How to encourage critical thinking using social media in higher education. Chapter 7

Abstract

In the knowledge society we live in, it is necessary to promote certain competences in higher education, such as the development of critical thinking and the use of ICT. Developing the disposition and ability to think requires the systematic implementation of an approach based on understanding and thinking, such as the Visible Thinking approach developed by Project Zero at Harvard University. Therefore, the general objective of this study is to help higher education students develop thinking and understanding through innovative methods integrating ICT. The research was carried out in early childhood and elementary education at the University of Valladolid over three academic years, in various fields of knowledge. Twitter was used for data collection. The students were asked to post tweets in which they could ask questions, make connections, draw conclusions, and other activities in order to facilitate group reflection and in-depth learning. The tweets were written following the ‘Headlines’ thinking routine. The results allow us to conclude that the educational use of social media like Twitter can promote the culture of thinking in higher education. The Visible Thinking approach, through the Headlines thinking routine, allows students to remain active in the teaching-learning process and encourages teacher-student interaction for more effective thinking and learning.