Critical thinking skills are essential in the modern era because they allow individuals to evaluate their environment and come up with effective solutions to problems. Similar to skills such as effective communication and management, critical thinking (CT) skills are gradually developed as individuals engage with more complex concepts from childhood. However, technological solutions have proved effective in enhancing students’ CT skills because they facilitate access to vast information resources, enhance the quality of education in institutions, and encourage self-driven learning through continuous online interactions.
Modern technologies are effective in enhancing critical thinking skills because they expose teachers and students to valuable information and allow them to develop their research competencies. Renatovna & Renatovna, (2021) suggests that modern technologies can guide teachers in designing effective CT teaching methods and evaluating their students’ progress. Similarly, Bernacki et al., (2020) claim that technology improves critical thinking and students’ understanding by making the teaching and learning process more enjoyable. Moreover, technology enables educators to uncover effective solutions to design their curricula and continuously teach CT in their lessons using various techniques (Willingham, 2019)). Thus, adopting these technologies makes it easier to access and develop CT knowledge.
Technological solutions enhance the quality of education in institutions, thus providing students with an opportunity to improve their critical thinking skills using unique methods. Pikhart (2020) points out that these solutions improve CT by facilitating directed instruction, information-seeking, problem-solving, data analysis, effective communication, and collaborative learning. Likewise, Fabian et al., (2018) purport that emerging technologies like virtual reality systems improve CT by enabling interactive learning and higher engagement with difficult concepts. Moreover, cutting-edge teaching and learning solutions allow a more comprehensive understanding of phenomena and abstract thinking (Kaplan, 2019). Thus, these studies provide various ways through which these solutions improve education delivery and enhance students’ critical thinking.
Technology allows students to increase their creativity through self-learning and continuous social interactions. Alharbi et al., (2022) propose that technology can help improve higher-order thinking by shifting teachers’ and students’ approaches to learning and encouraging self-driven learning. Moreover, McGinty (2022) explains that online education solutions such as Google Classroom can improve critical thinking by enabling cooperative and blended teaching and learning strategies. Similarly, online systems encourage students to develop a habit of questioning and researching from a young age, thus improving their CT (Hosokawa & Katsura, 2018). Hence, the more students interact with online technologies, the higher they advance their reasoning mechanisms.
Critical thinking skills enable students to become aware of their environment, build up reasonable arguments, and seek knowledge to confirm their assumptions. However, educators must expose students to the appropriate environment and provide them with resources to enhance their critical thinking skills. Technological solutions are effective in enhancing CT because they allow increased access to information, improve the quality of teaching and learning, and enable students to build their skills by continuously interacting with others and practicing self-learning. Therefore, educators should investigate how to use modern technologies for their students’ benefit by improving their critical thinking.
References
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Bernacki, M. L., Greene, J. A., & Crompton, H. (2020). Mobile technology, learning, and achievement: Advances in understanding and measuring the role of mobile technology in education. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60, 101827. Web.
Fabian, K., Topping, K. J., & Barron, I. G. (2018). Using mobile technologies for mathematics: effects on student attitudes and achievement. Educational Technology Research and Development, 66(5), 1119-1139. Web.
Hosokawa, R., & Katsura, T. (2018). Association between mobile technology use and child adjustment in early elementary school age. PloS one, 13(7), e0199959. Web.
Kaplan, D. E. (2019). Creativity in education: Teaching for creativity development. Psychology, 10(2), 140-147. Web.
McGinty, J. (2022). Using Psychology to Teach Psychology. In Learning to Teach Psychology in the Secondary School (pp. 13-25). Routledge.
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Renatovna, A. G., & Renatovna, A. S. (2021). Pedagogical and psychological conditions of preparing students for social relations on the basis of the development of critical thinking. Psychology and Education, 58(2), 4889-4902. Web.
Willingham, D. T. (2019). How to teach critical thinking. Education: Future Frontiers, 1, 1-17. Web.