Blooms Digital Taxonomy

 To answer the question how are students’ views of technology different from mine….they are different in the sense that I learned how to function in a world where technology is everything and they were born into it.

The differences are that kids today grew up/are growing up with technology as the center of their lives. I have seen babies with tablets or their mother’s smartphones watching videos. Young people today have no idea what life was like without it. When I was a kid, we had the old IBM computers with white lettering and the black screen. The screen and the keyboard were all one unit. My television had only four channels and I had never heard of the World Wide Web.

In today’s classroom technology is everywhere. The old ways of teaching with lecturing and pencil/paper practice are gone. To keep a student’s attention in today’s classroom there must be visuals on some type of screen, like a slideshow or video. The activities that go along with lessons are “hands-on” or collaborations with other members of the class. They are presentations on screens or assignments done virtually. I teach special education and technology is a big plus for me and my students. Most of my students are not fluent in handwriting. They can write words or their names. We still do traditional paper/pencil assignments, so they may learn handwriting. Digital assignments are much more useful for me to see what they are capable of without being hindered by the lack of writing skills.

I would use Bloom's Digital Taxonomy to support my need for specific apps in my library. Because teaching has evolved over the recent years, so has Bloom's Taxonomy. The latest version is centered around activities that are done digitally. From bookmarking on the lowest level-remembering to blogging on the highest level-creating, the new and improved Blooms is a helpful guide for teachers, especially those that did not grow up in the technology age. Apps are the guides to this technology. There are apps for quizzing, blogging, making flashcards, creating presentations- just about anything you want to create digitally. It is important for the teacher librarian to have the tools available for students. Kathy Schrock’s Guide To Everything website is a wonderful resource. She lists apps for completing digital activities on any level of the new Bloom's Digital Taxonomy. It is necessary for any library.

Technology is a tool for learning. Formal education has been around longer than the technology we use today. Albert Einstein didn’t have the technology available we have today, and he was brilliant. I did my undergraduate work before online classes became the norm. I learned in the lecture hall taking notes just as well as I am learning now on a computer.

This information in Bloom's Digital Taxonomy is valuable to teacher-librarians today. In today’s technological world the role of libraries in education has never been more important. Sadly, libraries are one of the first areas that suffer when budget cuts are needed. Teacher librarians must constantly prove the value of their programs. and Blooms Digital Taxonomy another bit of information they can put into their “proving the importance of libraries” toolbox.

References

Churches, Andrew. (2022, January 29). Blooms Digital Taxonomy. http://www.ccconline.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Churches_2008_DigitalBloomsTaxonomyGuide.pdf

 Gibbs. (2022, January 29). Blooms Digital Taxonomy. [Video]. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/blooms-digital-taxonomy

Marist College. (2022). The First Marist Mindset List is Released. https://www.marist.edu/-/marist-news-the-first-marist-mindset-list-is-released

 Schrock, Kathy. (2022, January 29). Bloomin’ Apps. Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything. https://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html

 

 

Significant Challenges Impeding Technology K-12

 

            It seems that overnight traditional “school” has changed. Due to the pandemic, we are now thrown into the world of technology and the internet whether we like it or not. Most campuses have become one-to-one where students all are issued a device and the majority of their work is completed on this device. We expect this from our students but have lacked in preparing them to be productive digital citizens.

This trend has come about so quickly, schools are not prepared to teach digital literacy to our students. At an early age, students have an online presence through games and watching videos. Later it is social media. They are unprepared to discern what is true and what is false. “If our students do not learn how to assess the information they access via the Internet, for credibility, question author’s motive, or synthesize new knowledge from what they read, we are at risk for breading ignorance in the uninformed populace.” (Miller 2018)  Librarians and classroom teachers are tasked to fill these gaps.

If students are to succeed in the Information Age, they must have access to a strong library program that includes collaboration between the Librarian, classroom teachers, and administrators. I located an article about a study done at Grant Elementary School, located in the Eastmont School District, in East Wenatchee, Washington. The problem addressed was student achievement in reading and writing was falling short of state standards. Staff began meeting to determine what changes could be made to positively affect student achievement. There was a district-adopted curriculum for reading, writing, math and science, there was no library curriculum in the district or school and therefore, no consistent measurable student learning of information skills. The purpose was to develop an elementary library curriculum plan for students at Grady that would enhance, support, and deepen student learning of information skills. The curriculum plan incorporated research on the effect of the library on increased student achievement and integrated national and state standards in reading, technology, and information skills. This project supports the need for the teacher-librarian to be able to collaborate to create consistent library goals, assessments, and activities that will show collective evidence that elementary school libraries and their instructional interventions positively affect student achievement.

One emerging strategy for teaching digital citizenship to students is through medians most young people today are familiar with; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Through these, students can create digital research projects, such as public service announcements on issues that matter to them. Students can investigate issues, prepare arguments, and connect with publicly elected officials. Students can share political views and ideas with others and see other points of view on the same topics. These strategies help teachers empower students to develop critical thinking abilities, enhance digital communication skills, and influence their communities by connecting their in-school learning with their out-of-school online activities and communications.

References:

Freeman, A., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., and Hall Giesinger, C. (2017). NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2017 K–12 Edition. https://library.educause.edu/~/media/files/library/2017/11/2017hrk12EN.pdf

Gleason, B.,& von Gillern, S. (2018). Digital Citizenship with Social Media: Participatory Practices of Teaching and Learning in Secondary Education. Educational Technology &Society, 21(1), 200-212.

Miller, A. (2018). There’s so Much There! Helping Kids Conquer the Internet and Save Democracy. Knowledge Quest, 47(1), 24-30.

Scott, K.J., & Plourde, L.A. (2007). School Libraries and Increased Student Achievement: What’s the Big Idea? Education, 127(3), 419-429.