Digital thinking

Trin

ity C

olle

ge D

ub

lin

How can we generate intellectual rigour in digital environments?

In ages past, great teachers took students to a library, and supported

them in learning from those resources.

We must now do the same with digital environments ie take them there, and support them in learning from those

resources.

Dodecahedron thinking Digital thinking

Teacher learning Passion

Four approaches

A pending Web 3.0 World Of Thinking

ConstructivismInstructivism

MetacognitivismConnectivism

Why really has the world

developed ICT??

If we started all over again, how

would we design schools?

Dodecahedron thinking??

Dodecahedron thinking??

•The internet as a brain

•Processes for utilising collective intelligence

•Brain implants for online access

Dodecahedron thinking??

kurzweilai.net

Dodecahedron thinking??

Dodecahedron thinking??

Dodecahedron thinking??

Dodecahedron thinking??

Dodecahedron thinking??

The 20% policy??!

•Virtual learning delivery (eg Second Life islands; gaming environments; Wiimotes; I-Pads; brain caps)

•Global classroom inquiries - Kids Helping Kids

•Your IP for sale at ITunesU; also rated on some version of Rate My Learning

•E-Learning? M-Learning? B-Learning concepts?

Second Decade learning??

Brain caps??

Some techno-issues!!?

• Online ‘space’ must be used creatively. It’s not just for collating content.

• Some (many?) students have more time than many teachers do to skill themselves online.

• Many students have little idea of how to advance their learning with ICT.

• Low level thinking projects can encourage online plagiarism. Intellectualise everything!

Plagiarism sites?

Possible responses?

Digital brain issues

• Multi-tasking? Single-tasking?

• Shorter attention spans impeding the ability to ponder and solve a lengthy problem?

• The word ‘memory’ is spelt g-o-o-g-l-e

• Capacity to ascertain the validity of online content?

Some dodecahedron thinking options

•Develop a Future Focus• Possible / Probable / Preferable

•Generate daily Challenges

•Endlessly search for Best / Next / Zest Practice exemplars

Present and future action

•What do we presently do well?

•What else could we do?

•What else will we do?

THINKING CLASSROOMS

Practical strategies for promoting higher order thinking and deep understanding

Tony Ryan

6th November 2010

Digital thinking

How could we code ‘digital thinking’?

1. Students are engaged only in lower-order thinking; i.e., they either receive, or recite, or participate in routine practice and in no activities during the lesson do students go beyond simple reproduction.

2.Students are primarily engaged in routine lower-order thinking a good share of the lesson. There is at least one significant question or activity in which some students perform some higher-order thinking.

3.Almost all students, almost all of the time, are engaged in higher-order thinking.

Productive Pedagogies, DET, Q’land

Poor Sensational

Creative intentDry content

Irrelevant to the topic

Interesting material

Highly thought-provoking

Degree of research

๏ Hasn’t been authenticated

Strongly substantiated

Wiki thinking??

How could we code the quality of thinking while playing WOW?

WOW does have

some merit!

• There is no ‘formula’ for developing these questions

• They can be: Philosophical / provocative / quirky / thought-provoking / unusual / intriguing

• Examples of focus questions?

• How could we viral market our school?

• Are we really what we eat?

• Which toy would choose you?

• Is more ever enough?

• Why did FaceBook become so successful?

• Does happily ever after really exist?

Rich focus questions for units

Provocative questions??

• Why do you believe...?

• Could you give an example of that?

• Are you suggesting...?

• What reasons do you have for saying that?

• Could you clarify that comment?

• Why did you find that interesting?

• How do you know that?

Student inquiry!??Q. What do we already know about this issue?

Q. What are our questions?

Q. What learning steps will we take?

Q. What and how will we research; and is it useful in answering our questions?

Q. How will we share our findings?

Zestful inquiries!!• When possible, develop an inquiry about

contemporary issues in their lives

• Base the inquiry upon an intellectually rigorous question

• Generate interest with a provocative intro lesson

• Give your inquiry units some exciting titles (name them after a movie or a piece of music)

• Design an icon, a metaphor or a general image to represent the inquiry

Some great ICT applications

• A specific awareness of their own thinking

• Begin with an explicit self-talk lesson

• Constantly model your own self-talk

• Ask them: What (and how) are you thinking as you work on this learning?

The most critical single factor in teaching children

to think: Self-talk

Thinkers Keys

An example of using the Thinkers Keys in a process

Solutions

Free I-Phone app for you

What we really need to use as a unit study: Real life with real

people

47

WeBreathe

Another free app for you

Visual Stimulus• Children process images 10 000 times faster than text

• Students can recall 90% of images 72 hrs later, after 10 secs exposure of each; even 63% after one yr (‘Brain Rules’ - Lee Crockett)

• Only 10% retained from verbal

• Can rise to 65% even if you reinforce the verbal with a visual

• Develop a visual database of ongoing classroom achievements

Jamie Livingstone

Cool Iris

The impact of a single image!

The origin of the expression: ‘Daylight robbery’

How to find a degree in Beijing: Just call one of

these numbers!

Some digital thinking options

• Develop coding for digital pedagogy elements

• Inject intellectual rigour into digital tasks and focus questions

• Get very visual

Present and future action!

•What do we presently do well?

•What else could we do?

•What else will we do?

Teacher inquiry!??Q. What do we already know about this issue?

Q. What are our questions?

Q. What learning steps will we take?

Q. What and how will we research; and is it useful in answering our questions?

Q. How will we share our findings?

Into practice

• What teacher inquiries are taking place in your school over the next six months?

• What explicit teacher learning opportunities take place every day in your school?

• What great practices have been retained in 2010? What new practices have been developed?

Factors involved in a 1-on-1 implementation

Choice of device/s

Funding models

Support mechanisms

Insurance

Reliability + resilience of devices

Security (on- and off-line)

Ph

ase

On

e

Teacher learning Re-writing of assessment tasks for

a digital world

Student voice in the implementation phase The school’s pedagogy

models supporting a one-on-one philosophy

The connectivist theory in practice

Ph

ase

Tw

o

Use the Genius Bar concept

Some Teacher Learning Options??

• A Centre For Teacher Excellence within the school

• A requirement that each teacher clarifies his / her philosophy on teaching

• Worldwide collaborations / sharing mechanisms

• Professional buddy systems

Present and future action

•What do we presently do well?

•What else could we do?

•What else will we do?

Refining our humanity in a

digital environment??

Sustainable practice in schools?

•Professional learning

•Professional dialogue

•Continuous reflection

How do you sustain good practice??

• When you manage to sustain a worthwhile practice in your life (eg healthy eating; saving money), what strategies keep you going?

• When you manage to sustain a worthwhile practice in your professional life (eg a teaching process that you hear during this day), what strategies keep you going?

‘The Leadership Coaching Guide’

A possible dialogue1. What do you need to achieve?

2. What’s happening right now?

3. What could you put into action?

4. What will you put into action?

5. What will be the process for implementation?

6. How will you keep this going??