Assessment Task 1- Analysis of digital technologies

This week’s activity involved participating in an online collaborative wiki relating to the highly debatable discussion topic of “mobile phones within the classroom.” The activity is designed within an online space to model an approach to collaborative learning.

The activity incorporated De Bono’s six thinking hats to scaffold learning when contributing to the online wiki. Incorporating the TPACK framework the activity allows the learner to engage with complex thinking. Bloom’s taxonomy of higher order thinking identifies levels of knowing from simple to complex. Below is an example of Blooms hierarchy within the digital realm.
In the classroom the goal is always to create complex thinking.

This learning experience forced me to delve into the unfamiliar and slightly uncomfortable methods of higher order thinking. As I am a strong positive person who always looks into life with creativity and hope, taking on certain “hats” within this learning experience ensured that I looked into this topic from all sides of the spectrum.

This activity within the classroom is an excellent learning tool when teaching students about different perspectives. Students are using higher order thinking skills to support facts relating to the “hat” they are wearing. The "Six Thinking Hats" allows the learner to identify the positives and negatives relating to a topic. It is scaffolding of thinking that makes is such a valuable resource within the classroom. 

The design and purpose of an online wiki, creates collaborative discussion using digital technology. This method of learning can stimulate ideas, engage learners, expands their knowledge and creates meaningful experiences.

The learning theories behind this activity are based on social constructivism and connectivism. Social constructivism is the theory that social interaction positively influences learning. This theory combined with the learning theory for the digital age “connectivism” created the 21^st century way of learning.

The learning "Wiki" forum was easy to navigate and was found to be user friendly. The ability to copy and paste a word document into the wiki made the process simple for a first time user.  Users need to ensure that when editing the wiki they are considerate to others posts and to ensure they do not delete others work. 

I personally found this activity challenging and engaging. Using digital technology created a platform that allowed students from all over Australia to collaboratively work together and share ideas. As I changed from hat to hat my thoughts, opinions and ideas changed and how I originally looked at the statement. 

I just learnt! 

Imagine what my students could learn!