Theories of Critical Thinking - Mysti Nichols

If I am being honest, a good portion of the information discussed in these articles is not new; however, that is not to say that the ideas presented are not helpful. When I was in school myself, the idea of student driven learning or even technology in the classroom beyond overhead projectors and computers with green font on a black screen was extremely rare, and I went to ten different schools in about five different school systems across two states. It was possible that individual homes had access to a computer that would do basic skills and functions but not common. There was nothing like waiting for that AOL dial tone to boot up so that I could chat with my friends; however, the idea of using the internet to learn or to research was still a fairly foreign concept. Much changed though over the course of my college career, and by the time I graduated with my degree in English and Education the classroom of my childhood was beginning to morph into something different. We were encouraged to provide students with the chance to explore and use technology, but that was limited to school hours as many of our students still did not have home access to computers or internet. The world has completely changed in the 15 years since I began teaching. More and more colleges are developing entire degrees which can be completed online to help students who work and have other responsibilities. With recent events we have gone from in classroom learning to learning through online video chats with teachers and classmates and work being submitted virtually. But what does all of this mean for the future of education? All of these articles pose, if not all new, interesting and compelling ideas towards the use of technology in education and moving it from strictly being a tool to being something more key to learning.

I believe these articles are more timely now than even six months ago. They each take a different perspective on the idea of technology and education; however, they all point to the same goal. The ultimate goal whether termed as “deep learning” or “literary competency” or “multiple intelligences” is all to meet students in this digital world they live in and use its power to stimulate curiosity, creativity, engagement, and learning. None of this can be accomplished by ignoring the past and simply pursuing a whole new path of learning which is why the Huitt and Rogers articles are so imperative to understanding this concept. Understanding how our society adapts and adopts new ideas plays a key role in the shift to this new idea of a learning partnership between teachers and students. Not everyone will buy-in immediately; however, for those of us who do our students will benefit greatly, and, hopefully, eventually more and more of our colleagues will be swayed.

One of the elements that most made an impression in my reading was a statement in the Fullan and Langworthy article that discussed the idea of trust being integral to student engagement. In my experience, students are busier than ever and therefore become more frustrated than ever with what feels like “busy work” to them. If a student does not trust their instructor to not simply give work just to have work to do (no matter how technologically tricked-out it might be), then they do not engage with the assignment or idea or process even if they complete it; however, if students truly believe that the instructor has a purpose in the assignment that will benefit them as a learner, they are much more likely to become that desired learning partner. This is something I personally would like to set as a goal for myself. I already try to incorporate various learning styles and techniques into my instruction which draw from students’ day-to-day lives and prior knowledge and skills such as multi-modal tiered projects and interactive research assignments; however, I do not always communicate the way in which these assignments help students with learning both inside and outside of my classroom. Hopefully by doing this, students will be more willing to engage with the material and the learning process as a whole.

Digital literacy is also something that I want to help my students better understand. In Hobbs’ article, she makes the point that a major mistake in education today is the assumption that if technology is provided to students they will automatically know how to use it. I see the opposite of this in my freshman comp classes each semester. Many of my students enter my classroom with the ability to shoot and edit video footage or create digital art or even write a blog with great skill; however, when asked to create an essay with a header and one inch margins they are completely lost. Along with this is the fact that helping them to develop research skills is a key component to my courses, but if it cannot be pulled-up within the first five options of a Google (not even Google Scholar) search, they tend to become defeated. With all of the world’s information literally at their fingertips, many students come to me with no understanding and even a good amount of trepidation and fear about what it really means to research something. This intimidation causes a disconnect within them that I want to help them overcome.

Huitt, W. (2011). Bloom et al.'s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/bloom.pdf

Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open-ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.pdf