As I take a brief interlude from my daily blogging regime to develop a workshop, I am pleased to share an archived copy of a monthly article I wrote a couple of years ago…

As busy educators, we could easily complain that we are already stretched by time and the higher standards and demands of No Child Left Behind regulations. We could easily dismiss the additional demands identified as 21st Century Skills. However, if you take time to read over the 21st Skills framework, I believe you will find that the standards and the skills compliment each other. As a technology integration specialist I also feel that technology can be used as a tool that supports our state standards and builds on the 21st Century Framework. Good technology integration also motivates and helps students learn.

“Learning and innovation skills increasingly are being recognized as the skills that separate students who are prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments in the 21st century, and those who are not. A focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is essential to prepare students for the future.” [Partnership for 21st Century Skills]

Below, I have included a few ideas and resource links that you may find helpful as you strive to build learning opportunities that emphasize creativity and critical thinking skills.

Creativity

Dean Rieck, president of DirectCreative.com has written an excellent article/editorial that describes how he feels computer technology has helped free us from linear thinking:  How Technology Changed Creativity.

Digital Photography as it Support Creativity

Digital photography has opened creativity and made photography more affordable.   If you would like to learn more about selecting a digital camera  read over the information brochure I put together for a seminar we hosted in our school a couple of years ago.  A few digital photography-related resources follow:

• Flickr – If you have not used this free service it’s time to set up an account! Registration is free. You can upload photos so they can be seen with a password or open to the world. If you have not used this product yet I would recommend that you take the Flickr tour after you sign up for your account.
  • Integration idea: upload photos from a class field trip. Students can help upload the photos as they develop tags and descriptions for each photo. You can also place the photos on a map showing where the field trip took place and look at photos from other flickr participants who took photos near by (different classes could post different photos to the map, for example). Ask students to show the photos to their parents and leave a message or comment.
  • Create a book (at a cost). Download the free software Blurb to create a classroom memory book at the end of the year.
• FlauntR – sign in for a free account that will allow you (and your students) to apply 1000s of digital photo effects to your images with just one click. Use the online photo album feature for photo storage and access. Share creations by email and edit pictures online for embedding on your web page and blog. You can even apply cool digital frames and effects to to your photos.
• Picasa – Picasa is free software that makes it easy and fun to view, organize, edit and share the digital photos on your PC. Picasa won’t delete your pictures or put them online without your permission.
• Photo Story 3 – I have put together a resource site (and also teach a workshop) that tells you how to access this free program that allows you to add photos, record narration (you would be surprised how easy it is to hook up a microphone…a cheap one is fine…and record voices in this program).
  • Use Photo Story 3, a digital camera, craft supplies for backdrops, modeling clay, and lots of imagination to create curriculum-focused claymation videos. Visit my Claymation Animation WebQuest for details and to view examples. I also teach a Claymation/Animation workshop that has been popular with students and teachers. Students are very creative and innovative as they create their script, props, and plan the motion of each digital shot.
  • We have used Photo Story 3 for all kinds of K-12 curriculum focused projects. Younger students draw pictures, we photograph the pictures, and import them into Photo Story 3. Then, each child takes a turn reading a story about the picture they drew. We add music and voila! Students love the projects and learn from each other as they listen to students record and later watch the complete movie.
  • PhotoStory 3 also lends itself to Webquests. Access my Authors’ Quest to view a webquest that explores Authors. The site includes samples that help clarify the process. We also incorporated Photo Story 3 and PowerPoint in our Red Ribbon Quest.

A Couple of Additional Resources that Support Creativity

• Sketchcast.com – this simple-to-use online tool allows any user to create a “recording” of a drawing without narration. Draw on a “whiteboard” space on the computer screen (you do have the option to record yourself talking as you draw). The finished product is available as a mini-video (recorded in Flash) that can be shared via URL or embedded in a blog or wiki. Be aware…your students can see any Sketchcast that has been made on the site, so content may NOT be appropriate to all classrooms. There is a link to report any abuse of the site. Please work with this program and think about the maturity level of your students prior to using it with students.
• Pando – Pando is free Peer- to- Peer software that makes downloading, streaming and sharing large media files fast, easy and fun. Need to email large attachments, IM a folder, or publish your downloadable videos to the Web? Maybe you’d just like to watch full-screen HD Internet TV. Meet Pando. This product could be helpful if students would like to share or turn in larger projects/assignments (digital projects can become quite large).

Critical Thinking

Definition
While critical thinking can be defined in a number of different ways, I favor Michael Scriven’s and Richard Paul’s definition: “Critical thinking is that mode of thinking – about any subject, content, or problem – in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them.” Visit The Critical Thinking Community web site to read their complete article.

