Thinkingtools-Intel+education


 * 6th July 2008 ~7.00- 8.30** Using Intel Teach Online Thinking Tools with teachers and students.

The [|Intel Education Initiative] provides //free tools and resources for educators to support collaborative student-centered learning. Online thinking tools are active learning places where students engage in robust discussions, pursue investigations, analyze complex information, and solve problems.//

The Intel Teach Thinking with Technology course is one of three available courses for teachers in Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and most recently in South Australia. Australia is one of over 40 countries who participant in the program. Each of the professional development courses are designed to support teachers to create a unit of work that supports inquiry driven, student-centred learning activities. The three courses currently offered are:
 * [|Intel Teach Essentials Online]
 * [|Intel Teach Thinking with Technology]
 * [|Intel Teach Essentials]

Intel Teach courses use a train the trainer model which supports whole school integration of ICT across the curriculum. In every course teachers develop a pedagogically sound curriculum unit that addresses multiple domains in [|Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS).] (see also appropriate curriculum standards or outcomes in [|NSW], [|Queensland] and Sth Australia.)

The online thinking tools are designed to help teachers develop students' critical thinking and collaborative skills. This page contains links related to the Intel Online Thinking tools created by Intel Education.

There are three online tools that are freely available to interested educators and teachers [|Visual Ranking Tool:] allows students to identify and refine criteria for assigning ranking to a list; and then debate differences, reach consensus, and organize ideas. [|Seeing Reason Tool:] investigate relationships in complex systems, creating maps that communicate understanding. [|Showing Evidence Tool:] construct well-reasoned arguments that are supported by evidence, using a visual framework.

As part of the course, teachers develop a unit of work that is developed around the integration of higher order thinking skills an inquiry driven design and a recognition of the need for 21st Century skills. The Intel Education website provides a very deep and comprehensive resource for teachers. The unit of work that is created by teachers during the course is **framed by curriculum questions** ([|Curriculum Framing Questions]) that encourage open-ended discussion and inquiry. Through the unit structure teachers are encouraged to consider the types of 21st C skills that students will need and then to consider the higher order thinking needs that

Teachers can create their own management work space in which they can keep all of the activities they have created for their students. This space allows teachers to assign student groups to the activities, design and adjust teaching activities and store students results and responses to use for assessment. This space also provides a link to an [|Assessment workspace] where the teacher can find, create and save assessment artifacts such as rubrics, checklists, scoring guides etc.

One example of how the tools have been used is in a project we did last year with a school in Andale Kansas. Our project asked students to think about their impact on their local community. The project was called Being Green and the [|two schools collaborated through a wiki] and the online thinking tools.