, is simply astounding (similar to the scientific community which examines replicability and validity of data). It’s a clear demonstration that they possess a much greater capacity to filter information, albeit limited to what they are interested in. The most important thing for educators, in my opinion, is to lead students towards transferring that sense of skepticism or investigative abilities from their interest area to a more global perspective. While it’s useful to introduce examples of reliable / unreliable sources and tools to students at the beginning, by the end of the course, they should be able to self-assess novel content and come up with their own filters.
References:
Rheingold, H., & Weeks, A. (2012). Net smart : How to thrive online. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca
“Bedroom Decoration” by dejankrsmanovic is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Because that’s all it’s is good for.
The BC Digital Literacy Framework seems to be cobbled together using bits and pieces of other works (ISTE, CommonSense Media, and European Comission… just three sources?) and is currently outdated according to one of the people who helped write it. On top of that, our BC curriculum just had a massive overhaul recently, switching from teacher-centered teaching to student-centered learning. This makes that framework worth even less, especially when you can easily find teachers whom they themselves are not digitally literate enough to “teach” digital literacy.
Another issue with the framework, as with most frameworks, is that it’s much too idealistic. For example, one of the competencies is that “A digitally literate person actively and constantly explores emerging technologies, integrates them in his/her environment and uses them for lifelong learning” (BC Digital Literacy Framework, n.d.). Forget emerging tech, even now there are very few individuals who have fully mastered both PC and Apple products (should I include Linux too?) despite them being around for decades. Furthermore, emerging technology is often riddled with issues and are NOT convenient nor user friendly due to lack of consumer feedback.
“Dial O for Operator” by MarkGregory007 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
One more kick before I move on: even if teachers could somehow freeze time to explore all emergent technology, it’s still meaningless as policies would bar us from ever implementing them in the classroom (FOIPPA-oppa!).
On a side note, teaching digital literacy / citizenship is a complicated business. The majority of students are generally “minimally meeting” or perhaps “fully meeting” expectations, due to a combination of good parenting (it’s a verb!) and self/formal education on the topic. However, the concern are for those in the opposite category; the ones who endanger themselves because of poor role models, and lack of self-awareness, personal safety, or just foresight. Much like how teen smoking (and more recently, vaping) continues to exist despite all counter-efforts, those who are not interested will simply continue in their ignorance.
Last but not least – something about our Project for the course:
Contextualized madness – by members FN, LH, JC, RH, RS
Since I signed up for this course as the M.Ed program dictated back in… September(?), I was rather exasperated to find this current class is about Digital Storytelling. My first thoughts were along the lines of “Really? Should I just record this session of Dungeons & Dragons that I’m hosting online and call it my project?”
“QUEST Tabletop Roleplaying Game” by Celia Lowenthal is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
After getting some much needed sleep, I realized this may actually work to cover the various outcomes under the BC Digital Literacy Framework:
Research Information and Literacy
Make students master how to accurately search the web and databases in order to participate in the game.
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Use variety of tools and logic to discover solutions to puzzles.
Creativity and Innovation
Create their own scenarios / puzzles using digital art.
Digital Citizenship
Understanding how to maintain group relations in online platform.
Communication and Collaboration
Literally, the entire game.
Technology Operations and Concepts
Become confident in learning and operating new technology.
This might actually work… but let’s looks at my attempts at implementing digital storytelling.
Three-Photo-Story:
As I teach ADST (applied design, skills, and technology), one of the units I cover is photography and the major project for that is for students to create and tell a story using only 3 photos. They have to plan (and write) a short scenario, brainstorm how to represent major aspects of it in each photo, create it using different shots & angles learned in class, then combine and display it to the class to see if the story comes across correctly. My success with this project has been mixed so far. Those who are interested, curious, or simply enjoy a challenge do well with the project, whereas those who are disengaged will do the bare minimum at best (ie. have 3 random pictures). The quality of the “story” aspect has generally been underwhelming, where it often results in three simple frames of an activity or action in progress. To improve this, I feel I should look at cross-curricular collaboration with their English teacher where students first write an entire short story, which I can then use for this project. The alternative would be to have students try to summarize popular movies or TV shows they watch using the same three-picture constraint. Another issue I’ve faced is the lack of quality (DSLR) cameras, which limits the breadth of techniques students can employ in creating their story.
