E-LEARNING AND CRITICAL THINKING

NUTAN ERATHI

Ph.D Scholar, JNTUH

&

Instructional Designer, Excelsoft Technologies

Hyderabad

nutanec@gmail.com

8885407626

Supervisor – Dr. K. Madhavi Reddy

Associate Professor, NIT Warangal

I am Nutan, currently working as Senior Instructional Designer at Excelsoft Technologies, Hyderabad. I’ve pursued a degree in M.A. (literature) and professional teacher training in education and have a vast teaching experience of 16 years to my credit. Currently, I’m pursuing a doctoral degree (Ph.D) from JNTUH in English. Teaching field has given me opportunities to explore the various platforms in which learning can take place – the traditional classroom teaching, online and e-learning environments. I have presented articles on e-learning at Confluence (The Vth Annual International Conference on Teaching and Learning English as a Second/Foreign Language, Nagpur -Due for publication) and ICERI (6th International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, Spain- published). The passion for exploring the modes of teaching using technology has driven me to where I am today. Mobile learning and tablet learning are viewed by most researchers to be the immediate descendant of e-learning and are likely to be the future learning platforms to transfer knowledge at any place and at any time. Getting myself updated to meet the changing requirements of the student community is what I believe to be my greatest achievement.

Abstract

E-learning goes beyond the latest tools and technologies in raising intellectual curiosity, creative problem solving, and posing authentic challenges, for encouraging ‘anywhere’,‘anytime’ learning. It aims at providing personalized

learning experience in a real world context and hence is designed to address diverse learners, taking into consideration their cognitive, social, cultural norms and attitudes which requires critical thinking skills. This paper

intends to provide an overview of critical thinking skills required to develop e-learning courses with special reference to train employees of Dr. Reddy’s laboratories, one of the clientele of Excelsoft Technologies (an e-learning company). The organization develops and designs e-learning courses for corporate employee training

programs that are into financial/banking sector, Agriculture and Engineering sectors apart from content development services, mobile learning solutions, open source technology solutions, etc.

Dr. Reddy’s has earned a reputation for doing what is right by adopting a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. The Company approached Excelsoft for training its people on these ethics and help them make informed business decisions and to act on them with integrity. The web-based modules that were developed used specific scenarios to

address issues on conflicts of interest, anti-bribery and anti corruption, work place harassment, etc. These scenarios aimed to develop in the learners critical thoughts of the responses they would make under specific situations while

carrying out business processes which in turn would ensure smooth execution of policies to bring profits to the organization and safe guard its reputation. The end objective of the training was achieved as the modules received good client appreciation. The modules were effective as the learners developed and made use of critical thinking

skills while making the right decisions in conflicting situations.

Supervisor Details:

Dr. Madhavi Kesari

Assistant Professor of English

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Email Id: madhavik24@nitw.ac.in

Mobile number: 8332969522

Introduction:

The changing need of learners to use technology as a means of educational tool has brought a

paradigm shift in the way knowledge is transferred. Learning today is not limited to classroom

alone, but it is happening at different places and at different times. In the real world, people are

busy with their jobs and the budgets to bring people together to teach/train them in the

organizations are limited. This is when the organizations felt the need of technology to overcome

the limitations, distance and resources in training their employees to meet their business

requirements. E-learning goes beyond the latest tools and technologies in raising intellectual

curiosity, creative problem solving, and posing authentic challenges, for encouraging

‘anywhere’,’ anytime’ learning. It aims at providing personalized learning experience in a real

world context and hence is designed to address diverse learners, taking into consideration their

cognitive, social, cultural norms and attitudes and all of which requires critical thinking skills.

