Higher Thinking Skills Through IT-Based Projects

These are the four IT-based projects conducive to develop higher thinking skills and creativity among learners:

I.RESOURCE-BASED PROJECTS

•  the teacher steps out of the traditional role of being an content expert and information provider, and instead lets the students find their own facts and information.
• when necessary for the active learning process does the teacher step in to supply data or information.   

General Flow of  Events in Resource-project

     a.The teacher determines the topic for the examination of    the class (e.g. the definition of "man")

     b. The teacher presents the problem to the class.

     c. The students find information on the problem/questions.

    d. Students organize their information in response to the problem/questions.

• the central principle in finding information is to make the students go beyond the textbook & curriculum materials. 
• students are also encouraged to go to the library, particularly to the modern extension of the modern library, the Internet.

II.SIMPLE CREATIONS

• students can also be assigned to create their software materials to supplement the need for relevant and effective materials
• there are available software materials such as Creative Writer on writing, Kid Work Deluxe on drawing and painting, and Media Weave on multimedia.
• creativity as an outcome should not be equated with ingenuity or high intelligence.
• Creating is more consonant with planning, making, assembling, designing, or building. Creativity is said to combine three kind of skills/abilities.

   1.Analyzing- distinguishing similarities and differences/seeing the project as a problem to be  solved.

         

          2.Synthesizing- making spontaneous connections among ideas, thus generating interesting or new ideas.

            

            3.Promoting- selling of new ideas to allow the public to test the ideas themselves.

III. GUIDED HYPERMEDIA PROJECTS

• the production of self-made multimedia projects can be approached in two different ways:

           1. As an instructive tool, such as in the production by students of a power-point presentation of a selected topic.

            

            2. As a communication tool, such as when students do a multimedia presentation (with text, graphs, photos, audio narration, interviews, video clips, etc. to simulate a television news show. 

• to develop creativity, the five key tasks may be recommended:

         1. Define the task. Clarify the goal of the completed project to the student.

           

         2. Brainstorm. The students themselves will be allowed to generate their own ideas on the project. Rather than shoot down ideas, the teacher encourages idea exchange.

                         

       3. Judge the ideas. The students themselves make an appraisal for or against any idea. Only when students are completely off track should the teacher intervene.

                         

         4. Act. The students do their work with the teacher a facilitator.

                         

          5. Adopt flexibility. The students should be allowed to shift gears and not follow an action path rigidly.

IV. WEB-BASED PROJECTS

• students can be made to create and post web pages on a given topic. 
• creating webpages, even single page webpages, may be sophisticated and time consuming for the average student.
• however, that posting of webpages in the Internet allows the students(now the webpage creator) a wider audience.
• they can also be linked with other related sites in the Internet.
• this creativity project may be to ambitious as a tool in the teaching-learning process.