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What is meant by critical thinking? Critical thinking is the type of thinking that helps to criticize any statements, not to take anything on trust without evidence, but at the same time be open to new ideas and methods. Critical thinking is a necessary condition for freedom of choice, quality of forecast, and responsibility for your own decisions. Critical thinking, thus, in essence, is a kind of tautology, a synonym for quality thinking. This is rather a name than a concept, but it is under this name and in a number of international projects that technological methods came to our life, which we will describe below.
According to Pro-Papers experts, the constructive basis of “critical thinking technology” is the basic model of the three stages of the organization of the educational process: “Challenge – reflection – reflection”.
We are surrounded by data. Technology is now a crucial part of everybody’s identity as it continues to both positively and negatively shape us and the society we live in, too. Our minds are gradually monopolized by it. Once we wake up, our involuntary instinct is to immediately check our Instagram, Facebook or Snapchat notifications. Technology has become “the millennial monster” we are hunted by.
But has technology just worsen the world or not?
As demoralizing as it might have sounded, the good news does not cease to appear. The advancements and innovations made by the nowadays cutting edge technology have not only improved the way people entertain but have also enabled so many fields to develop. Education is one of those areas that are in a continuous process of modernization as it represents a fundamental element in one’s life.
I believe we all have been through those boring classes whom we wished we could have done differently, in a way more interactive and practical manner. As a matter of fact, 2000 years ago, education was all about being immersed in knowledge and dealing with real problems whose aim was to bring people closer to understanding the profound human existence, just as philosophers such as Socrates and Plato did.
But what has happened to education since then? Could technology restore it?
The current situation of education is a subject of real controversies. Despite being in 2019, students’ creativity is still bordered and limited by a rigid educational system. Unless you are financially able to pay for private education that could efficiently use technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and mixed reality, it might be difficult for the rest of the students to reach their potential.
Moreover, the Vice President of Worldwide Education at Microsoft, Anthony Salcito, said “Virtual reality does many great things. It’s great for storytelling and for students to see advanced concepts they couldn’t have experienced,”. The benefits that technology could bring in the educational sphere are numerous (critical thinking and problem-solving skills, creativity), this standing as the main reason why its accessibility is essential in our Digital Era.
How could technology concretely empower students?
Coded Minds, for instance, is a Dubai-based educational tech company that ensures some dynamic and innovative educational programs that replace the traditional textbooks with VR or AI tools meant to expand the student’s knowledge in a more fascinating way.
Regarding technology’s involvement in education, the company’s founder said “A very small percentage of schools (mostly private) are using virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality at present. And, they are using it only as an after-school activity. In the near future, augmented reality and mixed reality will take over subject matter learning while artificial intelligence will help teachers to personalize learning.”.
Furthermore, Aldar Academies’ Head of Education Technology and Innovation, Andy Turner (a school developer from UAE), is also a person who is trying to introduce new and attractive ways of learning. He says that to create a unique style of students learning, it is necessary to not forget about the century we are living in, and use all of its virtues (technologies) wisely. He uses educational software that creates an immersive environment where students are able to unlock their skills and potential without using help from an essay writing service.
The 21st century’s main issue regarding education is that it aggressively limits a student’s abilities by imposing a strict structure, a rigid model, an already filtered lesson through the teacher’s mind. The student is not able to be critical towards what he is taught about, an aspect which considerably decreases the student’s chances to select in the future the veridical information, as the internet is full of fake news and erroneous information.
Technology can have a great impact and bring back the emphasize towards a student’s ability to be creative and critical as opposed to the contemporary students’ status-quo that predominantly includes memorizing due to a non-updated educational system.