Critical Thinking

I found the Edutopia blog post, "Deeper Learning: The Coaching Method" to be quite interesting. Just yesterday I sat in a meeting where we started discussing all the companies that offer online proctoring to online students. We could spend a lot of money and time on these products and still not be guaranteed that students aren't cheating. Some of this stuff is extreme - no hats, hair away from your face, you have to stay in front of your web camera the whole time and not look like you're looking down and so on. In the end, though, I think we just have to face the fact that we need to create assessments that students can't cheat on. A huge part of this would be designing projects, assignments, and assessments that require critical thinking. Much like universal design, this would lead to a higher quality and more authentic educational experience for all students. But yes, I do think teachers would need help - coaching - in developing and redesigning what they do in order to encompass higher levels of critical thinking.