Higher Order Thinking with Technology (HOTT) Discussion

Hello Integrating Technology colleagues,

Following yesterday's Higher Order Thinking with Technology (HOTT) webinar with Becky Shiring, I would like to welcome Becky -- and everyone -- to our follow-up discussion today, Wednesday July 11th, through Friday July 13th. The webinar was recorded, and will be available in a few weeks on  the LINCS YouTube channel. There will be a LINCS announcement about that here.

We had some great questions in the webinar, some of which Becky answered but may wish to elaborate on. I have some questions, too. Whether you attended the webinar or not, your questions are welcome. Try to post them now through Friday morning.

For those who missed the webinar, here's some information about Becky Shiring, who has for some time been a member of Integrating Technology.

Becky is the Director of Professional Development & Continued Learning at Squirrels, LLC. She empowers teachers to feel comfortable using technology in the classroom through workshops, coaching and other professional development opportunities. She earned her MA in International Education from The George Washington University and has over 10 years of classroom experience working with a diverse set of adult learners. She started her career teaching English in Vietnam and her expertise lies in working with adult ELLs. She has taught a variety of classes including beginning ESL, Computer Literacy, and Advanced TOEFL. She also spent time as an instructional coach and focused on working to help teachers meaningfully integrate technology into the Adult Ed classroom. Becky regularly contributes to educator professional development by leading conference sessions, workshops and contributing to blogs. She’s the 2015 recipient of the Association for Adult Literacy Professional Development (AALPD) “Rising Star Award” recognizing innovative contributions to literacy-focused PD. Becky has experience in both the education and technology sectors which provides her a unique perspective on the realities of today's workforce and the skills students need for success.

Recent Publications/Posts:

Classroom Q&A by Larry Ferlazzo: Embracing Technology as a Tool for Differentiation 

EdTech Digest: Why Startup Culture is Coming to a Classroom Near You

Please post your questions now.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group

 

Comments

Hello Becky, and others,

To begin, here are two questions about HOTT skills and the world of work:

1. Could you say more about what kinds of jobs you believe require Higher Order Thinking with Technology (HOTT) skills?

  • Professional jobs? Managerial jobs? Jobs in high tech?
  • What about low-wage jobs, or entry-level jobs?
  • How about the kinds of low-wage jobs that many recent immigrants have. Do they require HOTT skills too?

2. You referenced the importance to business of employees’ soft skills in addition to hard skills such as writing, public speaking and data analysis. You described a study that found that 60% of managers thought that new graduates don’t have good critical thinking and problem solving skills, and that nearly 60% of managers thought that new graduates fail to pay attention to detail. In our teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills, how do you see technology playing a role in changing that?

  • To directly teach students these skills, for example through short, perhaps Khan Academy-like videos or through an asynchronous online course?
  • To enable teachers to be more engaging and effective in teaching these skills?  And/or
  • By providing a frustrating, problem-filled environment in which to learn these technology problem-solving skills, what some people call "problem solving in using technology itself" ?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group

 

Hi David and Group Members!

Those are great questions for getting the discussion kicked off!

1. Could you say more about what kinds of jobs you believe require Higher Order Thinking with Technology (HOTT) skills?

I think almost every job out there requires HOTT skills. Technology is pervasive in every aspect of our world including work. For every task in the workplace, there may be 30 different types of tools that can be used to accomplish the task. When a student moves from one job to another, his or her new workplace may use a different system or tool to accomplish the same task (software for clocking in and out, email systems, etc.). For this reason it is important that we not only introduce technology into our classrooms, but teach adaptability and flexibility around technology. The rate at which the workplace is becoming redefined by technological advances and automation, means jobs are being redefined as well. A lot of manufacturing, administrative support and low-skilled labor jobs are at risk of being automated. However, there are projections that this won't mean a shortage of jobs just a shift in the type of jobs available. There are certain types of jobs that can't be easily automated. Those are jobs that require creativity, critical thinking, empathy and other distinctively "human skills". Promoting HOTT skills in the classroom will prepare students to thrive in the workplace of today and tomorrow. This might sound abstract and little like science fiction like so I'll provide an example. Let's look at restaurants. Kitchens are becoming more robotic with machines that have the ability to dice, slice, and flip burgers. But we still need someone who is able to not only monitor and operate those machines but also critically evaluate the quality of the end product. Furthermore, machines don't experiment and create delicious recipes. You need creativity, imagination, and initiative to do that. These are the skills we should be working to build in our students. 

