Theories of Critical Thinking

As ideas and concepts in education change and adapt over time, technology must change and adapt too. Technology usage in the classroom is at an all-time high right now. While I haven’t had my own classroom to experience this in, I witnessed it while student teaching and continue experiencing it through many of my colleagues. Students all have different learning needs, and it is up to educators to do their very best to meet those needs. For many students, having access to adequate resources can make all the difference in the world. Lucky for today’s educators, attaining those resources is arguably easier now than it’s ever been with the surge in classroom technology.

All educators are aware of Bloom’s Taxonomy and its importance in our field. Even as vital as Bloom’s Taxonomy is on education as a whole, it has even adapted over time to keep up with the needs of students and educators. In 2001, Anderson and Krathwohl revised Bloom’s Taxonomy to not only fit into modern education better, but also to attempt to make the process clearer to those it applies to. With modern education adapting to more outcome-focused objectives, Anderson and Krathwohl felt that Bloom’s Taxonomy should follow suit (Huitt, 2011). So, they adjusted the level names from nouns to action verbs, as well as switched the highest two levels of the model (Huitt, 2011). As a side note, the most modern national music standards also use action verbs very similar to those brought forth by Anderson and Krathwohl (NAfME standards: creating, responding, performing, and connecting).

Educators and technology professionals in schools are understanding the importance of technology skills play in their students’ success, not just in the school but in their futures. Common Core State Standards Initiative highlights on the importance of adequate technology skills, stating that these skills are imperative “to be ready for college, workforce training, and life in a technological society” (Hobbs, 2011). If students do not gain adequate training at this point in their lives, they are bound to be behind in whatever their futures hold. I was also intrigued with the section of “Empowering Learner with Digital and Media Literacy” where Hobbs discusses the reality that simply providing the latest digital resources for students is not enough. The resources must be understood well by students and teachers must have a solid plan of incorporating the technology into their lessons for it to be effective (Hobbs, 2011). While it is a benefit to get the latest and greatest stuff when you can, educators need to go through a thorough training before teaching the students how to use it (Hobbs, 2011).

When I become a band director, I plan to incorporate music technology into my program. I believe this will open up new opportunities for my students who hope to pursue a career in music. However, I am also aware that music technology only scratches the surface of some programs and digital resources students already use in their other classes. I hope to collaborate with my colleagues and with the other technology professionals in my school to ensure I am incorporating other resources in my classroom that will benefit my students beyond music, and I hope they will consider doing the same in their classrooms.

Theories of Critical Thinking

It's interesting to note that as technology changes, so do the needs of our students. As students adapt to changes in their world, their educational needs must be met. Technology makes this significantly more easy, allowing teachers to provide accommodations to students and meet them where they are. This easy access to learning also allows for a deeper understanding of the content. However, with these changes, we must teach students to become responsible digital citizens in an age where access to information is all too easy.

As an educator, the well-known Bloom's Taxonomy is a staple. However, in recent years, even this model has changed in order to match what students are being required to do in the classroom. The addition of "Creating" to the highest levels of the model, are no doubt the result of technologies that allow students to easily become producers in their own way (Huitt, 2011). In my own classroom, honestly, I see the need to reinforce more strongly the beginning steps of the model, before pushing ahead to the level of creating. I really benefited from the matrix combining Bloom's and Gardner's theories in a real world classroom (Kuhn, 2008). It was helpful to see concrete examples of how these different types of intelligences could be displayed at different levels of understanding.

With the rise in technology, it's imperative that we teach students how to be responsible when they're creating. My school has always had an advisement program to encourage students to be responsible citizens. However, it's only been in recent years that digital citizenship has been integrated into the curriculum.  One of the biggest concepts that I took away from "Empowering Learners with Digital and Media Literacy," is the importance of teaching students to evaluate and analyze the information they take in online (Hobbs, 2011). In the age of "clickbait" these skills are huge, and they also incorporate, in a sense, the principles of Bloom's Taxonomy.

In my own day-to-day life, it's easy to use technology as simply a means to an end. However, these texts have reiterated the importance and the possibility of using it as a tool to create a deeper level of understanding.

Theories of Critical Thinking

Education is continuously changing. When I began teaching eighteen years ago, we did not use technology much at all. I remember using a computer for attendance and that was all. Now teachers are encouraged to use technology as much as possible because the students seem to be more engaged when using technology. The traditional teaching methods are fading and we are now in a Digital Age. Educators are tasked with engaging students and making learning entertaining.

Bloom's taxonomy, developed in 1956, was a classification of intellectual objectives and skills essential to learning. These objectives have been used to structure lessons, guide learning, and assess students' performance (Huitt, 2011). Anderson and Krathwohl updated Bloom's taxonomy to indicate outcome focused objectives (Huitt, 2011). Bloom's taxonomy is a tool that can be used to help teachers effectively incorporate higher levels of learning into lesson plans.

Meeting after meeting, teachers are introduced to new digital tools. While new tools are important, it is not imperative that educators have the latest technologies (Hobbs, 2011). The main focus when the teacher is planning lessons is how effective the tool is when doing projects. If it is too difficult for the students to use, they will get lost trying to utilize the technology, instead of learning the objectives for the class.

When I am an administrator, I hope that all teachers will use technology in the classroom. I know it is not practical to think that all teachers will use technology daily, even if it is available. I hope to provide enough professional development, so that all teachers are comfortable using new digital tools in the classroom. In order to get the teachers on board with new tools, I will model them during faculty meetings. I can not expect the teachers to use new technology if I am not willing to do so myself.