Technology and Higher Order Thinking
Over the last 25 years, the use of computers in schools has transformed from electronic worksheets to interactive multimedia formats (Jonassen, 2000; Siegle, 2004a). In the 1980s computers were typically used as drill and practice tutorials, requiring little in the way of higher order thinking. In the 1990s, computer usage began to evolve. As the Internet became available in more classrooms, computers were being used as tools to gather and present information. Students were required to analyze, synthesize, and communicate information--characteristics of critical thinking. Today, as technology becomes ubiquitous in the nation’s classroom, computers are being incorporated in a more dynamic fashion. The available technology enables students to utilize a variety of skills and formats toward a single purpose, such as digital storytelling (Porter, 2006). It should be noted that the presence of dynamic technology in a classroom is insufficient to encourage higher order thinking. Oliver and Hannafin (2000) found that students did incorporate higher order thinking in technology-driven tasks only after instruction in critical thinking skills.
Siegle and Foster (2001) reported that students do benefit from the open access to technology through the use of laptop computers, appropriate software, and constructivist activities, as compared with peers who did not have open access to technology. Their study was inconclusive as to the attributing factor in student achievement. The factors influencing achievement were confounding and no indices could be identified as specifically influential. It is likely that student achievement was a result of the combination of open access to technology, the different perspectives offered through software, and the construction of knowledge through presentation activities requiring research and analysis.
Constructivist theory is particularly appropriate for the discussion of the use of technology to develop higher order thinking. Jonassen (2000) uses the term mindtool to describe the use of computers and other technology to construct knowledge. The term mindtool is synonymous with cognitive tool, which is a mental or computational device that extends and supports the thinking process (Liu & Bera, 2005). Jonassen (2000) specifically defines mindtool as “computer-based tools and learning environments that have been adapted or developed to function as intellectual partners with the learner in order to engage and facilitate critical thinking and higher order learning” (p. 9). He suggests that the computer, when used as a mindtool, aids in scaffolding information and maintaining student engagement with the information. Mindtools aid in the thinking process; they assist students in extending beyond their zone of proximal development, the zone between the learner’s existing and potential characteristics (Jonassen, 2000). Jonassen suggests that this cognitive expansion is due in a large part to the nature of the current technology when used as a mindtool. It is also possible that student interest in technology, either through novelty or practiced interest, may also permit students to lower their inhibitions with new knowledge and stretch into new realms.
Constructivist pedagogy embraces authentic learning environments, which are student-centered and goal directed (Land & Hannafin, 2000). In a constructivist classroom, students work independently on authentic tasks and the teacher circulates as a facilitator. Gifted students thrive in such an environment (Siegle, 2005).
An example of a technology-oriented student-centered task is the creation of multimedia presentations, such as digital documentary films (Siegle & Foster, 2001). Movie making software, such as Apple’s iMovie or Microsoft’s MovieMaker, is rapidly becoming available in classrooms nationwide. Through using this type of software, students are able to combine film and photographs, sounds and music, and text and transitions to create an original product. Nonlinear in nature, digital filmmaking provides students an opportunity to collect materials and information and edit them in such a way as to best develop a story or line of reasoning. The availability of primary source material on the Internet and in digital archives provides students with previously unfathomable access to a variety of knowledge. Creating a documentary requires students to access these sources, gather available information, determine relevancy, and structure the material in a meaningful way. The selection of sounds and images requires students to critically analyze information and judge the appropriateness and significance of each. Siegel (2004b) identifies four modes of learning associated with technology: acquiring, retrieving, constructing, and presenting information. Digital video production uses all four modes. Students use technology to research information, capture images and sound from the Internet, construct meaning from the information they have acquired, and present it through the filmmaking process.
In addition to the creation of digital products, technology can be used to create a portfolio of student work (Siegle, 2005). Electronic portfolios, maintained on either flash drives or net servers, enable students to reflect and analyze their previous work and progress. Reflecting on their educational development allows students to develop a mature level of metacognition, a key component in higher order thinking.
Technology and the Gifted Adolescent
Technology should be an integral component of the adolescent gifted student’s education for three reasons. First, technology is continuously part of the teenager’s life. The gifted individual is able to seamlessly integrate technology into daily interactions (Lenhardt, Madden, & Hitlin, 2005; Roberts, Foehr, & Rideout, 2005). To ignore the presence of technology and the student’s interest in technology would be negligent. Second, educators must prepare students for the world of tomorrow’s technology (Burkhardt et al., 2003). Future innovations are on the horizon, and educators can ensure that students are able to utilize technology as a way to develop higher order thinking and collaboration--both goals of gifted education and keys to 21st century literacy. Third, gifted students typically possess skills that are particularly effective when using today’s technology, specifically abstract thinking and rapid processing (Siegle, 2004a, 2005).
To use effectively the multimedia format of current technology, it is necessary to combine information from a variety of sources to construct meaning. Information on the Internet can be seen as a series of puzzle pieces. It is the task of the user to put these individual pieces together to create a whole picture. Gifted students are able to transfer knowledge from one venue to another, which enables them to see the larger picture. This skill is particularly effective when utilizing multimedia formats such as digital filmmaking software, which requires the integration of music, text, and images to tell a story. Technology provides opportunities for creation limited only by an individual’s skill and creativity. A blank screen is a blank canvas awaiting text, images, color, transitions, sounds, and much more. To demonstrate how to incorporate technology in the middle grades gifted curriculum, an example lesson that infuses technology within a gifted seventh grade social studies class is provided (see Appendix A).
Gifted students benefit from the use of technology. Today’s teen is engulfed in a world full of information and media. These students, whether or not they are talented in technology-specific fields, possess skills that enable them to maximize the use of current innovations. Incorporation of instruction that uses the computer and other technology as a mindtool is essential in gifted education. Requiring students to construct their own meaning through on-line research; to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information; and then to present their work via a multimedia platform is the embodiment of the curricular goals of gifted education (Renzulli, 1977).
Future Directions
There are numerous essays and literature reviews analyzing the role of technology and 21st century literacy skills; however there is little in the form of empirical research. The research that has been conducted is tangentially related to higher order thinking. Typically, the studies are subject-specific and usually focus on a specific program or software product. Liu and Bera (2005) addressed the role of problem solving. However, their evidence for problem solving development, a change in the use of cognitive tools, is related to a specific computer program in an isolated problem solving activity. Siegle and Foster (2001) examined the use of PowerPoint, but, it was ancillary to other program materials and the effects could not be attributed to PowerPoint, media or other methodologies. This study also focused on achievement in a certain field--not on the development of higher order thinking. What is lacking is an analysis of higher order thinking and other 21st century skills when students are engaged in the use of technology available in most classrooms.
Appropriate gifted education involves the development of higher order thinking, critical thinking, and collaboration. Twenty-first century literacy skills incorporate all of these characteristics. Gifted education should include the development of literacy for the digital age. The question remains, however, as to what is the best path to take in order to accomplish this desired literacy. Logic dictates that the incorporation of technology in a constructivist learning environment will encourage 21st century literacy. Unfortunately, at this time, there is little evidence to support this logical supposition. Further empirical studies are needed to remedy this gap in information.
Today’s teenagers live in a digital world. It is incumbent upon educators to utilize the students’ digital culture and talents to develop the skills and knowledge they will need to become successful in their future lives. Meaningful education in the 21st century includes a constructivist approach to the use of the technology. If educators incorporate the gifted students’ talents and their digital culture, then the goal of educating truly literate citizens is feasible.