2. In our teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills, how do you see technology playing a role in changing that?

Technology plays a role in teaching critical thinking and problem solving skills in all of the ways you mentioned. Personally, I find the "problem solving in using technology itself" the most impactful. First, it is replicating a real world environment. Whether at work or home, we will all have to deal with struggling through using new technologies. Providing students the opportunity to productively struggle with technology and then reflect on the experience is so valuable. I'll even go a step further and say as we should provide students the opportunity to see us struggle with learning technology. In my classroom we did Passion Projects (you can read about them here). A requirement of these projects was that students had to use technology in some way. Students chose to use PowerPoint, Weebly, Windows Movie Maker, Photoshop, etc. I did not have the time or ability to teach every aspect of every piece of software. To accomplish what they needed to do students needed to work collaboratively, seek out help from others, research online, and take initiative. The end result was students not only learned how to use a new piece of technology, they built confidence and learned how to problem solve. 

I look forward to hearing others' thoughts on this!

-Becky

Hi Becky,

Thank you for an interesting and enlightening webinar. 

I was particularly impressed with the way to connected your activities with various HOTT skills.  If you could provide a sample list of activities with the associated HOTT skills you mentioned, that would be great.  I believe such a list would be beneficial to Adult Education practitioners because it provides concrete examples of higher order thinking skills in action.  

First and foremost, I describe myself as a learner.  I love that you provided a variety of technological resources and activities.  I have heard of several of them, but had not yet used the majority of them in the classroom. For that, I thank you.  I learned new information on so many levels.

And I also think you opened up a whole new world of possibilities.  Rather than provide students with materials and resources that adhere to linear fashion, I admire your ability to think outside the box and supply learners with essentially, just in time technological learning skills, while activating higher order thinking skills.

One area that I did have a concern about revolves around licensing issues.  I ask because I keep hearing about more and more cases where educational centers are getting into trouble for uploading materials and resources without permission.  How do you ensure that the materials and resources you are using will not be construed as misuse of materials?  For instance, do you maintain, or have on file permission to use the YouTube videos within your webinar? 

David,

Could I please receive a copy of the presentation, as well as the associated worksheets?  I used my phone to listen to the webinar, and did not have access to a printer.

 

I really enjoyed the valuable information in this webinar..  

Thank you,

 

Ginette

Hi Ginette,

I'm so glad to hear you found the webinar useful! You can access the presentation here and the accompanying materials here

I like your suggestion to start a sample list of activities. I think it would be great to crowdsource this and get ideas from others. I can work on starting a template with the activities from my webinar that others could add to. 

Your materials question is a tricky one. Copyright law can be pretty complicated and nuanced. The content in my webinars and conference sessions is always used for educational purposes so generally speaking, fair use applies. YouTube has some more information about this here, however if others have resources to add please share!

 

Thanks, Becky, for posting the presentation slides. Everyone, since some of the following questions refer to particular slides here's the link again: 

presentation here and the accompanying materials here

3. In your slide on creating lasting learning, the third step was “Facilitate dialog and deep learning thru questioning.”

  • Do you see this as solely or primarily the role of a teacher?
  • Do you see ways that the teacher could do this not only face-to-face but also in a blended or distance learning model?
  • How does technology help a teacher to do this?

4. You advocate our using social media with our students, but we can't do everything through social media, because that really isn't preparing adult learners for the workforce. And, if we are preparing them for college courses, how are these snippits you suggested helpful? That is not how college classes work. Your thoughts?

5. When you teach English language learners, do you think it’s important to teach them how to use email?

6. In your slide “Skills for Future Success”, in addition to cognitive skills you have two kinds of non-cognitive skills. Interpersonal and Intrapersonal. Among these are empathy, responsibility, flexibility and adaptability, curiosity, self-regulation and self-monitoring and self-evaluation. These were cited as from the National Research Council in 2012. From your experience as an adult ESL teacher, are there other intrapersonal “non-cognitive” or “soft” skills that you might add, like perseverance (“grit”), resilience, passion, or creativity?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group

(I'm going to respond to the above questions in separate replies to keep the length manageable and make it easier for others to share ideas!)

