Eclectic Technology

Do you use iPads in your school? Do you work with Bloom's Taxonomy and/or SAMR? Are you interested in seeing how you might combine Bloom's and SAMR using specific apps? If so, click through to this post.

The post takes apps and organizes in three categories:

* Consumption - which includes Knowledge and Analysis (split into Activity and Gamification)

* Collaboration - which includes Application and Synthesis (split into Assessment and Cloud Storage)

* Creation - which includes Comprehension and Evaluate (split into Multimedia & Design and Multimedia Texts)

Then read on and see how you might take these same areas and apply them to SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition).

This is worth a look even if you do not have iPads. The ideas of placing work into the three Cs of Consumption, Collaboration and Creation may be applied to work that students do, with or without technology.

If you are looking for onlne tools or apps that will help you meet Bloom's taxonomy this in-depth website may provide the answer. Each level of Bloom's Taxonomy is listed by the Skill Level (create, evaluate, analyze, apply, understand, remember) and each level includes descriptive words; images of software that help meet the level; what the student may experience by using the program; and examples of what type of evidence the student may be able to show you as the final product.

There are many ideas to be found in this post and as we move into Common Core more deeply we need to have artifacts that our students have created... this post will help you think of new ways you might have students create these artifacts.

This post discusses the need to define the outcome you expect before you design your project (understanding by design where you begin at the end product and work backwards). The focus is on the iPad, but the questions he proposes for students to answer should work with most digital apps or online tools we use in our classrooms. Within the post you will find five projects that are designed with Bloom's taxonomy in mind. The projects are:

* Create a movie

* Create a podcast

* Create an interactive book

* Create a presentation

* Create a PDF

Of more interest (to me) are the steps he suggests you follow as you create the workflow that students will need to follow.

Clearly define the outcome providing an explanation that the students will understand and also define the context, providing sufficient information that the student know what they will need to accomplish.

When you click through to the post, you will see that each of the projects includes five areas that students work through. In each project students will begin with a clear concept of what they need to remember. They then move up (Bloom's taxonomy) to understanding, with another task to complete. From there they look at applying and analyzing, with additional questions and specified work to be accomplished. This is followed by analyzing and creating, and as a final component collaboration comes into play. In each of these areas there are one or more iPad apps recommended.

Check out three versions of Bloom's Taxonomy in this visualization. It includes the original Bloom's, the revised Bloom's, and adds on the Digital Bloom's, which provides a range of suggestions as to how students may demonstrate each level. This is another visual that you may want to share with other teachers in your school.