Assignments, Critical Thinking and Skills

How to teach critical thinking skills online

eSchool News

DECEMBER 22, 2020

This story on how teaching critical thinking skills online during the COVID pandemic, originally published on April 29, was eSN’s No. As educators, we often hear about the importance of teaching critical thinking skills to our students. 8 most popular story of 2020.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Skills Teaching Art

Building critical thinking skills online

eSchool News

MARCH 25, 2021

As educators, we often hear about the importance of teaching critical thinking skills to our students. In an online academic environment, the focus on critical thinking skills is amplified. Our learning model fosters independence and self-advocacy with applications in all areas of a student’s life.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Skills Art Assignments

How AI can unleash student curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking

eSchool News

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Already we’re seeing students use AI to plagiarize or cheat on their assignments. Here are just a few simple strategies teachers can implement to unleash student curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking using the power of AI. I won’t minimize the risks.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Students Plagiarism Writing

Teaching critical thinking skills in the online classroom

eSchool News

APRIL 29, 2020

As educators, we often hear about the importance of teaching critical thinking skills to our students. In an online academic environment, the focus on critical thinking skills is amplified. Related content: 8 learning apps for students with special needs.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Skills Teaching Art

Why Sending Students Home with Writing Assignments Might Not Be The Best Idea

Catlin Tucker

DECEMBER 12, 2023

Not only has the explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots created concern about assigning writing, but myriad challenges exist when we send writing home with students. #1 As a result, writing assignments often fail to meet the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness required for motivation.

Assignments

Assignments Writing Feedback Motivation

Students, educators feel positive about AI’s impact, but fear its misuse

eSchool News

MAY 16, 2025

Navigating a clear path forward means equipping educators with solutions to integrate AI in ways that preserve critical thinking skills, and prepare students for the demands of an AI-driven future. What are you using AI for in your school/classroom?

Education

Education Critical Thinking Ethics Students

Gale In Context: Literature Launches to Promote Critical Thinking Skills and Better Learning Outcomes in ELA for High School Students

eSchool News

JUNE 9, 2023

This sparks greater interest in literature, enabling teachers to facilitate meaningful interactions that inspire more compelling classroom discussions that increase critical thinking skills, delivering better learning outcomes. Download/view screenshots of Gale In Context: Literature.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Learning Outcomes High School High School

Enhancing media literacy skills in the age of AI

eSchool News

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

Key points: Edtech tools can be a valuable resource to build media literacy skills Teaching ethical edtech for future innovators How to help students build critical success skills For more news on media literacy, see eSN’s Innovative Teaching hub Media literacy has emerged as a critical skillset in today’s digital landscape.

Skills

Skills Ethics Critical Thinking Evaluation

Teachers: 6 social assignments for online learning

eSchool News

JUNE 30, 2017

Online learning students, like any other students, like to spend time procrastinating before they get to completing assignments given in class. These assignments can also be applied to many different subjects, as they aim to test a variety of skills and abilities at once. The Photo Online Assignment. Let’s begin: 1.

Assignments

Assignments Online Learning Teachers Learning

AEF Schools: Empowering Students with Individualized Learning, Social Growth, and Real-World Skills

k12 Digest

MAY 28, 2025

With small class sizes, individualized instruction, and a focus on executive functioning, social-emotional growth, and life skills, AEF offers a unique educational experience tailored to each students needs. Maybe they forget to turn in assignments, have trouble organizing their thoughts, or feel overwhelmed by fast-paced lessons.

Skills

Skills Schools Learning Students

5 ways to teach and assess learning in the age of AI

eSchool News

JANUARY 17, 2024

Some experts believe this new technology can have a positive impact on teaching and learning, while others fret it may weaken the teaching of critical thinking and increase bias by spreading misinformation about different groups and cultures. Secret 1: Multimedia assignments. Does this all sound far-fetched? We can work it out.

Teaching

Teaching Critical Thinking Assignments Learning

Students using AI: It’s not that scary and shouldn’t be banned

eSchool News

DECEMBER 5, 2024

Concerns about academic dishonesty, loss of critical thinking skills, and inappropriate content creation have sparked discussions about banning AI tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, and others. Instead of banning AI, educators can design assignments that leverage these tools.

Ethics

Ethics Critical Thinking Essay Students

How Do You Grade a Creative Assignment?

Edsurge

JULY 21, 2022

Your pursuit of this kind of assignment reminds me of an interview I did for the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast with Ken Bain , author of "What the Best College Teachers Do." Gressang’s subsequent tweets reveal what some of the students enrolled in her class created for this final assignment.

