Outcomes
By the end of this module you will be able to:
- Recognise appropriate questioning activities
- Manage the questioning process
- Formulate stimulating questions
- Encourage learners to ask questions
Purpose
The purpose of this workshop is to clarify the use of questions, specifically open questions in the interests of stimulating a spirit of inquiry, which is essential for telecollaboration.
So much can be said about the importance of questions. Questions are the fuel on which real learning exists. Jamie McKenzie sums up the importance of Question in his online journal, FromNowOn when he says:
| "Smart questions are essential technology for those who venture
on to the Information Highway. Without strong questioning skills, you are just a passenger
on someone else's tour bus. You may be on the highway, but someone else is doing the
driving. Sometimes this New Information Landscape seems more like Eliot's Wasteland than a library, more like a yard sale than a gold mine. The weaker the questioning and learning skills, the less value one is likely to discover or uncover. Schools without a strong commitment to student questioning and research are wasting their money if they install expensive networks linking classrooms to rich electronic information resources. As long as schools are primarily about teaching rather than learning, there is little need for expanded information capabilities ... they may not be prepared for this New Information Landscape which calls for independent thinking, exploration..." Jamie McKenzie, FromNowOn, October 1997 |
Let’s pack our bags for this journey onto the information highway. The first item to pack is a toolkit of questioning skills.
Why do we ask questions?
Make a list of reasons why we ask questions, in your group. Think of all the possible kinds of questions and then ask yourself why such questions are asked. (By the way, notice how much thinking and questioning you will do in order to answer this question!)
Analyse the questioning you use in class by completing the following table.
| Reason for question | often used | sometimes used | never used |
| For understanding | |||
| Challenging | |||
| Checking | |||
| Encouraging interest and curiosity | |||
| To stimulate questions | |||
| To share ideas, opinions, feelings | |||
| To give structure to the lesson | |||
| To encourage thinking |
Learners ask questions:
- To try to get more understanding
- To satisfy curiosity
- To get information
"From the very beginning of his education, the child should experience the joy of discovery" Alfred Tennyson |
Make a summary statement about your current use of questions.
Copyright (C) Nikana - January 2000
