Lesson 8: Thinking Skills through IT-Based Projects

    I.            I.      Resource-based Projects

In these projects, the teacher steps out the traditional role of being an context expert and information provider, and instead lets the students find their own facts and information. Only when necessary for the active learning process does the teacher the step in to supply data or information. The general flow of events in resource-based projects are:

1. The teacher determines the topic for the examination of the class.

2. The teacher represents the problem to the class.

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

4.Students organized their information in response to the problem/questions.

Traditional learning model	Resource-based learning model
Teacher is expert and information provider	Teacher is guide and facilitator
Focus on facts Information is packaged In neat parcels	Focus on learning inquiry/quest/discovery
The product is the be all and end all of all learning	Emphasis on process
Assessment is quantative	Assessment is quantitative and qualitative

A WebQuest - is am inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by the learners are drawn from the web. WebQuest is designed to use learners’ time well, to focus on information rather than looking for it. It also supports the learners’ thinking at the level of analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

                         II.   Simple Creations

                       Students can also be assigned to create their software materials to supplement the need for the relevant and effective materials.

      In developing software, creativity as an outcome should not be equated with ingenuity of high intelligence. Creating is more constant with planning, making, assembling, designing, or building. Creativity is said to be combine in three kind of skill/abilities:

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

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

Promoting - selling of new ideas to allow the public to tet ideas themselves

The Five Key Tasks

1.  Define the task- clarify the goal of the completed project to the students.
2.  Brainstorm- The students themselves will be allowed to generate their own ideas on the project.
3.  Judge the idea- The students themselves make an appraisal for or against any idea.
4.  Act- The students do their own work with the teacher a facilitator.
5.  Adopt flexibility- the students should allow to shift gears and not follow an action path rigidly.

                                   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 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 simulated a television news show.

                        IV.    WEB-based Projects

Students can be made to create and post webpages on a given topic. But creating webpages, even single page webpage, may be too sophisticated and time consuming for the average students.