Test & Learn

Critical thinking is defined as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, and/or evaluating information gathered from observations, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. 
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At PeopleStories, there is a strong belief in this critical life skill.  PS Mobile Digital School recently launched a Critical Thinking learning course for our children! We are very excited to dive into the details of this course and learn more about it.

Critical Thinking, as a learning course we offer to our children, aims to help tackle problems with confidence, communicate thoughts and ideas clearly, and reduce the influence of emotions, biases, and misinformation.  PeopleStories founder, Victoria explained, “Developing the skill of critical thinking, children can continue to grow and develop as a person by questioning their own beliefs and perspectives.”

​Thanks to our generous volunteers from around the world, learning tools, like critical thinking, are being brought to life! Andreas, a volunteer from Sydney, is the Lead Designer of our Critical Thinking digital learning course.

Andreas has a vast corporate training background and now, designing learning units for children in rural Cambodia, there are key elements from his background that he can fall back on. He explained, “One important consideration in ensuring that the training content we create aligns with the children’s circumstances. This means selecting images and videos that resonate with life in Siem Reap.” As an example, Andreas continued, “During the initial design phase, where we used a “bakery” example for some activities we realised it might not be the most suitable choice so we adjusted the text and images to a “general store,” which is more relatable to the majority of students.”

Coming into a project that is working in unique circumstances, such as poverty and low literacy levels, can make the design of online learning courses difficult at times. Andreas explained, “Our approach involves repeated content presentation through various means like videos, audios, text, and images to reinforce key learnings.” Language barriers exist as well, as Andreas continues, “Translating courses from English to Khmer definitely presents design challenges. Recently we found that text animations in videos work well with English fonts but don’t display correctly when translated into Khmer fonts. Thanks to our fantastic team of translators, this issue was resolved.”
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Recently, at Chea Smonn Secondary School, there was a “Test & Learn” session with 30 children, using Andres’s very first designed digital learning unit. Andreas received feedback on that learning unit and beamed with joy, saying, “When I first saw a video of the Test & Learn session it made me incredibly happy. It is amazing to see children working through the unit and trying to figure out the answers to the “brainteasers.”

Andreas was thrilled with the feedback he received, and aside from a few minor technical issues, the trial course went well. He concluded, “What really stood out for me was how much fun the children had with the videos, brainteasers, and activities in the eLearning course.”

Critical thinking is a skill we are bringing to our children in the Cambodian villages, so they can learn to navigate their lives and this world in the best way they can. We are thrilled to see and hear the children enjoying digital learning. 

With every new digital learning course that is designed; with each test & learn course that is brought into a classroom; with every volunteer and every donation; we are giving these children a fighting chance at a brighter future!!

Make a difference with us: https://bit.ly/Donate_PS2024 

Story written by: Volunteer Kathy Aunkst