In your slide on creating lasting learning, the third step was “Facilitate dialog and deep learning thru questioning.”

  • Do you see this as solely or primarily the role of a teacher?
  • Do you see ways that the teacher could do this not only face-to-face but also in a blended or distance learning model?
  • How does technology help a teacher to do this?

Questioning is one of the most challenging parts of classroom instruction. It’s the teacher’s role to not only ask cognitively challenging questions but to ultimately have students pose these types of questions themselves.  In addition to asking these questions, teachers need to make sure that all students have an equal opportunity to respond. Technology can help improve classroom questioning in a lot of ways. Online timers and random name pickers can help ensure equitable talk. Using a tool like Google Classroom or Schoology allows teachers to facilitate discussions online that ensure all students have the opportunity to participate and ask questions of their own. These tools can also be used to allow students to preview questions that will be used in class. One tool I love that wasn’t included in the webinar is Flipgrid. This tool allows students to respond to prompts through video. This tool lends itself really well to blended and distance models. Allowing video-based responses in online/blended courses helps engage students, break up the monotony of the traditional discussion board response and gives students the opportunity to practice speaking skills. If you're interested in improving your questioning, I highly recommend the book Quality Questioning: Research Based Practices to Engage Every Learner by Jackie A. Walsh and Beth D. Sattes, it's a great resource!

Hi Becky! I loved your presentation! It's nice to connect with like-minded adult ed tech teachers! I have always wanted to explore instructional design, but have yet to really delve into it. The first time I had students create slide shows was the first time  I realized how beneficial using tech was to students' critical thinking as I watched them figure out how to do different things on their own without my help. I agree about the LMS programs for online discussions; technology allows every person in the room to have a voice without actually speaking. It's always interesting to see how students will not hesitate to speak online, but won't say a word in person. We started using Flipgrid this year as well. I am so happy it's free to everyone now! Again, great presentation. I am looking forward to trying out some of the new (mysimpleshow) tools I learned from you!

Thanks Ashley! I'm glad you found the webinar useful! As a teacher I really started to gravitate towards technology when I realized how powerful it is for giving every student a voice. I was very shy when I was a student and really wish I would have had some of these options to share my opinions. Flipgrid is a great tool! How are you using it with your students?

I have used it as a reflection/exit ticket on a HyperDoc I created in my HSE class and I am really interested in using it for soft skills/career readiness lessons (interview practice). I am also encouraging my ESL staff to use it for language practice in their classes. The thing I love is that even non-tech staff can use it with ease.

4. You advocate our using social media with our students, but we can't do everything through social media, because that really isn't preparing adult learners for the workforce. And, if we are preparing them for college courses, how are these snippits you suggested helpful? That is not how college classes work. Your thoughts?

5. When you teach English language learners, do you think it’s important to teach them how to use email?

I'm going to tackle these questions together because they both relate. Media rich snippets of information are memorable, engaging and fun! While we are in the serious business of preparing students for academic, career and life success, learning should also be enjoyable. I think social media snippets help achieve this. I would also argue that utilizing social media based instruction is helping to prepare learners for the workforce and college. I referenced the concept of “new media literacy” in during the webinar. This is a future ready skill. Students need to know how to effectively create and digest engaging, bite sized pieces of information (IFTF Report, see pg. 24)  Of course, I wouldn’t suggest using only social media snippets alone. I would advocate for a mix of social media snippets and long form reading and writing that is all delivered through some type of LMS (Schoology, Blackboard, etc.).  

