Bloom's Taxonomy. One of the things we are constantly hearing in our school is the push for increased rigor in our classroom, as a result of the STAAR tests and others like it becoming more rigorous. We are told to push for higher order thinking and questioning from our students. One of the tools we use to look at how we can increase rigor is Bloom's Taxonomy. But some things about Bloom's don't translate exactly when we are talking about the digital age and the classroom or library. For example, remembering is the lowest piece of the triangle for Bloom's, but remembering looks different when you have instant access to a powerful computer that can use essentially limitless online resources to find answers. I've mentioned to my husband just how much more this and future generations will know about the world around them simply because they no longer have to remember everything they're interested in knowing. If I pass a historical marker for a place I haven't heard of before, I used to have to write it down, go to the library or a school to find an encyclopedia or a book about the local area, pour through old newspapers or microfiche or find a local history expert. Now, all I have to do is type the place into my smart phone, and suddenly I can not only learn about the historical marker, but quickly get information from related links about the people, places or circumstances associated with it. In this process, the steps from Bloom's become intertwined, each one using pieces of the previous, and not necessarily in the traditional order. This process, which millions of people use every single day, is a perfect example of how technology enhances and even drives learning. Indeed, it helps to support and maybe even create a curiosity about the world around us. Students no longer have to be content not knowing, not exploring. It is incredibly important for educators to embrace and harness the powerful digital tools that are already at our students' fingertips.
If you are looking for some amazing examples of what Bloom's can look like when used with technology, Kathy Schrock has a wonderful collection of visuals that quickly explain and connect. You can check it out here. http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html. What I particularly liked about what Schrock has put together is how creating is no longer a tiny piece at the pinnacle of the triangle. Creating becomes the core, the piece that all the other parts help to support. Creating is a large cog that both gains movement from the other pieces, but also causes those pieces to move in turn. And this shouldn't be surprising to educators. Students are absolutely used to creating using digital tools. They edit photos to express mood or tell a story, they collaborate via twitter on topics they find interesting. They just don't do it in a way that looks like academics to many teachers.
Now, here's the thing. I'm about to go on a little soapbox rant here, so bear with me. I also read an article by Marc Prensky about digital learning. And while there are portions of the article that I absolutely agree with, I'm going to have to blast a little piece of it before I start. I am not a young teacher. I have been an educator for 13 years. But I am absolutely a digital learner. I am fluent with technology for many reasons, even though my very young years were before the true digital age began. To really explain my problem with the first portion of Prensky's article from Educational Leadership, I first have to tell you a little about my history with technology. I was raised on a mini farm in a fairly rural part of Texas. Not exactly a burgeoning hub for technology use. When I was about 7 years old, my mom went back to college to finish her Bachelor's degree. At the time, computer science was basically a brand new field, and it piqued my mom's interest. She graduated with a Comp Sci degree and went from a secretary to a system's analyst for a brand new computer department at a small, liberal arts college. We got our first computer when I was around 10, running DOS on an orange monochrome monitor. I learned to type on that computer and was hooked the first time I played Jeopardy on it. I may not have had access to the web or a super powerful smartphone but that first experience with a computer led me to imagine what was possible.
I remember the first time we connected to the internet at home, the first time I learned to reformat our home computer after I accidentally picked up a virus, my first smart phone (which was windows based). Here's where I get annoyed with people and articles like Prensky's. There is absolutely no reason why anyone with a love of learning shouldn't embrace digital learning. There really is little difference between the children we are teaching and us, except they encountered technology when their curiosity about the world hadn't yet been tempered. He mentions in his article that one issue schools have with cell phones stems from the fact that students will turn to what is most engaging and if that isn't instruction, the phones will come out. However, we are absolutely guilty of the same thing, but in reverse. We can't get into technology and embrace it because we are too worried about the unknown and what it means about ourselves if we can't figure it out. If we aren't picking up a digital device and using it to learn for ourselves, then we are not coming even close to meeting our full potential as a learners, let alone as educators. We can live without technology. We can go home and do the same stuff our parents did. Or, we can do more. We can reach out without leaving your home. Digital tech is NOT going away, and it shouldn't. Live. Explore. And let the technology that exists enhance that experience. Alright, /end rant. Moving on.
