Reflective Synopsis on eLearning: Additional Thoughts & Conclusion

Higher Order Thinking

Higher order thinking (Education Queensland, 2002) occurs when students are required to transform information and ideas using a variety of mental processes which could include: synthesising, generalising, explaining, hypothesising and arriving at some conclusion. Students can use higher order thinking to solve problems, gain deeper understanding and discover new meaning.

Lower order thinking is required of students when learning occurs solely through repetition, memorisation and reproduction. Learning outcomes are limited and predictable when only lower order thinking is required. Behaviourist learning occurs in this way. 

If used effectively, higher order thinking can occur for each of the ICTS mentioned in this synopsis. For example, a wiki could be used as a way to present researched information and investigation online, synthesising the research gathered and researching some conclusion in regards to a hypothesis. Likewise, a blog should not simply be used as a way to reproduce information, but to reach warranted conclusions through higher order processes of thought. Learning objects range from the lower order thinking to higher order thinking processes. That is also, from behaviourist and cognitivist learning objects to those requiring the more constructivist “problem solving” skills. Again, higher order thinking can occur when constructing a PowerPoint presentation, but only when information isn’t simply repeated, but is transformed by synthesising, generalising, explaining etc.


Creative Thinking

Creative thinking, which is another important habit of mind (Mazarno & Pickering, 1997) can occur when using each of the ICTs as well. A creative person has the ability to persevere, to push the limits of their knowledge and abilities, to generate, trust and maintain their own standards of evaluation and to generate new ways of viewing a situation that may be outside the boundaries of standard conventions.

Students have the opportunity to practise these skills within each of the tools. For example, group collaboration within a wiki can allow an individual student to see beyond their own initial point of view and understanding through social interaction. A student can begin to generate, trust and maintain their own standards of evaluation through personal reflection of their thoughts and ideas when learning new content. A complex constructivist learning object could require a student to persevere through a “real world” simulation task. Students can push the limits of their knowledge and abilities in constructing a PowerPoint presentation, if they are not simply reproducing the information learnt but transforming it, by for example, creating an interactive PowerPoint presentation.


Netiquette, Copyright & Safety

Participating in the digital world, like so many things, is not without responsibility. It is not simply enough for students to interact without care or caution amongst the online community. It is important for the learning manager to teach students about netiquette, copyright and safety online. Gaining an understanding of this is a key aspect of being digitally literate, as it takes into consideration the social conventions of the digital community.


Conclusion

The world is always changing and as learning managers we need to continually adapt to this by transforming what and the way we teach to accommodate the needs of the students. This means that we have to be lifelong learners in order to stay up-to-date with technologies, professional standards and other societal evolutions. Learning managers also need to embed the qualities of a lifelong learner in their students so that they too can develop an ability to cope and adapt to change. Change is inevitable thereby the ability to positively respond to it is vital.