Sometimes it is good to follow side-tracks and "random" questions raised by students. This allows them to apply their learning in unfamiliar contexts and to connect their current learning with prior knowledge/learning.
Some students today were asking about artificial intelligence and we took a small side-track to discuss current applications and future speculation. We also talked about how quantum computing might or might not "supercharge" machine learning and AI.
This created links to SOLO - meta learning - constructs that we had previously discussed. Relational thinking and extended abstract thinking.
Similar to scholarship style questions, allowing open ended-discussion provides opportunity to support application of previous learning (or meta-learning) in these new or "out-there" contexts.
Another example: Getting the students to consider how they could drill a tunnel from one side of the earth to the other and what problems they might encounter. This coming in the context of geology and tectonic plate movement means they need to consider aspects of heat, pressure, plate construction, layers of the earth and their composition, etc.. A very interesting task for those at the relational and extended abstract levels of SOLO.
