De Bono’s Thinking Hats and mobile phones.

I feel very strongly about the invasion of mobile phones and hand held devices in our everyday life.  When presented with the question: Should mobile phones be used in the classroom? I answer with an immediate “no”.   The reason De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats framework works so well is that the politics and ego is removed from thinking making people think more creatively and constructively (De Bono, 1995).  By taking the time to approach the question via the Six Thinking Hats I was able to be more objective and consider different points of view.

I generally find wikis to be “clumsy” and lacking in intuitive technology.  There were multiple tabs on the side which were similar in name and could easily be confused.  We were warned to save our input to a word document and to be aware that multiple users logged on at the same time can cause issues.  Participants were asked to keep their responses to 40 words which was ignored adding to the clumsy look of the wiki.

However, I do see the merit in this activity.  Wikis are seen as student centred technology where students can learn collaboratively (Lee, 2012). I wonder though whether people may be influenced by  previous answers.  I found myself reading the other entries several times before putting in my own entries.  This was not to copy but to make sure that I was doing it right.  I wonder though if there is the danger that students may be influenced by incorrect responses on the wiki.  I believe that to make this more productive for a classroom, students should not be able to see what others have written until they have inputted their own response first.

By externalising our knowledge we are helping others construct their knowledge while confirming our own knowledge base (Moskaliuk, Kimmerle, & Cress, 2012).  Vygotsky and Piaget professed that learning happens both individually and socially.  A constructivist approach is one where people try to make sense of new experiences based on their prior knowledge (Snowman, et al, 2009).  People would also be connecting with others in an asynchronous fashion (Siemens, 2005).  This wiki activity was a mixture of constructivism and connectivism. For some, a wiki may have been a new experience but prior knowledge of computers, websites and word processing would allow them to construct knowledge on how to navigate a wiki.      

I prefer verbal synchronous communication for joint construction and would only use a wiki if the students were being assessed on their ability to use technology.  However, if I was to use a wiki in my classroom I would ensure that a clear framework was in place to guide students in their thinking so they were not left wondering where to begin.

References.

De Bono, E. (1995). Teach yourself to think, (pp 44-52) London: Viking.

Lee, L. (2012). "A Learning Journey for All": American Elementary Teachers' Use of Classroom Wikis. Journal Of Interactive Online Learning, 11(3), 90-102.

Moskaliuk, J., Kimmerle, J., & Cress, U. (2012). Collaborative Knowledge Building with Wikis: The Impact of Redundancy and Polarity. Computers & Education, 58(4), 1049-1057.

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism. Retrieved from www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Snowman, J., Dobozy, E., Scevak, J., Bryer, F., & Bartlett, B. (2009). Psychology applied to teaching.  Milton, Qld.: John Wiley & Sons Australia.