Standard 2.4 Higher Order Thinking SkillsCandidates model and facilitate the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills (e.g., analyze, evaluate, and create); processes (e.g., problem-solving, decision-making); and mental habits of mind (e.g., critical thinking, creative thinking, meta-cognition, self-regulation, and reflection).
(PSC 2.4/ISTE 2d) |
This WebQuest was developed for ITEC 7445 in the Spring semester of 2016 and it serves here as my artifact for standard 2.4. This WebQuest was designed to help teachers learn to troubleshoot a few of the most common issues seen by technology support at McConnell Middle School. ISTE standards for troubleshooting and problem-solving were used to the design and the assessment. The WebQuest was designed as a scenario-based project to teach troubleshooting techniques even as the user was being assessed.
Standard 2.4 specifies the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills, processes, and habits of mind. This WebQuest does, indeed, use a mix of technology-based resources to facilitate a learning experience that requires teachers to apply higher order thinking skills to complete the task which also serves as the assessment. The WebQuest requires teachers to use and apply existing knowledge as well as demonstrate fluency with systems to overcome some simple yet potentially show-stopping problems. The troubleshooting process itself is one of the best ways to invoke higher-order thinking in an authentic way.
As this WebQuest was planned and developed, I went from building a web-based resource to thinking of how this resource might fit into a broader push to address technical problems in a more efficient way. I also began to see how this activity might motivate some teachers to build their own WebQuest. I also learned a great deal about myself and my staff as I asked staff members to complete the WebQuest and then give me their feedback. While this activity helps facilitate higher-order thinking, I also wanted to model a formula for attacking technical problems in an organized way. Half the battle is understanding that you can fix the problem and once they gain that mindset, the problems fall into line. Seeing the results of this WebQuest in use has inspired me to look at simulations that might allow teachers to confront a wide variety of technical issues in a non-threatening arena. When a teacher selects the wrong answer on the assessment I included videos modeling the correct procedure. In fact, I am hoping that this activity combined with my capstone project may form the basis of a comprehensive resource to allow staff to solve many of their own technical issues. Going forward, I would expand this to include more and more common technical problems. The fact is that, once the process of troubleshooting is learned, most problems begin to look the same.
Educators have long agonized over how to teach and assess higher-order thinking skills. With the current rush to embrace PBL, it would seem the time may be right to revisit the humble WebQuest. While many digital tools and resources have emerged that seek to facilitate the development and application of higher order thinking skills, WebQuests, which are familiar and readily understood by most current teachers, allow teachers an extensible framework to quickly build an inquiry-oriented lesson. If the WebQuest is carefully constructed, their students have an opportunity to transform collected information into constructed knowledge and then, perhaps, even use that new knowledge to achieve a highly authentic task. I have learned that most teachers are very interested in becoming more self-reliant and actually enjoy the confidence they gain from exploring the troubleshooting process. Indeed, I have received far fewer emails this year to reset student passwords. So far, the anecdotal evidence suggests that this is increasing instructional time which can only have a positive impact on student achievement. However, we will conduct a thorough review of tech support tickets at the end of this year to see if the reported number of these issues has indeed decreased.
Standard 2.4 specifies the effective use of digital tools and resources to support and enhance higher order thinking skills, processes, and habits of mind. This WebQuest does, indeed, use a mix of technology-based resources to facilitate a learning experience that requires teachers to apply higher order thinking skills to complete the task which also serves as the assessment. The WebQuest requires teachers to use and apply existing knowledge as well as demonstrate fluency with systems to overcome some simple yet potentially show-stopping problems. The troubleshooting process itself is one of the best ways to invoke higher-order thinking in an authentic way.
As this WebQuest was planned and developed, I went from building a web-based resource to thinking of how this resource might fit into a broader push to address technical problems in a more efficient way. I also began to see how this activity might motivate some teachers to build their own WebQuest. I also learned a great deal about myself and my staff as I asked staff members to complete the WebQuest and then give me their feedback. While this activity helps facilitate higher-order thinking, I also wanted to model a formula for attacking technical problems in an organized way. Half the battle is understanding that you can fix the problem and once they gain that mindset, the problems fall into line. Seeing the results of this WebQuest in use has inspired me to look at simulations that might allow teachers to confront a wide variety of technical issues in a non-threatening arena. When a teacher selects the wrong answer on the assessment I included videos modeling the correct procedure. In fact, I am hoping that this activity combined with my capstone project may form the basis of a comprehensive resource to allow staff to solve many of their own technical issues. Going forward, I would expand this to include more and more common technical problems. The fact is that, once the process of troubleshooting is learned, most problems begin to look the same.
Educators have long agonized over how to teach and assess higher-order thinking skills. With the current rush to embrace PBL, it would seem the time may be right to revisit the humble WebQuest. While many digital tools and resources have emerged that seek to facilitate the development and application of higher order thinking skills, WebQuests, which are familiar and readily understood by most current teachers, allow teachers an extensible framework to quickly build an inquiry-oriented lesson. If the WebQuest is carefully constructed, their students have an opportunity to transform collected information into constructed knowledge and then, perhaps, even use that new knowledge to achieve a highly authentic task. I have learned that most teachers are very interested in becoming more self-reliant and actually enjoy the confidence they gain from exploring the troubleshooting process. Indeed, I have received far fewer emails this year to reset student passwords. So far, the anecdotal evidence suggests that this is increasing instructional time which can only have a positive impact on student achievement. However, we will conduct a thorough review of tech support tickets at the end of this year to see if the reported number of these issues has indeed decreased.