Critical Thinking
This ability to think critically is an essential skill for graduates of higher education. In my instructional design role, it is the single most requested skill by employers. And yet, there isn't agreement on how students should think critically. The ability to think critically is not acquired in isolation. It is a skill developed among all learning experiences. "Teaching critical thinking requires teaching the grammar of rational thought" (Oljar & Koukal, 2019).
Research suggests that students' critical thinking skills are enhanced when content is presented using multiple representations to simplify concepts. In the image shown, key ideas linked to course resources are presented visually. Using technology to foster critical thinking skills enables educators to use a variety of formats to offer content to students. The image shown was created using Google Slides. It presents key topics in a visual format. In my experience, students are more likely to access linked information from visual elements than they are to access the information from a text-based document. Click or tap the slide image to view the content.
Research suggests that students' critical thinking skills are enhanced when content is presented using multiple representations to simplify concepts. In the image shown, key ideas linked to course resources are presented visually. Using technology to foster critical thinking skills enables educators to use a variety of formats to offer content to students. The image shown was created using Google Slides. It presents key topics in a visual format. In my experience, students are more likely to access linked information from visual elements than they are to access the information from a text-based document. Click or tap the slide image to view the content.
The key topics were added to one Google slide. The Google presentation was published to the web, and a URL from which the slide can be accessed was generated. I took the additional step of generating a QR code using a free, web-based generator. The QR code is easily shared via the learning management system (LMS). My experience indicates that content shared via QR code in the course site is much more likely to be accessed repeatedly than the URL (represented by the QR code) when embedded in text-based content. Access can be analyzed using the tracking features provided in the LMS.
By offering students options, accessibility is enhanced and critical thinking skills encouraged. QR code access is easily analyzed using the tracking features provided in the LMS. I can use the tracking information to critically analyze how students are using the content provided. Based on the analysis, I can determine how I wish to further engage students using a variety of methods to represent content.
By offering students options, accessibility is enhanced and critical thinking skills encouraged. QR code access is easily analyzed using the tracking features provided in the LMS. I can use the tracking information to critically analyze how students are using the content provided. Based on the analysis, I can determine how I wish to further engage students using a variety of methods to represent content.