Project Zero Perspectives: Making, Thinking, Understanding

"It's not about the technology. It's about learning." Workshop participants will learn to develop opportunities for students to make their thinking visible with technology (MTVT). With freely available Web 2.0 tools and social media students can engage in thinking routines to provide evidence of their thinking and demonstrate their understanding of course content in multiple ways (images, audio, video, presentations, artwork and more). Lessons and activities that integrate the thinking routines with technology often simultaneously incorporate 21st century skills. Thus, Making Thinking Visible with Technology (MTVT) provides opportunities to weave together many of the tenets and best practices featured in myriad educational innovations and reform measures. Such lessons and activities can promote higher-order thinking skills and deep reflection, increased student engagement, technology integration, creativity, digital citizenship, evidence of student performance and understanding, along with related curriculum and content standards. Given that teachers often voice concern about about the lack of time to incorporate all of these various standards, skills, topics and techniques into their classes, rather than trying to "cover" each of these in isolation, MTVT helps us to engage students in rich learning opportunities where these elements support and complement one another. In David Perkins’s words, it's an opportunity to make learning whole. Participants will learn about the MTVT framework, design lessons and collect practical tips.