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