Purpose of Activity
The purpose of the Wiki activity was to reflect upon our
personal learning in the design of the activity. We were asked to participate
in an online response forum in Wiki space to respond to the issue of ‘the use
of mobile phones in classrooms’ through the lens of the ‘de Bono’s Thinking Hats.
Click here. We were also asked to reflect upon the design of this activity through
an analysis of our course reading and learning theories.
Design of Activity
We were asked to record our responses into an existing table format on wiki space with the corresponding hat. There were 4-5 responses per Wiki page. Each student had to pick a different font colour so as the
teacher was able to identity the student to the work. It was strongly suggested
that we should use no more than 40 words for our response.
Learning theory that supports this activity and the
elements of the activity that support this consideration.
I believe that social constructivism is the core learning
theory that supports this online activity.
Social Constructivism is ‘founded upon social interactions within a
learning community or expert community’. This learning theory was demonstrated
by the students having to post their ideas in an online community of learners
who were able to comment upon it. The display of other people’s perspectives
and ideas was able to aid, solidify and modify our own understanding of the
issue raised.
This activity also supports the idea of connectivism proposed
by George. Siemens. He states 'that it is no
longer possible to know everything, it is more important to identify how and
where to find knowledge than it is to know it.’ I used the internet as a resource to access more knowledge of content
It may not seem evident to suggest that this activity also
be supportive of Behaviourism but according to radical behaviourist such as
skinner ‘knowledge is action, or rules for action’
Skinner
explains ‘the behaviourist would argue to say that that someone knows
Shakespeare is to say that they have a certain behavioural repertoire with
respect to Shakespeare. Knowledge that is not actively expressed in behaviour
can be explained as behavioural capabilities.’ (Skinner)
So with this in mind I could argue that I posses a certain
behavioural repertoire with respect to mobile phones and I also posses a
special repertoire with putting my point of view across. So with this ‘knowledge’ I am able to
complete this activity by participating in it. Furthermore, I believe that
allowing people to give feedback on other students work could lend it self to
the behaviourist elements of positive reinforcement - if a student comments favourably to another
students work then that student is rewarded with praise and will more than
likely try hard to repeat her efforts the next time.
Also from a cognitivist perspective, the wiki activity
allowed me to delve into a process of higher order thinking unconsciously
utilising Bloom’s Taxonomy. I was able to use my existing knowledge of mobile
phones to answer this question with ease, but I wanted to get a deeper
understanding of the issue by researching it.
I also went online to check out other student responses. This allowed me to gather and analyse this
new information and modify my own. I had a fairly good understanding of the
topic so I felt I didn’t need to modify my response. It just gave me the
confidence that I was on the right track. However, I do believe that if I were
not familiar with the topic then the use of other people’s responses would have
significantly helped me in forming my own opinion. (This of course links into constructivism)
Purpose and Value of Using de Bono’s Thinking Hats.
The value of using de Bono's hat was its simple structure
that I could use which allowed me to deconstruct and organise my thoughts on
‘the use of mobile phones’ in a more thorough and analytical way. I felt that
wearing these hats made it easier for me to respond because is was broken up
into smaller bite size pieces that I could chew J
If you were to ask me the same question about the ‘use of
mobile phones in the classroom’ without the use of de Bono’s hats my response would
have been far too simplistic.
The use of the de bones thinking hat activity integrated
hats added a richer depth of knowledge to my understanding and also gave me an
appreciation of other student’s perspectives.
Learning Outcomes of Using de Bono’s Hats.
Using the de Bono’s thinking hats has helped me to
understand a higher order of thinking that I would not have been able to do
before. I thought it was a very successful scaffolding tool for extracting
information.
S.W.O.T Analysis of Wiki Activity
Strengths
- Looking at different perspectives broadens your own perspective.
- Choice of remaining anonymous if you wish.
- You are able to complete your response in your own time and give proper consideration to your answer.
- Increases your knowledge of how technology can be integrated into the classroom.
- Increases your technology skill set.
- Decreases the ‘fear of technology’
- Activity was clear and easy to understand.
- Students can easily utilise other peoples perspectives as their own instead of thinking for themselves.
- Technology can play up and make you really frustrated.
- The topic ‘Mobile phones in the classroom’ didn’t really
allude to new ideas. The majority of the
responses were the same so it got a little boring going through them.
Opportunities
- Gives student an ability to see other people’s perspective and create one that is more refined. Modify existing knowledge base.
- Able to duplicate this activity in the school classroom
as a homework or small assessment.
Threats
- Students might feel exposed to the idea of voicing their ideas online in a group for fear of being criticised or judged.
- Students might feel overwhelmed with so many perspectives that it may confuse theirs.
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