Higher Thinking Skills Through IT Based Projects

There are four based projects in Educational Technology  that can help the students to improved their thinking skills. These are the following IT Based Projects:


I. Resource Based Projects

       In this project, the teacher focuses on the opportunities of the students that will going to conduct through letting them searches for the facts and information. Meaning, the teacher plays a role as a facilitator and not as an expert. Only when necessary for the active learning process the teacher does his/her step to supply data or information.

       The general flow of events in resource based projects are:

a. The teacher decides the topic that need to be discussed for the examination of the class.
b. The problem is presented by the teacher to the class.
c. The students find information on the problem or questions.
d. Students organize the information in response to the problem or questions.

       The central principle of resource based projects is for the students to become resourceful by letting them go beyond the textbook and curriculum materials, courage students to go to the library particularly to the modern extension of the modern library which is the internet.

        Furthermore, inquiry based and discovery approach is given importance in resource based projects. This requires the students relate and gather information to the real world either individually or cooperatively with the members of the group.

        Finally, the process is much given importance than the product of the project. It doesn't matter if students had varied answers to the problem, thus it matters on the varied sources of information, the line of thinking and the ability to argue in defense for their answers.

Traditional Learning Model	Resource Based Learning Model
Teacher is an expert and information provider	Teacher is a guide and facilitator
Textbook is key resource of information	Sources are varied (Print, video, internet, etc.)
Focus on facts information is packaged in neat parcels	Focus on learning inquiry/ quest discovery
The product is the be-all and end-all of learning	Emphasis on process
Assessment is quantitative	Assessment is quantitative and qualitative

                                  Traditional and Resource Based Learning Models

II. Simple Creations

       

      Students can also be assigned to  create their software materials through the use of those available software materials. In developing software, creativity as an outcome should not be equated with the ingenuity or high intelligence. Creating is more consonant with planning, making, assembling, designing, or building. Creativity is said to be to combine three skills/abilities:

         Analyzing- distinguishing the similarities and differences seeing the project as a problem to be solved.

         Synthesizing- making spontaneous among ideas, thus generating interesting or new ideas.

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

       To develop creativity, the following five keys may be recommended:

         1. Define the task.Clarify the goal of completed project to the students.

         2. Brainstorm.The students themselves will be allowed to generate their own ideas  on the project.

         3. Judge the ideas.The students themselves make an appraisal for or against any idea.

         4. Act.The students do their work with the teacher a facilitator.

         5.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 in two different ways:

        1. As an instructive tool, such as in production by students of a power point presentation of a selected topic.

        2. As a communication tool, such as when students do a multimedia 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 webpages on a given topic. But creating webpages, even single page webpages, may be too sophisticated and time consuming for the average student.

     It should be said, however, that posting of webpages in the internet allows the students( now the webpage creator) a wider audience. They can also be linked with other related sited in the internet. But as of now, this creativity project may be to ambitious as a tool in the teaching learning process.