Apply, analyze, evaluate, create
Everybody is used with Bloom’s taxonomy (revised by Lorin Anderson) - the “remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, create” pyramid.
A challenge for you, when starting to teach online, is to start with low-stakes verbs - remember, understand - and then increase complexity as students get used to the online environment and with sharing opinions and ideas.
Reflection time:
Since we are approaching the end of this module, the reflection questions in this lesson are more complex and interlaced with the theory bits (that for sure you are already familiar with).
Challenge 1:
Pick a subject. Decide on a way in which you can lead students through working with the higher-order thinking verbs.
APPLY: students learn something, and then extend what they learned to other contexts.
ANALYSE: students learn something, and then they make connections with other information previously learned.
EVALUATE: students position themselves related to an idea, formulating a fact-based opinion.
CREATE: students design, create, generate original ideas.
Challenge 2:
Taking into account all you discovered, create 2 exercises for students, in which you mainly use 2 types of approaches:
a) Problem-based learning: think of a problem or scenario which gets students through the higher-order verbs - formulating hypotheses, analysing evidence, connecting previous knowledge, create solutions, derive conclusions, and ultimately reflect on their own learning.
b) Experiential learning: think of a practical exercise, a learning activity after which you conduct a debriefing, supporting students to discover what they learned and what they can apply in a real-life situation.
Challenge 3:
Given the opportunities provided by the online environment, ask students to develop, generate, create contents. Support them in becoming quality online content-makers. Here is a list of tasks you can choose from7:
- Record a podcast on a theme of your interest
- Create a tutorial in which you teach people something new
- Create a website for a club you would develop in your school
- Create an e-book
- Design a virtual museum using an app of your choice
- Develop your family tree using a visualisation tool
- Prepare a presentation for your colleagues on a harder-to-understand subject (in order to support their understanding)
- Create a digital magazine of the classroom on a common topic (e.g. sports)