In general, the nature of work-based communication is changing (all communication for that matter). I have experienced this first hand. Several years ago I moved from the public education sector to the private technology sector. I went from responding to 15-20 lengthy emails every day to essentially “chatting” with my boss through Slack (and instant messaging tool). Of course, email is still necessary, but instant message style communication is becoming increasingly common and students need to be prepared to navigate this. So, is it important to teach students how to use email? I’d like to ask the following question in response: Is it important to teach students how to use a fax machine? I’m inclined to say no, however, if I had a room full of students that had to use fax machines at work, I’d certainly say yes.  Adult learners have unique needs and classroom contexts vary drastically, so there is no simple answer.  I would start by asking students what types of technology they already use at work, what they want to know and what type of academic or career goal they have. Then I would try to strike a balance between teaching skills that are immediately useful and skills that will be useful to them for achieving future goals.  Simple, right? 

6. In your slide “Skills for Future Success”, in addition to cognitive skills you have two kinds of non-cognitive skills. Interpersonal and Intrapersonal. Among these are empathy, responsibility, flexibility and adaptability, curiosity, self-regulation and self-monitoring and self-evaluation. These were cited as from the National Research Council in 2012. From your experience as an adult ESL teacher, are there other intrapersonal “non-cognitive” or “soft” skills that you might add, like perseverance (“grit”), resilience, passion, or creativity?

There are so many soft skills and they're ALL so important! If you really want to feel overwhelmed check out this list of 87 of them! . I'm inclined to say adaptability is the most important. This is the skill I see referenced over and over as the most in demand in the workplace. But many of our students already come to us with a tremendous amount of adaptability. Think about students who can't read that have learned so many methods for navigating different systems. Or immigrant students who have suddenly found themselves having to operate in a place that has a different language and different cultural values and norms. This is a real advantage that many of our learners have that others do not. This is something we should help our students recognize and also celebrate. 

You mention creativity in your question above. Creativity and innovation are skills that help set a person apart from others in the workplace and create space for opportunities and advancement. But in my experience, many students haven't ever had the opportunity to build this skill. In fact, many of my students didn't even realize this was a skill. It's easy to brush off creativity as something non-essential. I used to do it myself as I was plowing to get through curriculum so students could learn every verb tense. But then one semester I took a risk and decided to heavily focus on PBL and let students complete passion projects. I quickly realized that for almost all of my students, no one had ever asked them to get creative and think outside of the box. In fact, for a lot of my students, this was actively discouraged in school and life. It took a lot of modeling and coaching to get them to take a risk and think creatively. One way I did this was to invite my brother, an artist, into the classroom to talk about creativity and do an art project with students. I also had students do a lot of reflecting around creativity and soft skills to build self-awareness. I just had students keep a "blog" in a running Google Doc (see example below). This allowed me to dialogue with them and give recommendations and encouragement. When my students were offered this opportunity to create and innovate, the end result was beyond what I ever imagined they could do, from both a language and technical standpoint.

Hello Becky and others,

Thank you, Becky, for these very thoughtful answers to questions from webinar participants, and to my own questions.

I encourage others to post questions today -- Thursday -- anytime, and tomorrow morning. You may also have some follow-up questions in reply to some of Becky's answers. If so, please post them now.

Questions

7. Could you tell us in more detail what you would include in “New Media Literacy” and why you think it’s important to teach these skills?

8. We know that sometimes a picture, or a video can explain things more easily than words. What’s really new about these new media skills?

9. Some people might agree that illustrations (photos or drawings) or videos are the best way to explain some things, but might disagree that they are always a better way. Can you give some examples of when you would recommend pictures or videos, and when you would instead recommend text?

10. One of your slides suggests that we meet students where they are (using social media like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Schoology). Okay, but how do we use these social media tools to accomplish teaching higher order thinking skills? Can you give us some examples of how you have done this as a teacher?

Later today, I will post more questions that were asked in the webinar that focused on particular tools: Google Keep, Thing Link, Padlet, Sketch Note, and My Simple Show. If others have questions about these tools, please post them today or tomorrow morning.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group

 7. Could you tell us in more detail what you would include in “New Media Literacy” and why you think it’s important to teach these skills?