“Stepping Stones Triptych” by Noranna is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Graphs:
Math/Science teachers often use graphs to tell a “story”. This is particularly relevant in Physics, where we create a graphical representation of an object’s displacement, velocity, or acceleration over a period of time. Graphs can also have broader storytelling applications such as lessons from investing in cryptocurrencies:
“chrome_4Iel786bQB” by SimpleFX is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
**Update for Mar 24 – further considerations for reflection submission**
Previously, I focused on digital storytelling in the sense where digital tools other than written text were used to convey a story (hence photo-editing, graphs, etc) which also encompasses curriculum competencies. While I feel this adheres to the concept of the course (development and implementation of the curriculum), I believe it’s a bit off from what the instructor is looking for; which is focusing more on story telling through videos. My experiences with them over the past few decades has just reinforced my stance on why it’s not always a good option.
Video-based lectures
Context – I work as an online and blended learning teacher at a local high school and the learning management system (LMS) we used is Moodle. By default, the courses have videos which function as a textbook in providing content knowledge to students. Below is an example which goes over the structure & functions of phospholipids, one of four biomolecules students need to learn in Anatomy and Physiology 12 (aka Bio12):
Issue – The most common complaint I hear from students are that the accent in the video makes it difficult to watch and follow along, or that the clips are too long (some are well over 10 minutes). To address the first concern, students often find alternative videos which may cover more or less of the information than required. Their preference would be to use a textbook-style presentation of information which they’re more comfortable with, and it also makes it easy to look up information when key words are bolded. It’s harder to do the same in videos as you either remember exactly what time the information is mentioned, or have to scroll through each time frame to find it. To address the latter concern, it’s incredibly difficult to balance breadth and depth of a single topic in a single video. Bite-sized pieces like the one posted above might help compartmentalize information, but then there needs to be a long list of videos for each topic. The example with phospholipids is that it’s one of three types of lipids (along with fats and hormones), which is one of four biomolecules to learn. An example from Khan Academy which condenses information on all 3 types of lipids can be seen here:
This leads me to the next issue of legibility. While I frequently suggest Khan Academy as a source of information to students, it has the downsides of being rather messy or cluttered in several videos. A pet peeve that’s been brought up by several students was how they found it difficult to concentrate if the speaker stutters or repeatedly corrects himself throughout the video. So while videos are a potential way for teachers to “tell” the story of course contents to students, the quality of available videos still leave much to be desired.
Video-based Projects
My first attempt was back in Grade 12 English, where the teacher offered a choice between timeline, poster, or video summary of Shakespeare’s Othello. Being with a group of my goofy friends, we thought it’d be hilarious and easy to just take a bunch of videos of us doing stupid things in context of the play. I can confidently say that by the end of the project, I still had minimal understanding of the plot in Othello, but lifelong respect for my good friend who organized and edited over 200 clips to make a 20 minute video. We each had our roles of director, editor, cameraman, and of course actors, but some tasks required insurmountably more time and effort than others. For instance, the director who had to read the entire play had to figure out the most important scenes in the story and try to re-create it; in contrast, the actors were just running around with random props most of the time. The most grueling job was video editing, which I need to stress that we did this project before the invention of the iPhone. Most cameras and video editing software are simpler and user-friendly, but the entire process still takes much more time compared to static alternatives (if there are any). The video project which I had to do during EDCI570/571 is a great example (available on cohort shared drive). Having to learn a video editing software, organizing the clips, arranging and cutting to fit, editing to remove pauses and stutters, lighting adjustments or voice enhancements… the list goes on. It was easily as much work as the research and storyboard combined. In the end, it still feels like our digital slideshow presentation was much more informative and reflective of our understanding on the topic of … something, than the video presentation (because that’s all I remember now, the shortcuts to video editing tools).
To summarize, the video project alternative is often more taxing and can take the focus away from learning goals.
