The Mobile Phones Wiki/de Bono's 6 Thinking Hats Activity

George Siemens proposed connectivism and he stated that, it is important to identify how and where to find knowledge than it is to know. This is what I feel that I have achieved by completing this task. I feel that the design and the purpose of the mobile phones wiki encouraged me to get involved in an activity where I was not necessarily within my comfort zone. However with the encouragement of the course tutors as well as online peers I pushed my boundaries and learned how to navigate a wiki. I also learned how and where to find the appropriate assistance to help me achieve this. Through all this I now appreciate the value of online networking as well as researching and obtaining ideas and information from various sources. Therefore I believe that the learning theory that supports the design of this activity is connectivism.

When I first saw the question that we had to talk about on the use of mobile phones in the classroom, I immediately knew what my views were and what I would write about. My first hat was the black hat which indicates the negative views. This suited me well as this was how I felt about the idea of having mobile phones in the classroom. However as I moved on to the blue hat, which indicates the process I still felt comfortable about being able to voice my views. Although not entirely because I had to think about what the next step might be of allowing phones in the classroom as we live in the 21^st century. When I moved on to the creative green hat I felt that I was being pushed right out of my comfort zone, but in a good way. I began to see positive and creative possibilities of allowing the use of mobile phones. As I worked through each of de Bono’s thinking hats I found myself opening my mind to great ideas and possibilities of allowing mobile phones in classrooms. I was amazed at how my immediate negative perception had completely changed. I will certainly use de Bono’s thinking hats with my students. It encourages students to think outside of the box. Not only does this scaffold students to achieve their learning outcomes at school, but it would also assist students in real life.