New Media Literacy refers to the rapidly changing nature of the way we produce and consume media. Think about the world before the internet existed and how rapidly the world changed after the internet became easily accessible. Before we consumed and interpreted information at a fraction of the speed we do today. That speed is only accelerating and we need to teach students how to responsibly and critically consume this information. I think we apply the term "new" because it's different than anything we've experienced before. I'm not sure how long the term media literacy has been around but I remember 5 or 6 years ago applying media literacy concepts in my classroom to teach students how to search for and evaluate information on the internet. Contrast that with what we are faced with today: Google, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, YouTube, Infographics, Blogs, Email, Videoconferencing, 24-hour news, wearables, voice activated home assistants...feel overwhelmed yet? It's our responsibility to teach students how to navigate these different tools and also how to utilize them in a way that is responsible. Everything we do is everywhere, so we need to be cognizant of the messages we are sending when we use these tools. They affect our both our personal and working lives.

8. We know that sometimes a picture, or a video can explain things more easily than words. What’s really new about these new media skills?

In addition to what I mentioned above, I think the prevalence and even pervasiveness of these types of media is new. There is now an expectation to convey meaning in less than 2 minutes. Speaking personally, I devote Friday and Sunday to reading long form articles but outside of that, if i can't get to the gist of things in the couple of minutes or so I'm moving on. And if you think that's bad, my young nieces are even worse! Since transitioning to the tech sector, I have been exposed to and learned a lot about general marketing concepts. It's very eye opening to see how the masses expect to receive media and what is considered "eye catching".

9. Some people might agree that illustrations (photos or drawings) or videos are the best way to explain some things, but might disagree that they are always a better way. Can you give some examples of when you would recommend pictures or videos, and when you would instead recommend text?

I am obsessed with infographics. I love the way that an infographic can succinctly summarize an entire concept or 50 page report in one short page. They use charts, graphs, images, text and color. They're beautiful to look at and informative. This sort of thing is great for quickly conveying a message. I like to use them in workshops, conference sessions, and repost them on social media. However, when I want to do a deep dive into something, text is the way to go. I have spent the past 5 years or so researching the intersection of higher order thinking and technology in education. Once a month, I'll visit ProQuest and print, yup print, any relevant research based articles I can find. I highlight, annotate, and revisit them all the time. You should see the tattered pages of the National Research Council report I referenced in the webinar! So, we still need text for deep dives into concepts and we also need text for communication like we're doing on this discussion board. I wouldn't really be able to answer these questions as thoroughly if I was trying to use video or images. Text allows us to chew on information and thoughtfully react and respond. 

10. One of your slides suggests that we meet students where they are (using social media like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Schoology). Okay, but how do we use these social media tools to accomplish teaching higher order thinking skills? Can you give us some examples of how you have done this as a teacher?

We should use these tools following the same, solid research-based practices we've always utilized. The emphasis should not be on the tool but the approach. For example, I start a semester or school year sharing and teaching through PowerPoint and gradually move towards expecting students to be able to produce their own presentation. With social media I can start by sharing and teaching through social media and then move towards expecting students to produce their own social media messages related to whatever concept I'm teaching Additionally, we can also use social media tools to teach evaluation and analysis skills. Social media is great for teaching students to analyze perspective for example. Have students look at the social media accounts for Fox News and The Washington Post an compare and contrast viewpoint.

11. What is “Google Keep”? How do you use it to teach higher order thinking skills?

12. What is, and how do you use, Thing Link, especially to teach higher order thinking skills?

Padlet:

13. Can students comment on each others’ posts?

14. Is padlet free?

15. Do you – does anyone -- know a good tutorial or webinar for using Padlet?  I don't really know how to use it. My Padlets never seem as cool as when I see presenters give their examples.

Sketch Note

16. What is the Sketch Note App and how do you use it?

17. Someone commented that Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano http://langwitches.org  does lots of sketchnoting.  Are you familiar with her work?

18. How do you have students submit their sketches? By email? By printouts?

My Simple Show

19. How do the students share the My Simple Show?

Flikr

20. Is Flikr free?

21. You mentioned a variety of great tools. But exposing adult students to more than one tool at a time can be overwhelming. Some students have trouble with basic navigation and logging in to websites. Do you have any strategies to deal with this challenge?

22. I can see where these tools are good for kids in class day after day, but how do you integrate any of this into a one or two hour adult training class?

