Linking things?

As a teacher, it is imperative to discern whether or not a digital technology is useful for the classroom or for aiding professional learning. Technologies can be critiqued through the RAT scale (Hughes et al., 2006) identifying if it is a replication, amplification or transformation. Students should be utilising technologies that amplify or transform their knowledge in order to enhance creative thinking and a child’s sense on agency. Digital technologies promote student engagement across all key learning areas.

ThingLink is an image enriching software that simulates a brainstorm or labelled diagram. A base image allows you to then add annotations of information and additional links to outsourced videos. The work is able to be shared electronically and is accessible for students to make their own or for teachers to use as part of a whole class discussion based topic in a lesson. It is accessible on all devices, but requires an account and payment for a classroom set-up. It could be used in the classroom as an alternative to a mind map drawn on the whiteboard. For a Science lesson, students could brainstorm and discover the steps encountered in the life cycle of a frog. With each brainstorm annotation, it is possible to provide more information through a text box or external video link. This would be best constructed by teachers as it is a time-consuming exercise. It provides a sense of amplification as this content would be more engaging than a search engine or a simple whiteboard brainstorm.

Upon evaluation, this technology would not effectively foster student engagement or creativity due to numerous impracticalities that hinder time-efficient learning. The time taken for a Stage 3 student to create a ThingLink would outweigh the learning benefits it may provide. Similarly, as a teaching tool both the cost and preparation required render this resource as redundant. According to Hughes et al. (2006), “computer technology has the potential to transform more than student mental processes” (p. 1619). Digital technologies should lessen teacher direction and promote student collaboration and ownership of learning.

References

Hughes, J., Thomas, R., Scharber, C. (2006). Assessing Technology Integration: The RAT – Replacement, Amplification and Transformation – Framework. Department of Curriculum and Instruction. University of Minnesota: USA, 1616-1620.