Task 1

The first task I was exposed to in the Managing E-Learning subject was to complete a series of questions guided by the de Bono's thinking hats, drawing from my personal views on the use of mobile phones in classrooms, to assist learning. This asked me to reflect about the learning that was facilitated in the mobile phone wiki.

When I finally gained access to my moodle the day the first task of the assessment was due I was overwhelmed  to say the least. I had no prior experience with a wiki or the De Bono's thinking hats and infact had very little knowledge or understanding about anything technological. In a fluster I clicked on the wiki and started scanning the page, back and forth reading what other people had written.  Within a few minutes of looking at the wiki I was able to assure myself that it was really quite simple.  Once I clicked on the edit button I could easily see how to add and change the colour and style of my text.

When I learned that the wiki was revolved around our thoughts about the use of mobile phones in the class room, I smiled as my thoughts immediately took me back to two years ago when I was sitting in senior English, texting my friend across the classroom only somewhat aware of the teacher up the front waffling on about the importance of Shakespeare's work.  As the realisation came over me that In a matter of years I hope to be that poor teacher, I could have only one opinion and that was; phones definitely have no place in a classroom.

I opened up a word document and starting off with the negative hat, my thoughts poured out about all the reasons that I was opposed to phones in the classroom. As I continued in the activity the scaffolding of the wiki allowed me to read other students opinions and therefore gain more ideas and opinions of my own. The different de Bono's hats forced me to  look at the issue from a range of perspectives, from a negative and positive to a creative, intuitive, and objective point of view as well as the process of ideas that takes place to take me from one point of view to another.

I think the de Bono's thinking hats was very beneficial in allowing me to see this issue from a range of perspectives, it reflects slightly on cognitivism allowing us to see how our cognitive thought processes worked as we were forced to engage in a higher order of thinking.  The wiki also allowed me to easily read other people's opinions about the topics to therefore better my own. I found the wiki to be very user friendly and would definitely  consider it for use in the classroom to better the learning of my students.

Link to de Bono's hats 17