Assignments

Assignments Grades History Ethics

Shift to Leveraging Formative Assessment for Metacognition

Catlin Tucker

MAY 20, 2023

How can formative assessment data help students to develop their metacognitive skills? These informal assessments provide information to the teacher about students’ understanding of the material being covered and the skills being introduced. This reflective process is key to promoting self-awareness and critical thinking.

Metacognitive Skills

Metacognitive Skills Universal Design Blended Learning Evaluation

AI Is Still an Unknown Country — and Teens Are Its Pioneers

Edsurge

JUNE 13, 2025

It was OK to use AI in this scenario, the mom said, but they shouldn’t use it for writing school assignments. I think a lot of the teachers and parents don’t know, either.” A red use would be inappropriate or unethical, such as asking ChatGPT to write an essay based on an assigned prompt.

Essay

Essay Ethics Fairness Assignments

Creating a fun robotics lesson that addresses 4 ISTE standards

eSchool News

JUNE 17, 2025

These features empower teams to enhance their robots’ actions with sound effects, character voices, or background music, deepening the storytelling experience while building additional technical skills. In the second phase of the lesson, teams rotate and are assigned to another group’s obstacle course. ISTE Standard for Students 1.1

STEM

STEM Interdisciplinary Collaborative Learning Communication

How to combat misuse of AI in student writing

eSchool News

JUNE 28, 2024

It takes only seconds to plug a writing prompt into a generative AI tool and receive a completed assignment. Instead of forbidding generative AI tools, it’s critical that teachers show students how and when it’s appropriate to use AI in student writing. It’s intimidating.

Writing

Writing Essay Plagiarism Assignments

5 ways to use technology for classroom creativity

eSchool News

JULY 16, 2024

Creativity is an essential skill for all students to have. Creative projects help students connect new information to prior knowledge through critical thinking and problem solving. Assignments that engage students in creative practices motivate hard-to reach students and provide an opportunity for all students to be successful.

Technology

Technology Critical Thinking Assignments Motivation

Shift to Self-assessment

Catlin Tucker

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

It is a process where students evaluate their work, reflecting on what they’ve learned, how well they’ve understood complex concepts, how much progress they’ve made toward mastering key skills, and where they may need to invest time and energy to improve their concept knowledge and skill set.

Evaluation

Evaluation Assignments Failure Discussions

Closing the digital use divide with active and engaging learning

eSchool News

DECEMBER 2, 2024

Passive learning, on the other hand, means students passively receive information–for example, students might use a Chromebook to take a test or submit assignments in a learning management system.

Activities

Activities Middle School Middle School Critical Thinking

Beyond digital literacy: Why K-12 educators must prioritize data literacy

eSchool News

APRIL 23, 2025

In todays technology-rich classrooms, digital literacy is becoming a foundational skill–students are learning to navigate devices, use educational software, and collaborate online. Every test score, attendance log, learning app, or digital assignment generates data. Our classrooms are data-rich, but are we data-literate?

Ethics

Ethics Education Culture Social Studies

Design thinking in the 21st century is an imperative

eSchool News

JANUARY 22, 2025

With infinite information at their fingertips, how do we equip this new type of student with the skills to interpret, problem solve, and think critically about the information they encounter when we are not always the ones delivering it to them? How do I use design thinking?

Failure

Failure Critical Thinking Essay Feedback

InsertLearning: Transform Any Web Page into an Interactive Lesson

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 24, 2018

This makes it possible to work with students in real time on their online active reading skills. For teachers using Google Classroom, you can share your interactive assignments via Google Classroom. Getting students to think more deeply about online texts. Developing online reading stamina and critical thinking skills.

Discussions

Discussions Critical Thinking Reading Questions

Analyze This: Creating Student Value through Critical Thinking

Faculty Focus

MAY 21, 2023

To do it right, our teaching toolbox needs to include critical thinking. When we encounter new information, critical thinking helps us evaluate the value and relevance of that information. Done well, critical thinking helps us make connections between our existing values, new content, and future goals.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Students Evaluation Assignments

Putting the ‘E’ in integrative STEM instruction

eSchool News

JUNE 26, 2024

STEM is incredibly important, specifically for skills like critical thinking and problem solving,” said Dr. Erika Neuman, CEO of iSTEMmentors and a lecturer at the University of Texas at San Antonio, during an ISTELive 24 session. Though many teachers tout the importance of STEM learning, many also shy away from the “E” in STEM.

