Sirikt 2015 International Conference

27th – 29th May 2015

Sirikt 2015 International Conference - 27th – 29th May 2015

How to teach critical thinking skills to young children with use of question cards from blooms taxonomy in the ICT tool Mahara?

Darja Farič Klemenčič, OŠ Šalovci

Critical thinking skills can be developed with the use of question cards from Bloom’s taxonomy in the ICT tool Mahara. With questions on the cards pupils are learning to develop critical skills by asking questions, analyzing, developing logical arguments, predicting, relating the text to themselves, evaluating, drawing conclusions, forming opinions, comparing characters with each other, creating extended thinking by making a new ending for the story or making up a new problem for the characters and acting out the stories. Pupils evaluate fairytales in order from their favourite to their least favourite and recommend the stories to others. “Tutoring” is a very appropriate way of working in the classroom because the pupils of the 3th and 4th grades of primary school are not used to ICT tools. The older pupils share the knowledge about ICT tool to the youngest. The work in the classroom was systematical: from profile setting in ICT tool, making critical friendships between pupils to creating a new problem for the Ugly duck fairytale in ICT tool and sharing a document about evaluated story with each other and filling the rubric My learning for the fairytale Rainbow fish. Here pupils are following the steps of formative assessment. They are setting the goals and criterias, establishing their prior knowledge about characters in the story and choosing strategies (role playing game), collecting evidence (video of role playing) and evaluating their assessment. The advantages of learning with ICT tool Mahara consist of in-depth view of self-learning and self-progress. They offer a different approach in the classroom for both teachers and pupils in the elementary school as the pupils evaluate their knowledge and get a feedback from other pupils as well as the teacher. The response from the teacher inspires pupils’ motivation and the wish for achieving set goals.