As a general tendency, human psyche is confronted with conflicting situations and

indecisiveness while dealing with clients, stakeholders, business partners and their colleagues in

an organisation. At many times, the decisions made by self thinking results in biased, distorted,

partial, uninformed or prejudiced decision. Therefore, an awareness of approaching a problem

systematically following the teaching strategies enables the learners think and perform discreetly

which is the focus of the employers. Predominantly in the context of globalization, it becomes

imperative, for the instructors to take seek the aid of technology to teach and develop critical

thinking skills in the learners (here, adult learners). According to Reynolds (2011), an individual

or group engaged in strong way of critical thinking gives due consideration to establish:

Evidence through observation

Context skills

Relevant criteria for making the judgment well

Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment

Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand

Halpern’s Framework on different kinds of critical thinking skills enables instructors to make

learning fun and engaging, for example, creative thinking, decision making, problem solving,

etc. Halpern’s Framework on different kinds of Critical thinking is shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1

Critical thinking involves questioning. It is important for instructors to develop the art of asking

good questions, to think critically, in order to continue the advancement of this skill in the

learners too. "Every field stays alive only to the extent that fresh questions are generated and

taken seriously" (Center for Critical Thinking, 1996a ). The list of core critical thinking skills

includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation, and

metacognition. More specifically, "metacognition is being aware of one's thinking as one

performs specific tasks and then using this awareness to control what one is doing" (Jones &

Ratcliff, 1993, p. 10 ). Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria

such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, and

fairness.

Context:

This paper intends to provide an overview of critical thinking skills with special reference to

train the employees of Dr. Reddy’s laboratories, one of the clientele of Excelsoft Technologies.

Exclesoft Technologies is an e-learning company that develops and designs elearning courses for

corporate training programs that are into Financial/Banking sector, Agriculture and Engineering

sectors apart from content development services, mobile learning solutions, open source

technology solutions, etc. Excelsoft for developed an e-learning course on Code of Business

Conduct and Ethics (COBE) for Dr. Reddy’s to train its people on these ethics and help them

make informed business decisions and to act on them with integrity. As a value-based, socially

responsible organization, Dr Reddy’s is bound to the highest ethical standards in their operations

and behavior. They have earned the trust and respect of customers, shareholders, business

partners, and the authorities because of their reputation for doing what is right by adopting the

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.

The web-based module used specific scenarios to address issues on Conflicts of Interest, Gifts

and Hospitality, Work Place Harassment, Insider Trading, Confidential Information and Asset

Protection, etc. A scenario-based learning strategy has been used to address each of the issues.

These scenarios, which are discussed in the paper below, aimed to develop critical thoughts of

the responses that learners would make under specific situations while carrying out business

processes which in turn would ensure smooth execution of policies to bring profits to the

organization and safe guard its reputation. The scenarios used ambiguity (a part of critical

thinking skill) in which the learners were not provided with clear cut material, but given

conflicting information in which they must think their way through (Strohm & Baukus). The

module used text and multimedia tools like images, illustrations, graphics, audio and animation,

to make the course appealing and effective. A level 2 inter-activity was used, in which the

learners could interact with resources such as clickable animated graphics, smooth navigation to

menus, glossary, etc. Simple drag–and- drop, multiple select, single select type of exercises used

as formative assessment helped to making learning effective. Each screen used limited text and

audio in sync with the text and relevant images to convey the desired information.

Disucssions:

Some of the questions that instructors framed were:

Ask Questions about For example

The purpose Why?

The context of the text Why?

Where?

When?

Who?

How relevant?

The structure of the text Do the parts fit together logically?

Is there a clear transition from one screen to next?

The scenariosAre they fair?

Do they leave out perspectives of certain groups?

The evidence used Is evidence given to support the view point?

Is the evidence evaluated from different perspectives? (In terms of

culture, attitudes, etc of learners)

The language used Is the language persuasive, simple, crisp and clear?

Does the language check for technical jargons and fancy words and is

it gender neutral?

The course first introduced the values and principles of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories which the staff

required to adhere and comply with. After gaining knowledge on this, they were provided with

scenarios, (Screen shot of e-learning module as shown in figure 2), similar to those faced in real

life situations. The scenarios, presented in the form of questions with multiple options required

the learners to use critical thinking skills to address the problem at hand and make the right

decisions. A constructive feedback was provided after the learner chose an option which

reinforced the existing knowledge. The course used the branding guidelines as given by the

clientele for colors, fonts – style and size, and screen resolution. The use of logo and style

guidelines had been maintained consistently throughout the module.

