I did not know anything aout 2nd life however I visited the website and it was pretty cool. I think this is a fun way of students identifying their own personality or character by choosing an avatar and socializing. I did not sign up but I can just imagine the endless fun that students would have with this. As we move toward the use of smart phones, IPADs, notebooks and other technological tools, we should incorporate more technology into the course room. I also found interest in problem based learning as well because it allows you to be creative and create case base scenarios and allow students to analyze and formulate outcomes. This promotes critical thinking and reasoning.
Fonzette Smith-Leavell
I think using debate and discussion are good ways to use critical thinking assignments. Students have to say more that just "yes or no". They have to give a detailed explanation on why they think the way they do.
Michael,
Sounds like a great plan of action and one that students should relish. They can see problem solving in their own lives and really begin to ask the important questions.
Renee Shaffer
One critical thinking assignment is problem solving and decision-making is conducted daily in our personal lives as well as in businesses, with that being said decisions are made and I present the critical think by asking a simple question like, after working for your current company or one in the past, how would you revise the mission statement and / or goal of the company to meet new changes in technology?
I also remind them to not forget that they are losing 20% of the company employees by years end, I previously illustrate that by using ten key questions, he was able to efficiently come up with an idea to help lower the amount of work we were performing (Hammond, Keeney & Raiffa, 1999, p. 218).
1. What is my problem?
2. What are my objectives?
3. What are the Alternatives for my choices? A
4. What are the consequences?
5. What are the tradeoffs and does any objectives conflict?
6. Do the uncertainties pose concerns?
7. How much can you take?
8. The future gains/costs/money/etc.?
9. Obvious or not?
10. What should I be working on to make this happen?
These are to guide the student make them think hard about people and the mission.
I have never used the Second life program but it sounds rather interesting.
Michael
Yvette,
My students don't really want to use Second Life. How about yours?
Renee Shaffer
I would go with acting out assignments that I have used online before and reflection, which I have tried to encourage in discussion boards.
I like the ideal of using Second Life and the concept of the flipped classroom. If a student is able to take a topic and create questions, then it presents a higher order of thinking versus researching the answer.
Reflection addresses the main need of most of my students. They are used to writing down the first thought that comes into their head; questioning and expanding on that first thought rarely occurs.
I also like debates but I did find that it is very hard to do. I do like the idea of social media to do this. Thank you for that.
Mamie,
Many students have never had the experience to self-reflect and others might find it odd. So it is best to give examples for them to follow believe it or not!
Renee Shaffer
I find self-reflection to be essential to the student's progress in an online learning environment. Students are able to identify their strengths and weaknesses, while also creating a plan of achievement. This is where they can document their progress in meeting predetermined guidelines. By the student understanding their weaknesses, they can begin to find ways to strengthen that area.
M. Allen
Christi,
Lately, I have been hearing from students that they haven't ever really been told how to reflect. Sad, but true so give them lots of advice and guidelines.
Renee Shaffer
Reflection is very important to life-long learning. I think when students have the ability to reflect, they are more prone to remembering concepts well after class is over that they can apply in the personal and professional lives.
Dr. Christi Monk, DM
I like Second-life and the jigsaw puzzle approaches. By having a place for students to have fun debating in a virtual environment (gaming type simulation) is a very interesting concept. Jigsaw in my mind spawns critical thinking skills on another level. When I think of puzzles and how complex they can be, it helps me to see how the jigsaw approach can cause students to be more actively engaged in conversations around strategy and the best approach towards problem-solving.
Dr. Christi Monk, DM
Yes Shundra!
Group-based projects allow for critical thinking and provide a sense of community among peers.
I found the Second Life and Toon Doo to be really fun, creative and great ideas to promote critical thinking throughout the online learning course experience. Students will be engaged and excited in their learning experience. This allows for PBL (Problem-based learning) and another example are utilizing case studies which provide real-life application.
I found the BYOD activity ("Bringing their own devices (BYOD) such as smartphones and tablets to the online environment, students could come to the online class with questions to be answered by the class and have a healthy “give and take†discussion session") very interesting. I'm not sure how this would be implemented in an online classroom, but given the popularity of handheld devices and the enjoyments students get from using them, it would make for a very productive critical thinking exercise.
Another concept in which students "teach instructors" also sounds interesting. I've had many students who offer urls, and other information sources for me to use in the classroom. I really appreciate this interaction and usually offer an incentive for students to do so. It involves the students in the search for information and they seem to appreciate adding their input to the course materials.
Hi,
I've never used Second Life but it sounds like an exciting and an extremely effective tool for active learning!
Paula Bordenkecher
Hi,
Coming from middle and high school instruction, so much of this is very familiar to me and is based upon my own teaching philosophy. My students and I loved problem based learning (although we used the term: Project based learning). Case Studies were some of my favorite projects and the students loved that the focus was more about the actual process of problem solving and not the "correct answer." It takes students awhile to get out of the habit of searching for the answer and valuing the school of thought that all ideas have power and meaning. This to me, is the blue print of effective instruction.
Paula Bordenkecher
Dori,
So true. They love investigating in groups.
Renee Shaffer