So, since I consider myself a digital native, even though Prensky doesn't seem to think that's possible, I can look at the rest of the article post-vent. Prensky says,
"Student Engagement More and more of our students lack the true prerequisites for learning—engagement and motivation—at least in terms of what we offer them in our schools. Our kids do know what engagement is: Outside school, they are fully engaged by their 21st century digital lives. If educators want to have relevance in this century, it is crucial that we find ways to engage students in school. Because common sense tells us that we will never have enough truly great teachers to engage these students in the old ways—through compelling lectures from those rare, charismatic teachers, for example—we must engage them in the 21st century way: electronically. Not through expensive graphics or multimedia, but through what the kids call “gameplay.” We need to incorporate into our classrooms the same combination of desirable goals, interesting choices, immediate and useful feedback, and opportunities to “level up” (that is, to see yourself improve) that engage kids in their favorite complex computer games. One elementary school in Colorado, for example, takes its students on a virtual journey to a distant planet in a spaceship powered by knowledge. If the students don't have enough knowledge to move the ship, they need to find it—in one another."
I cannot agree more with him here. Motivation and engagement and then critical thinking skills are so important and so lacking, especially in lower income populations. We are the doormen and women of the world for our students. As librarians we are literally the guides on their educational tour. We open doors, point to maps, ask questions that lead to more questions, highlight points of interest that may easily be missed. We are the bus tour guide operators that drop them off at a location and say, "Go, explore, take pictures and bring back what you learn so you can tell us all about it".
I have been a proponent on my campus for using games in the learning environment for the last 10 years. I have used Clifford's musical adventure to teach kinder students about pitch and timbre. Most recently, I have used Quaver music's website as a creation tool as my students take the composition knowledge from my classroom and applied it to writing songs for drums or piano which they can then submit to worldwide competitions.
I have personally learned so much from games and digital tools that it is impossible for me to not see the value in them. Let's look at logic, for example. Ancient students learned logic as part of their curriculum. Classical education at high end schools still focus on logic. Well, the hour of code games and the curriculum that exist for using a 3D printer also teach logic. But it is in a hands on and digital manner. And it looks and feels like play. In an era where especially younger students are pushed towards academic settings that are not developmentally appropriate, supporting learning play in the digital form may be even more important. As more educators begin to use these "games" and collect data on the academic results of their students, I believe it will become easier to convince the hold outs of the value these apps and programs can have in an educational environment.
I think all of this stuff boils down to this. Connect to your students as individuals. Work to develop educational goals for them that are specific and be bold about incorporating the modern digital world into how you reach those goals. Kids are learning using that world so you'd better harness it or you will squash their love of learning. Encourage students to create and show what they know and teach them to be better adventurers. Give them the educational equivalent of backpacking gear and then let them lead. This is going to take some work. You will have to dive into that same digital world first, so that you can help guide them. You will have to learn to communicate in a different way if you haven't already embraced technology. But I promise it will be worth it. You will do things you didn't think you could in a way that may be foreign to you. But it will be so rewarding and amazing. It isn't geniuses who are putting together these new apps, or creating digital classrooms. It is regular people who have a passion for learning and don't allow technology to stand as a wall that blocks an entire world. You can be that person, too. Go for it.
If you are looking for some amazing examples of what Bloom's can look like when used with technology, Kathy Schrock has a wonderful collection of visuals that quickly explain and connect. You can check it out here. http://www.schrockguide.net/bloomin-apps.html. What I particularly liked about what Schrock has put together is how creating is no longer a tiny piece at the pinnacle of the triangle. Creating becomes the core, the piece that all the other parts help to support. Creating is a large cog that both gains movement from the other pieces, but also causes those pieces to move in turn. And this shouldn't be surprising to educators. Students are absolutely used to creating using digital tools. They edit photos to express mood or tell a story, they collaborate via twitter on topics they find interesting. They just don't do it in a way that looks like academics to many teachers.
