Developing Critical Thinking: Rationale for Rationale Software

The software for Rationale appears to be pretty useful for teachers' use in promoting critical thinking. The concept-mapping options would be incredibly useful for helping SS to grasp the idea of logically organizing their thinking into clear pathways, and the fact that the software allows teachers to provide feedback & comments is invaluable. I really enjoyed seeing the Jumble Jigsaw activity and reading about its use--this would be a fun way to challenge students to develop their critical thinking skills, and since the Jumble activities are random, students would constantly be challenged.

The problem that may arise in a classroom is how to incorporate this software. Firstly, teachers would have to consider the technology available to them during class time, and available to students at home. If the availability of technology is an issue, this software would be too difficult to incorporate into a class, and the teacher should just approach critical thinking strategies by introducing mapping by hand. As for the $64,000 question: if a school has the available resources and can afford the software programs, then by all means-- invest in the software. However, if the software programs will negatively impact the schools and won't be used often enough to justify spending the money to buy the software, then the teachers should be creative enough to find alternate approaches to teaching critical thinking strategies.