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group

11. What is “Google Keep”? How do you use it to teach higher order thinking skills?

Google Keep is a bookmarking tool that allows you to create notes and lists, and add photos, audio, and web links. It’s free and is a great tool if you’re already operating in the Google ecosystem because everything integrates. You can use Keep to teach Higher Order Thinking Skills by having students categorize ideas, create virtual posters or students can use it to help manage resources for projects.  

12. What is, and how do you use, Thing Link, especially to teach higher order thinking skills?

Thing Link is a site that allows you to create clickable, interactive images. Basically you upload an image and then add clickable points in the image that take you to outside resources (video, image, sound). Here’s an example explaining the Human Body. Thinglink can be used to support higher order thinking by having students create explainer posters, timelines, or even book/movie reviews and analysis.

Padlet:

13. Can students comment on each others’ posts?

Commenting can be turned on and off by the owner of the Padlet. You can also turn on and off reactions to posts (like, upvote, etc.)

14. Is padlet free?

Padlet uses a freemium model. You get 3 free boards with your account and then have the option to subscribe to access more boards and features. Pricing info can be found here.

15. Do you – does anyone -- know a good tutorial or webinar for using Padlet?  I don't really know how to use it. My Padlets never seem as cool as when I see presenters give their examples.

Padlet has a YouTube channel with a bunch of how to videos here. You can also just Google Padlet in Education and you’ll find a ton of examples and resources.

Sketch Note

16. What is the Sketch Note App and how do you use it?

SketchBook is a free app created by AutoDesk. You just download the app onto your device and start using the tools. There are drawing and text tools. You can find help on using the tool here.

17. Someone commented that Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano http://langwitches.org  does lots of sketchnoting.  Are you familiar with her work?

I am not familiar with her but will definitely check her out, I love learning about new resources. Thanks for sharing!

18. How do you have students submit their sketches? By email? By printouts?

You have to option to share from the app so students could email, put it into a Google Drive folder or print it among many other options!

My Simple Show

19. How do the students share the My Simple Show?

Students are able to download the video or upload it to most social media platforms and email.

Flikr

20. Is Flikr free?

Yup, Flickr is 100% free

21. You mentioned a variety of great tools. But exposing adult students to more than one tool at a time can be overwhelming. Some students have trouble with basic navigation and logging in to websites. Do you have any strategies to deal with this challenge?

I think it’s important to, first and foremost, communicate and even model that it’s ok to struggle with technology, everyone does. Here are a few other useful strategies:

  • Provide them resources for extra practice. GCF Learn Free and SeniorNet are two of my favorites
  • Determine if accessibility tools like text to speech or speech recognition might help
  • Introduce relevant language ahead of time. You can also let student know which tools you’ll be using in advance so they have a chance to preview them
  • Take tech skills into account when creating groupings. Create mixed tech ability groups so students can help each other

22. I can see where these tools are good for kids in class day after day, but how do you integrate any of this into a one or two hour adult training class?

If you only have a limited amount of time with a group, I would recommend focusing on 1-3 tools that accomplish the goals of your training. When I facilitate workshops, I almost always use some sort of survey/participation tool like Backchannel Chat or Spiral. Then I’ll usually use some sort of camera-based activity in conjunction with Flickr or FlipGrid to capture what people have learned. Padlet is also a really great tool to gather feedback and house any resources.

Hello Integrating Technology Colleagues,

Last week's Higher Order Thinking with Technology Skills (HOTTS) discussion, with Becky Shiring, has now ended. I want to thank Becky for her insights into the need for HOTTS for adult basic skills (including ESOL/ESL) students, for the many helpful free or inexpensive digital tools she described, and for her suggestions of ways to use these tools with adult learners.  As you may know, Becky is a member of the LINCS Integrating Technology group, so if you have follow-up questions you could post them here, although she may or may not be able to immediately respond as she did in last week's discussion. In a few weeks, Becky's webinar on HOTTS that led to the three-day discussion will be available on the LINCS YouTube channel. There will be an announcement on LINCS about that when it's posted.

Thanks, too,  to the 160 or so people who joined the webinar, and the well-over 200 who have viewed this discussion so far, and especially to those who have posted questions and comments.

David J. Rosen, Moderator

LINCS CoP Integrating Technology group