Now, here's the thing. I'm about to go on a little soapbox rant here, so bear with me. I also read an article by Marc Prensky about digital learning. And while there are portions of the article that I absolutely agree with, I'm going to have to blast a little piece of it before I start. I am not a young teacher. I have been an educator for 13 years. But I am absolutely a digital learner. I am fluent with technology for many reasons, even though my very young years were before the true digital age began. To really explain my problem with the first portion of Prensky's article from Educational Leadership, I first have to tell you a little about my history with technology. I was raised on a mini farm in a fairly rural part of Texas. Not exactly a burgeoning hub for technology use. When I was about 7 years old, my mom went back to college to finish her Bachelor's degree. At the time, computer science was basically a brand new field, and it piqued my mom's interest. She graduated with a Comp Sci degree and went from a secretary to a system's analyst for a brand new computer department at a small, liberal arts college. We got our first computer when I was around 10, running DOS on an orange monochrome monitor. I learned to type on that computer and was hooked the first time I played Jeopardy on it. I may not have had access to the web or a super powerful smartphone but that first experience with a computer led me to imagine what was possible.
I remember the first time we connected to the internet at home, the first time I learned to reformat our home computer after I accidentally picked up a virus, my first smart phone (which was windows based). Here's where I get annoyed with people and articles like Prensky's. There is absolutely no reason why anyone with a love of learning shouldn't embrace digital learning. There really is little difference between the children we are teaching and us, except they encountered technology when their curiosity about the world hadn't yet been tempered. He mentions in his article that one issue schools have with cell phones stems from the fact that students will turn to what is most engaging and if that isn't instruction, the phones will come out. However, we are absolutely guilty of the same thing, but in reverse. We can't get into technology and embrace it because we are too worried about the unknown and what it means about ourselves if we can't figure it out. If we aren't picking up a digital device and using it to learn for ourselves, then we are not coming even close to meeting our full potential as a learners, let alone as educators. We can live without technology. We can go home and do the same stuff our parents did. Or, we can do more. We can reach out without leaving your home. Digital tech is NOT going away, and it shouldn't. Live. Explore. And let the technology that exists enhance that experience. Alright, /end rant. Moving on.
So, since I consider myself a digital native, even though Prensky doesn't seem to think that's possible, I can look at the rest of the article post-vent. Prensky says,
"Student Engagement More and more of our students lack the true prerequisites for learning—engagement and motivation—at least in terms of what we offer them in our schools. Our kids do know what engagement is: Outside school, they are fully engaged by their 21st century digital lives. If educators want to have relevance in this century, it is crucial that we find ways to engage students in school. Because common sense tells us that we will never have enough truly great teachers to engage these students in the old ways—through compelling lectures from those rare, charismatic teachers, for example—we must engage them in the 21st century way: electronically. Not through expensive graphics or multimedia, but through what the kids call “gameplay.” We need to incorporate into our classrooms the same combination of desirable goals, interesting choices, immediate and useful feedback, and opportunities to “level up” (that is, to see yourself improve) that engage kids in their favorite complex computer games. One elementary school in Colorado, for example, takes its students on a virtual journey to a distant planet in a spaceship powered by knowledge. If the students don't have enough knowledge to move the ship, they need to find it—in one another."
I cannot agree more with him here. Motivation and engagement and then critical thinking skills are so important and so lacking, especially in lower income populations. We are the doormen and women of the world for our students. As librarians we are literally the guides on their educational tour. We open doors, point to maps, ask questions that lead to more questions, highlight points of interest that may easily be missed. We are the bus tour guide operators that drop them off at a location and say, "Go, explore, take pictures and bring back what you learn so you can tell us all about it".
I have been a proponent on my campus for using games in the learning environment for the last 10 years. I have used Clifford's musical adventure to teach kinder students about pitch and timbre. Most recently, I have used Quaver music's website as a creation tool as my students take the composition knowledge from my classroom and applied it to writing songs for drums or piano which they can then submit to worldwide competitions.
