I believe this forum is reflective of all of the above.
The Mobile Phones in Schools wiki could be described as behaviourist as it gave me the opportunity to practice and re-shape the way in which I went about my thinking of this topic. De Bono’s Thinking Hats gave me a scaffolded way of learning ‘how’ to thinking through a topic, with planned steps that can be taken again in the future with other topics. I can use this to change my behaviour, and my future student’s behaviour, when it comes to thinking issues or ideas through.
This wiki could also be described as constructivist, as I started with what I knew and had experienced and developed from this through research and reading, guided by De Bono’s Thinking Hats. It was an exercise in Social Constructivism as I could read and engaged in the current thoughts and views of my peers, and access the current social and cultural research findings and reports of this topic.
I believe it was cognitive in structure as I allowed me to think about my thinking. It gave me a variety of angles, in a safe environment, in which to think about and discuss the Mobile Phone in Schools topic. It engaged a higher order thought process by analysing this topic, and evaluating research reports, peer opinion and my own understandings.
I most definitely ‘Connected’, via the internet, with my peers, other members of the public, Australian Bureau of Statistics, researched articles and reports, as I felt I did not have the required prior knowledge and I wished to participate in this discussion with a more informed opinion.
Reflect on your own personal participation in the wiki. What are the benefits, issues, drawbacks of participating in a wiki like this?
I benefitted personally by participating in this wiki as it stimulated thoughts, gave me new perspectives with which to look at this issue, gave me an idea on what/how other people saw this issue, encouraged me to research this topic/issue, gave me an opportunity to practice a scaffolded activity and to think more deeply about thinking. I also benefited by being able to participate in my own time, at my own pace, at my own place. I liked being able to research further, and back-up or change my thoughts and ideas. I also liked being able to pre-type and articulate/edit before expressing these thoughts. It was a low-risk environment with which to voice my opinion. It gave me an opportunity to voice my opinion when I otherwise may not have. I was able to complete each Thinking Hat individually, as I found the time and opportunity, and post when I was able to.
A personal issue I experienced with this wiki was internet connectivity and computer problems. Without both of these working properly it made it impossible to participate in this wiki. I did manage to start posting on the wiki, then on returning to the site I had so much reading and catching up to do.
A Question: can more than one person be editing a wiki at the same time?
How would it contribute to the learning of your students?
Like myself, my students would have the opportunity to engage in a group, or whole class, discussion that allowed participation, and a voice, for all students. It would give individual students the time to think about and articulate what it is they would like to say. If students were given class time to enter into a wiki, but did not complete the activity they would then be able to finish in their own time at a time more convenient to them. I think wiki’s could be scaffolded in many ways; such as the Expert Jigsaw and De Bono’s Thinking Hats that have been used in this course.
How did the scaffold support the collection of a range of perspectives?
Using a wiki platform and the De Bono scaffold allowed individuals to note down their opinions and understanding. It gave the individual the opportunity to see how other people viewed the same issue, allowed the opportunity to respond to another’s point of view, and to reflect and change or further develop their own opinion. Using the Thinking Hats gave ‘thinking structure’, collected all ideas related to a certain way of looking at the issue together, and made for easy analysis of ideas and opinions. A consensus of opinion could be easily obtained from this scaffold.
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