critical thinking

Writing a hypertext requires a unique type of thinking. The first quote that I feels best defines my experience using critical thinking skills while working with hypertext is by Halpern, "Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned and goal directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions when the thinker is using skills that are thoughtful and effective for the particular context and type of thinking task....Critical thinking is sometimes called directed thinking because it focuses on a desired outcome." I definitely feel that when writing / formulating a hypertext i need to have a sense of direction of where I am going- otherwise i will end up with a wide range of web pages that don't connect.
The second quote I picked was by Maiorana, "The purpose of critical thinking is, therefore, to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve." This probably represents my whole outlook after working with hypertext. By designing a hypertext, you really need to know what it is you are trying to get across- you need to understand your topic to a degree that you understand all viewpoints and are able to propose a solution to any problems that you consider. Throughout this course, i have been asking myself numerous questions to deepen my understanding about issues in order to help propose solutions and resolve them.
the last quote i picked was by MCC General Education, "Critical thinking includes the ability to respond to material by distinguishing between facts and opinions or personal feelings, judgments and inferences, inductive and deductive arguments, and the objective and subjective...applying understanding and knowledge to new and different problems, developing rational and reasonable interpretations, suspending beliefs and remaining open to new information, methods, cultural systems, values and beliefs and by assimilating information...." This particularly addresses my process with working with hypertext because while working on certain issues, I've had to put certain issues aside and evaluate situations without a bias. It has forced me to remain open to new ideas and in some cases changed my opinion on certain issues. Although it was hard to do at times, it has made me see situations from different points of view and allowed me an opportunity to deepen my critical thinking skills by remaining open.