Critical Thinking Resources on the Web
There are a number of online resources where you can learn more about critical thinking. I have included my top choices below:

• The Critical Thinking Community web site – Look for the K-12 strategies and samples and the articles for students.
• Critical Thinking On the Web – There are excellent resource links to articles, blogs, web sites, etc. Look for the link that will allow you to sign up for the e-mail listserv.
• Critical Thinking Resources for Teachers – a site posted by East Tennessee State University.
• Critical Thinking and Bloom’s Taxonomy – Use my online tool Using Bloom’s Cognitive Domains to Develop Learning Objectives, Critical Thinking Assignments and Assignments to develop learning objectives, questions, and assignments that focus on higher levels of thinking.

Critical thinking strategies identified by the Georgia Department of Education:

• Circle of Knowledge
  This strategy acts as a framework for effective discussions from the standpoint that it involves posing a question to the whole class, then moving into cooperative learning groups for additional examination of the issues. Usually the discussion then goes back to the whole class for further discussion. Wiki’s and Blogs could be used to implement this strategy. Students could also build graphic organizers in groups and rotate from computer to computer to read and add to each group’s graphic organizer. Use Inspiration™ or Kidspiration™ or try using online organizers. [See my following Concept Mapping posts for suggestions:  Reproducible Graphic Organizer Resources, Create Graphic Organizers Using Generators & Web 2.0 Apps, Link to Graphic Organizers: It’s a Wrap (for now)]
• Assessing Thinking and Learning
  Use assessment techniques such as rubrics, observation checklists, and portfolios.
  • Online rubric tools and resources you could use include: Rubistar, Teach-nology, Rubric Machine, and Rubrics4Teachers
  • Online resources for observational checklists include:  Forms for Observations and PBL Checklists (great resource!)
  • Portfolio resources/strategies can be as simple as using a PowerPoint template or using online resources like those available at Portfolio.com (free, but limited account available).
• Concept Attainment
  This is a strategy designed to teach concepts through the presentation of examples and non-examples. Students develop hypotheses about the concept as examples and non-examples are presented. Then, they determine the characteristics that make the concept different from others. Students demonstrate that they have attained the concept by generating their own examples and non-examples. Visit the Journey to Excellence site to learn how you can develop a lesson that implements this practice.
• Compare and Contrast
  students’ analyze similarities and differences to implement this strategy. Graphic organizers can be be used as students gather and judge data; then, students are asked to draw conclusions, make predictions, and synthesize the information. Use the Compare and Contrast Recipe link found at my Recipes to Good Writing site to download supporting materials students could use to write a Compare & Contrast Essay.
• Decision Making
  Students make decisions about content or evaluate decisions made by historical figures as they study background information, examine decision-making data, establish alternatives, and analyze consequences.  Students share and provide support for their decisions and analyze the decisions of others as they practice consensus building and debating skills. Finally, students predict long-term effects of decisions and form and test hypotheses.  Computer simulations like Lemonade Stand lend themselves to this decision-making strategy that emphasizes critical thinking skills. Look for the free history simulations at activehistory.co.uk or create your own decision-making scenarios using the trial version of Quandary.
• Inductive Learning
  Students connect new content with their prior knowledge when they use inductive learning. Students generate and/or examine seemingly unrelated data and group and label the data to draw conclusions or make predictions based on their analysis of the data. There are many inductive resources for math teachers mixed in the vast links available at the King’s List of On-line Math Activities.
• Inquiry/Mystery
  The goal of this strategy is to pique student curiosity with a question, riddle, or mystery. In the Mystery Strategy, students examine clues either given by the teacher or collected through research. In the Inquiry Strategy, students gather data by asking yes or no questions of the teacher or by seeking answers in books or using online resources. WebQuests and Scavenger Hunts can be used to implement these strategies. Visit my WebQuests and Web-Based Activities site for details (check the Theory link).
• Metaphorical Expression
  Direct analogies, personal analogies, and compressed conflicts are used to teach new concepts or to deepen students’ understanding of already known concepts.  Pete’s PowerPoint Station has posted some excellent PowerPoints that will help you teach students the concept of using metaphors. Students could also use digital photographs  to develop visual metaphors.
• Strategic Interdisciplinary Teaching
  Curriculum Alignment, Curriculum Enhancement, Curriculum Integration, and Differentiated learning strategies are used to integrate content from other disciplines and the real world. Giving students opportunities to collaborate online using tools like Skype, Google Documents, Blogs, and Wikis could help students develop projects (and greater understanding about a concept) with other classes or students across the world. Virtual tours also provide excellent interdisciplinary opportunities.
• Student-centered Integrated Learning
  Student-centered learning styles, interests, needs, and abilities of students are integrated with strategies and tools. Online learning style surveys are an excellent way to help students understand their personal learning styles. Two of my favorites include learning-styles-online.com and LDpride.net.