Figure 2

Here’s a quick reflection of the some of the scenarios on various ethical dilemmas encountered

by employees in their businesses:

1. Using Company Asset (Figure 3): Sherman works as a system administrator who has

access to the company’s usernames, passwords, and software licenses. One day, his

friend approached Sherman and asked if he could install the company’s licensed copy of

the latest MS-Office in his personal laptop. Sherman installed the company’s licensed

software to help his friend. Do you think Sherman should use the company’s asset for

personal use? (Yes/No)

Figure 3

2. Information Security (Figure 4): David works in a company which plans to acquire

another publicly traded firm. Post this acquisition, the company expects a boom in its

share price. David called his friend and informed her about the plan suggested her to buy

the company’s share. Do you think David can disclose such confidential information to

an outsider? (Yes/No)

Figure 4

3. Work Place Harassment (Figure 5): Brian’s supervisor Joseph, is a short tempered

person. He regularly bangs his fist on the table, yells and blames Brian, for things that he

has done wrong. His outbursts become more frequent and on one occasion, throws a

paper weight across the cabin. Do you think this is work place harassment? (Yes/No)

Figure 5

4. Gifts and Hospitality (Figure 6): Sam received a gift voucher of Rs. 500/- from one of

the company suppliers on the occasion of ‘Diwali’. Should Sam accept the gift? (Yes/No)

Figure 6

5. Confidential Information and Asset Protection (Figure 7): Joe works in the HR

department. After completing all formalities pertaining to full and final settlement of an

ex-employee, he destroys the employee’s personal file. Has Joe done the right thing by

destroying the file? (Yes/No)

Figure 7

Other scenarios that were drafted were for issues related to Conflicts of interest, IT policy,

Insider Trading, Anti- Bribery and Anti-Corruption, etc.

Note: The names of characters have been changed in the paper for each scenario and the images

shared above are close to those used in the module to respect and maintain confidentiality and

privacy of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.

Constructive feedback had been provided for each of the issues based on company policy and

norms. The feedback was motivating and reinforced learning. The summative assessment was

given in the form of ten multiple choice questions in which the learner’s scores and

understanding of COBE were tested.

Findings: Creating such scenarios required critical thinking by the instructor to analyse and provide

accurate guidance on the data given by the clientele and then draft the content and address the

issues in the form of scenarios:

to provide evidence to challenge a point of view to evaluate the validity and importance of a text/ position to develop reflective thought and a tolerance for ambiguity

The module was a product of collaborative team work that included instructional designer,

project manager, graphic designers, illustrator and programmer. Since, the learners could easily

navigate through the respective screens to gain information on the business conduct and ethics;

they found the course to be interactive and engaging. The look and feel, graphics and text and

audio narration suited diverse learners from all age group, culture and experience. The findings

also revealed that the learners applied the skills of problem recognition; problem solving,

addressed unstated assumptions and values, and reconstructed their patterns of beliefs based on

their experience and conducted themselves with integrity and precision while attempting the

questions.

Conclusion:

The module enabled learners to gather and assess relevant information, understand the

importance of COBE and act with confidence to keep up company’s reputation. Since learning

was self – directed, motivating, interesting, engaging, and the learners could move ahead at their

own pace and time, they could grasp the concept well while applying reasoning and critical

thinking skills to achieve the end objective. The learners with below average scores were

suggested to retake the course. The module received good client appreciation and offered

development of each scenario into individual modules with several scenarios addressing each

issue. Hence, technology driven e-learning courses are exploring, self navigating, self-directed

and informing, connecting people and content to bring the real world experiences in virtual

classrooms.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

2. Oliver, H. & Utermohlen, R. (1995). ‘An innovative teaching strategy: Using critical thinking to give students a guide to the future’.(Eric Document Reproduction Services No. 389 702)

3. http://www.utc.edu/walker-center-teaching-learning/faculty-development/online-

resources/ct-ps.php

4. http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/documents/learning_centre/critical.pdf

5. www.utc.edu/walker-center-teaching-learning/faculty-development/online-resources/ct-

ps.php

6. Wade, Carole, and Tavris, Carol (1995). ‘Critical & Creative Thinking: The Case of Love and War. Harper Collins College Publisher. New York. NY.

7. Strohm, S. M., & Baukus, R. A. (1995). Strategies for fostering critical thinking skills. Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, 50 (1), 55-62.

8. Facione, PA, (2010). ‘Critical Thinking: What It is and Why it Counts ‘http://www.insightassessment.com