STEM

STEM Interdisciplinary Critical Thinking Lecturing

The Station Rotation Model

Catlin Tucker

OCTOBER 29, 2021

mixed skill level, strenghts in a group dynamic, interest-based) depending on the lesson objectives. Teachers must be strategic about the level of academic rigor and complexity of the practice and application they are assigning to ensure that it is within their zone of possibility. Students can be grouped flexibly (e.g.,

Blended Learning

Blended Learning Critical Thinking Communication Participation

Assignments with Significance

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 11, 2022

It has been estimated that college students across the globe devote in excess of a billion hours per year to “disposable” assignments (Wiley, 2016). Moving from essential to “renewable” assignments means that the students see the tasks as sufficiently meaningful to be kept and even passed on to others. What a waste!

Assignments

Assignments Motivation Science Study

Beyond the Basics — How Edtech Can Provide Students with Essential 21st-Century Skills

Edsurge

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Higher-order thinking skills are essential for success, so we should use edtech to drive that thinking Artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting the education landscape. However, lower-order skills are the floor, not the ceiling, of student learning, and now more than ever before, the floor is not enough.

Skills

Skills Students Assignments Essay

Teacher Engagement Part I: Understanging Cognitive Engagement in Blended Learning Environments

Catlin Tucker

DECEMBER 22, 2021

What aspects of a teacher’s work lead them to engage in problem-solving, critical thinking, and reflection? What skills, abilities, language proficiencies, interests, and/or learning preferences are present in a class? What aspects of the assignment would benefit from further development? What did they do well?

Blended Learning

Blended Learning Teachers Learning Grades

How to (correctly!) use ChatGPT for essay writing

eSchool News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

How to know if a student uses AI to cheat on written assignments? More than that: If students often ask ChatGPT to generate essays or make those essays longer , their writing and communication skills will suffer. We know that technologies affect how people read, write, and think. Below are five ways students can (correctly!)

Essay

Essay Writing Plagiarism Academic Integrity

Cybersecurity to Be Taught to K-8 students across North America for Free

eSchool News

OCTOBER 27, 2022

“The materials are well organized, easy to use, and completely customizable to help teachers build media literacy and critical thinking skills in our students.”. This problem-based approach helps develop critical thinking and communication skills, with students assimilating concepts effortlessly.

Mobile Devices

Mobile Devices Critical Thinking Game-Based Learning Curriculum

Analyze This: Creating Student Value through Critical Thinking

Faculty Focus

MAY 21, 2023

To do it right, our teaching toolbox needs to include critical thinking. When we encounter new information, critical thinking helps us evaluate the value and relevance of that information. Done well, critical thinking helps us make connections between our existing values, new content, and future goals.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Students Evaluation Assignments

Mentoring Minds Joins Google for Education Partner Program

eSchool News

DECEMBER 4, 2020

Mentoring Minds , a leading provider of K – 12 instructional and critical thinking materials, today announced it has been certified as a Google for Education Integrated Solutions Partner, integrating the ThinkUp! This collaboration simplifies the process of managing assignments and synchronizing students’ grades and schedules.

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Education Assignments Grades

A taxonomy for using AI in education

eSchool News

JULY 1, 2024

They could be implemented at the institutional level, but instructors should be given the opportunity to determine the level of generative AI tool use at the course or even the assignment level. In other courses, I restrict the use of generative AI tools to particular uses for specific assignments.

Ethics

Ethics Education Instructors Academic Integrity

Digital Literacy Skills for Students

eSchool News

JANUARY 3, 2024

As technology continues to shape every facet of modern life, proficiency in navigating digital tools, critically evaluating online information, and responsibly engaging in the digital space becomes crucial. Additionally, digital literacy cultivates critical thinking skills. What are the 3 main skills of digital literacy?

Skills

Skills Critical Thinking Ethics Evaluation

With AI coaching, a math platform helps students tackle tough concepts

eSchool News

APRIL 2, 2025

Differentiated instruction is essential, but time constraints, large class sizes, and varying skill levels make personalized learning difficult. Some FDR classes use Edia several days a week for specific math supports, while others use it for homework assignments.

Coaching

Coaching Math Students Assignments

Understanding cognitive development in students via Piaget’s Theory

eSchool News

AUGUST 13, 2024

peek-a-boo) encourages movement and interaction, which aids in developing essential cognitive skills, such as object permanence. Preoperational stage (2-7 years old) During the preoperational stage, children begin to use language and think symbolically, but their thinking is still intuitive and egocentric.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development Students Secondary Education Assignments

Reviving Engagement in the Spanish Classroom: A Musical Challenge with ChatGPT

Faculty Focus

JUNE 5, 2025

The initial enthusiasm for learning a foreign language may wane as other courses with demanding assignments compete for their attention. Building on this tradition, the activity we will share here not only incorporates music but also integrates artificial intelligence, adding a new layer of engagement and critical thinking.

