Information technology promotes critical thinking in physical education

While the importance of Critical Thinking (CT) has been well documented in education, rapid developments in Information Technology (IT) are shaping a revolution in teaching and learning which influences all areas of society. IT and CT are two of the most global hot issues in contemporary school education in terms of improving teaching and learning, and are becoming increasingly important in physical education. However, little theoretical development or empirical research has examined how to apply IT to guide and promote students' critical thinking. The present research analyzed IT and CT structure systems, and developed an instructional model using IT as a bridge to connect the teacher's instructional activities and students' learning activities, and further to transform teacher's instructional activities into students' critical thinking activities. Three steps were taken in this study. First, key components of critical thinking were identified. The second step was to design specific instructional activities to guide students' critical thinking activities. Finally, the IT Next-Ed platform was employed to conduct the interactive critical thinking activities as well as produce collaborative interaction between instructor and students, and between students. The IT-CT model represents a novel two-way communication network between instructor and students, and allows dynamic teaching and learning activities which transform teacher-centered educational activities into student-centered collaborative learning activity. The proposed IT-CT model has the potential to solidify a much needed expand students' learning activities beyond the classroom. Copyright © 2003 Thai Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.