It is more than likely that most reading this blog would have grown up in a school environment where mobile phones either didn't exist or were banned from the classroom. If I asked you to think about the topic of mobile phone use in the classroom, would most of your responses be like this?
Am I right? You are not alone. I instinctively thought "why are educators giving students another device to disconnect from their peers by allowing mobile phones to be used in the classroom?" My opinion was firm...or so I thought.
My initial response of no, was before I embarked on the journey to become a Secondary School Teacher and was asked to evaluate the topic of mobile phone use within the classroom using de Bono's Hats and a wikispace and then reflect upon the learning activity. The activity required including my responses into each hat area on a wiki. I was required to select a group which had no more than six participants.
I had never heard of Edward de Bono's six thinking hats nor did I understand what a wikispace was. This led me on a digital age journey of discovery utilising the learning theory connectivism. I Googled, accessed YouTube, browsed Wikipedia and Edward de Bono's website for an in depth understanding. I can now confidently say that through these resources, I understand.
What are Edward de Bono's six thinking hats? It is a tool that requires you to think about a topic using a particular coloured hat. Each hat has a different focus as illustrated below.
What is a wiki? "A wiki is an application, typically a web application, which allowing collaborative, modification, extension, or deletion of its content and structure." (Wikipedia)
This type of learning activity fitted in with the social constructivism learning theory - it allows social interaction. I was able to view other participants responses to ensure I was on the right track before I entered my responses - I was silently 'bouncing ideas'. This ensured other participants that were more knowledgeable than me scaffolded my learning. I was conscious that I did not copy answers, I wanted to think of different ideas for each of the coloured hats. I wanted to add to the collaborative process. I knew that as long as my idea fitted in with the concept of the hat colour I could not be wrong....no matter how 'left field' my idea was.
Edward de Bono summed it up perfectly by stating that "the main restriction on thinking is ego defense...the hats allow us to think and say without risking our egos." (de Bono 1985)
However, a word of warning there are some issues that could present a problem:
If I did not fully comprehend the topic and participation is compulsory then I could cheat or summarise another participants response.
Due to the high number of participants in the Graduate Diploma of Teaching and Learning Course it was inevitable that double ups would occur.
Solution for a classroom situation: ask students to present an original idea. If their idea is already there, then encourage them to think of another. This would ensure deep knowledge though higher order thinking.
One of the most frustrating things that could occur when editing the wiki - your original work, your brilliant idea, your defining moment could be lost. The wikispace is self monitored and at times messy and if others are editing the page at the same time your work could be deleted by accident. Deleting participants responses could also be deliberate.
I am lucky that I was familiar with the 'undo button' function, as I copied my answers right over the top of another students. I could have had a lot of explaining to do!
Solution for a classroom situation: write down your thoughts first in a word processing document, then cut and paste your responses. This would ensure that the whole process is owned, controlled and managed by the students.
A huge drawback in utilising this activity in a classroom situation would be that it's very time consuming. I am sure as a teacher I would be filtering the student's responses to ensure that the students responses were legal, safe, ethical and adhered to the schools policy guidelines.
I certainly know I would not like to be known as 'that' teacher that missed something that could potentially be putting the students at risk or worse get me fired!
In participation of this weeks reflection activity I found myself questioning if using de Bono's hats and a wikispace achieved all the eight pedagogical principles. Yes, all eight could be achieved. If you would like know more or refresh your memory on the eight principles click here.
However, my view is that teaching is more than just checking off a list of principles. Teaching is about finding information on how your students learn best and connect with them. It's understanding if an activity planned would best suit them as a learner and achieve learning gains. If this type of activity would not work, then it's up to me as a teacher to find another activity that would.
Personally, I would like to utilise de Bono's thinking hats and a wiki within the accounting and legal studies subjects. I see it giving that one shy person a voice and to get students think 'outside the box', knowing there is no right or wrong answer. But...I have said it before and I will say it again...GET TO KNOW YOUR LEARNER.
Now, I challenge you to rethink your answer on the topic of mobile phone use in the classroom using de Bono's hats and a wiki. Will your initial response change? Mine did!
Thank you for enjoying my journey.
JRay.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Eight pedagogical principles. Link
REFERENCES:
de Bono, E. (1985). Six Thinking Hats. Cox & Wyman, Great Britain: Penguin Group
A Brief Overview of Learning Theory. Accessed 16/03/2015. Retrieved from:
What is Pedagogy? What is Digital Pedagogy? Accessed 17/03/2015. Retrieved from:
Working legally, safely and ethically online: the issues. Accessed 18/03/2015. Retrieved from:
All Images: Google Source
Wikipedia. Accessed 15/03/2015. Retrieved from:
Hi Janita,
ReplyDeleteI like to think of reading over the responses of peers on the wiki as "gleaning insight" and "avoiding duplicate answers" ;)
I confess I did read over quite a few of the groups as I was writing my answers. I can see your point about cheating though - and it wouldn't really count as participating if a student just copy and pasted answers. I guess that's why teachers need to moderate the wiki space.
Nice blog post. Hope all is going well for you.
Jaime