Language

Language Languages Instructors Culture

What Can College Instructors Offer Their Students in the Age of AI?

Faculty Focus

MAY 11, 2025

In a world where AI skills and fluency will be necessary and marketable, colleges and universities have made efforts to embrace AI in the classroom (e.g., In higher education, we see our students use AI in many ways, to provide both authorized and unauthorized aid in their completion of assignments. The Age of AI is Upon Us.

Instructors

Instructors Motivation Critical Thinking Students

5 approaches that engage middle school students in STEM learning

eSchool News

DECEMBER 2, 2024

This process reinforces scientific inquiry and builds critical thinking skills as students see, touch, and analyze real results from their experiments. For instance, in a life sciences class, rather than assigning a specific topic, allow students to research and present findings on a plant or animal of their choice.

Middle School

Middle School Middle School STEM Interdisciplinary

Would You Rather: Transfer and Apply

Catlin Tucker

JUNE 16, 2024

How can we create a learning environment where each student feels confident applying the knowledge and skills they’re acquiring? This stage of the learning process encourages deeper thinking by moving beyond memorization, requiring students to engage in higher-order cognitive processes such as critical analysis and problem-solving.

History

History Art Essay Physical Education

10 things teachers can do today to prepare students for the future

eSchool News

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Students are assigned a tech-integrated project and are faced with limited resources and inadequate workspaces to use the latest tools. Teachers are diligently meeting state standards while covering course content and using technology to address collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity. The environment.

Teachers

Teachers Students Assignments Communication

The academic implications of AI in student writing

eSchool News

DECEMBER 1, 2023

The intersection of AI assistance in student writing is not just about the convenience it brings, but also about the fundamental shift it represents in how we perceive and approach academic integrity and skill development. These statistics alone underscore the pervasiveness of AI in academic environments.

Writing

Writing Academic Integrity Students Critical Thinking

The Station Rotation Model: Must-Do vs. May-Do Stations

Catlin Tucker

APRIL 15, 2024

” Our classrooms are composed of diverse groups of students with different skills, abilities, preferences, language proficiencies, and academic needs. So, the teacher will use data to assign each student one or two “must-do” learning activities. The short answer is “no.”

Metacognitive Skills

Metacognitive Skills Math Blended Learning Quizzes

How to teach critical thinking skills online

Building critical thinking skills online

Trending Sources

How AI can unleash student curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking

Teaching critical thinking skills in the online classroom

Why Sending Students Home with Writing Assignments Might Not Be The Best Idea

Students, educators feel positive about AI’s impact, but fear its misuse

Gale In Context: Literature Launches to Promote Critical Thinking Skills and Better Learning Outcomes in ELA for High School Students

Enhancing media literacy skills in the age of AI

Teachers: 6 social assignments for online learning

AEF Schools: Empowering Students with Individualized Learning, Social Growth, and Real-World Skills

5 ways to teach and assess learning in the age of AI

Students using AI: It’s not that scary and shouldn’t be banned

How Do You Grade a Creative Assignment?

Shift to Leveraging Formative Assessment for Metacognition

AI Is Still an Unknown Country — and Teens Are Its Pioneers

Creating a fun robotics lesson that addresses 4 ISTE standards

How to combat misuse of AI in student writing

5 ways to use technology for classroom creativity

Shift to Self-assessment

Closing the digital use divide with active and engaging learning

Beyond digital literacy: Why K-12 educators must prioritize data literacy

Design thinking in the 21st century is an imperative

InsertLearning: Transform Any Web Page into an Interactive Lesson

Analyze This: Creating Student Value through Critical Thinking

Putting the ‘E’ in integrative STEM instruction

The Station Rotation Model

Assignments with Significance

Beyond the Basics — How Edtech Can Provide Students with Essential 21st-Century Skills

Teacher Engagement Part I: Understanging Cognitive Engagement in Blended Learning Environments

How to (correctly!) use ChatGPT for essay writing

Cybersecurity to Be Taught to K-8 students across North America for Free

Analyze This: Creating Student Value through Critical Thinking

Mentoring Minds Joins Google for Education Partner Program

A taxonomy for using AI in education

Digital Literacy Skills for Students

With AI coaching, a math platform helps students tackle tough concepts

Understanding cognitive development in students via Piaget’s Theory

Reviving Engagement in the Spanish Classroom: A Musical Challenge with ChatGPT

What Can College Instructors Offer Their Students in the Age of AI?

5 approaches that engage middle school students in STEM learning

Would You Rather: Transfer and Apply

10 things teachers can do today to prepare students for the future

The academic implications of AI in student writing

The Station Rotation Model: Must-Do vs. May-Do Stations

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