Bloom's and Technology

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Wow!  My eyes have been opened to a whole new world where technology and Bloom’s taxonomy have aligned due to the evolution of education.  As an educator, it is important to reach aspects of Bloom’s taxonomy in the classroom.  Also, as an educator, it is important to make sure your students are achieving this through the use of technology integration, particulary if we want to say they are “21st century learners”.   I can see many pros in using some of these apps to reach the higher levels of the taxonomy.  For instance, many students have fun when creating something on an app, most of the apps or web tools are free and accessible for teachers, and the ability to share information is easy.  Of course there are some cons as well.  Such as access to these apps.  Schools must have the available resources (iPads, chromebooks, laptops, etc.).  Also, even more important, teachers need TIME to play around with the tools and practice with them for themselves.  Overcoming these obstacles can be done though if there is a well-developed, well-thought out plan involved in the process of integrating technology in the classroom. This plan is not just for our students, but for our teachers as well.  Finally, after I took sometime to look up prices for my budgeting matrix, I learned very quickly how costly technology is.  However, it is my belief that Google Chromebooks are an example of how companies are trying to bring technology into the classroom at a low cost.  I know I spent double on my iPad than I did on my Chromebook and I use the latter one everyday.  

Google Apps for the Classroom

The use of Google Apps in a school setting can be used between students and teachers to collaborate, communicate, synthesize, analyze, create projects and so much more!   Anyone can sign-up for a Google account and once that is done the possibilities endless .  Google has a website, Google for Education, that allows educators, students and parents to explore all the benefits of incorporating Google Apps into their school setting.  The great aspect about Google Apps is that they can be used between teacher and student, student to student, or teacher to all students.  Not only will the students be engaged because they are collaboratively working together but they are also doing something they enjoy: Communicating with one another on their device’s.  There is no worry about printing or saving documents because everything is easily stored in a user’s Google Drive, which is pretty much like a USB that you can access from any device.  Perhaps the best feature of Google Apps for education is the fact that they are all free!

In my own school, all students starting in fourth grade are set up with a Gmail account through the school’s technology teacher.  This way they are prepared to start sharing and collaborating on documents once they get to middle school.  The teachers have also been using Google Apps for sometime now.  Often the Principal will share a document or notice that she may need editing on what us to review.  This is a fast and efficient way to get the message out without copying and wasting paper.  I personally love Google Apps and have been using it for about two years now.  I just love the ease of access to all my files and the user-friendliness the applications.  

Survey Results (Using Google Forms)