I have personally learned so much from games and digital tools that it is impossible for me to not see the value in them. Let's look at logic, for example. Ancient students learned logic as part of their curriculum. Classical education at high end schools still focus on logic. Well, the hour of code games and the curriculum that exist for using a 3D printer also teach logic. But it is in a hands on and digital manner. And it looks and feels like play. In an era where especially younger students are pushed towards academic settings that are not developmentally appropriate, supporting learning play in the digital form may be even more important. As more educators begin to use these "games" and collect data on the academic results of their students, I believe it will become easier to convince the hold outs of the value these apps and programs can have in an educational environment.
I think all of this stuff boils down to this. Connect to your students as individuals. Work to develop educational goals for them that are specific and be bold about incorporating the modern digital world into how you reach those goals. Kids are learning using that world so you'd better harness it or you will squash their love of learning. Encourage students to create and show what they know and teach them to be better adventurers. Give them the educational equivalent of backpacking gear and then let them lead. This is going to take some work. You will have to dive into that same digital world first, so that you can help guide them. You will have to learn to communicate in a different way if you haven't already embraced technology. But I promise it will be worth it. You will do things you didn't think you could in a way that may be foreign to you. But it will be so rewarding and amazing. It isn't geniuses who are putting together these new apps, or creating digital classrooms. It is regular people who have a passion for learning and don't allow technology to stand as a wall that blocks an entire world. You can be that person, too. Go for it.
I actually caught myself smiling at your "rant"! You have a very valid point and while I am not a spring chicken (I didn't start teaching until I was 28 and I've been teaching for 15 years so you can do the math)I don't consider myself a digital native simply because I was well into adulthood before the internet was even heard of and bag phones (much less cell phones) didn't come out until after I was out of high school, I by no means consider myself unable to learn new technologies and absolutely LOVE technology!! While I would like for my kids to experience life as I knew it before technology just so that they can understand the simplicity and pure enjoyment of life without, I totally get that the veteran teachers absolutely have to be adaptable to how their students learn best. What I've encountered as a techno proactive librarian is that so many teachers (new and veteran) are either willing to get on the bandwagon or not and sometimes, no matter how hard I work to make it easy for them, they just will. not. use. technology. :/
ReplyDeleteI see that point as well - teaching kids to look up from the tech is important. But I also sometimes wonder if we sell people short with the whole idea that this generation wouldn't be able to handle a tech free world. I work at a very remote girl scout camp over the summer, and while the teenage staff are glued to their phones on weekends when they have time off in town, they seem to have little problems staying off them during the week. We made a rule about it so that everyone knows the expectation, but I've found the campers and the staff both have less trouble adjusting to the disconnect than I would have thought.
DeleteI love how you mention that we have to connect with our students...it is so true!I also appreciate how you remind everyone that normal people work with technology every day to create lessons, etc. When I taught math, I found that many students had been told so often how hard math was that they had a mental block against even trying. I think sometimes we as teachers do the same thing with technology.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I love the way you put this. I may use it when talking to some of my teachers who just aren't confident about integrating tech.
DeleteYou make me want to go back and hide my blog! Ha! I loved everything you said. I feel like I'm kind of in a limbo between what Prenksy has dubbed "native" and "immigrant" I mean, I felt ancient when I read the Mindset list, and I know that today's kids probably do know more about technology than I do, but I'm not that far removed. My friends and I joke that we learned to type fast (keyboard) when AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was popular- we were in late elementary/junior high) I feel like teachers in and around my age group probably embrace technology, but have a little hesitation. I can see why older teachers MIGHT struggle, but I have some qualms with Prensky's stance, too. I mean, WE ARE EDUCATORS! I think all good educators are life long learners and that translates to use of technology. Now, I am not saying that I'll be as tech savvy as my younger counterparts or students, but I won't turn my head and ignore technology or the many ways I can use it.
ReplyDeleteI think that's really the key. We like to learn, even if we sometimes forget that in the craziness of teaching. Also, I remember just how quickly my group of friends took to AIM (I learned to type quickly then, and it blows my digital native students' minds that I can type that quickly without looking at the keyboard).
Delete"They just don't do it in a way that looks like academics to many teachers." That's where we come in~ we can help people to a new worldview. I don't know of another time in history when one individual can have so much impact on children's learning!
ReplyDelete