Blooms, Shrock, and Prensky

Aimee Rubin

January 22, 2016

Bloom. Schrock, and Prensky

After reading the assigned readings, I realized what an eye opener this information was. Being a teacher for almost ten years and watching the school district explain the importance of the use of technology, I still felt some anxiety towards the change. While both “Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy” and “Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything” were both very informative, the article that had the most impact on me as an educator was Marc Prensky’s article. His views are supported by the other two articles.

Although I feel as though I am what Prensky calls, “Digital Native” watching my own kids was technology amazes me. They are on a whole other level and find myself not being able to keep up with them at times. I also agree that teachers must step into the digital world. We must keep our students engaged and the activities that use to world need to be changed. One struggle is that if we are having to become familiar with the technology and fit it into an assignment. It is definitely not the way we are used to. One of my favorite statements in Prensky’s article was “Teachers needn’t master all the new technologies. They should continue doing what we do best: leading discussion in the classroom.” I think about what most students do during school vs after school. The use of using technology at home is very likely while the use at school is minimal.

Prensky also supports Schrock’s guide. He wants school to be full of technology and the guide helps to align the lessons with the use of technology. It gives the readers was to incorporate the use of digital tools. This is usually the hardest part. It also shows the importance of connecting the cognitive process with the use of technology. My favorite part of Schrock’s article was the apps it gave that connect with the Bloom’s. That amazingly helpful for any teacher. I loved reading the guide and will be sharing this article with the teachers on my campus.

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy is all about using the technology to facilitate the learning. While using Bloom’s teachers add rigor to their lessons but need to integrate digital media in the classroom. The goal is to take each taxonomy and apply the technology and tolls to fit our students. I like how it outlined each level and the way to incorporate the Digital Bloom’s. Again, I will be sure to share this with the teachers on my campus.

As far as the Beloit College’s Mindset List, this was a shocker. For one, it shows me how quickly technology grows. I was born only 16 years earlier. This doesn’t seem too far away from 1997, but after reading through the list, technology has come a long way and had no sign of stopping. It also showed my age, which was a hard pill to shallow.

After reading, I still feel as though I am a fan of integrating technology into the classroom, it is still one of my biggest struggles. I do think with our students, it is extremely important that we provide them the chance to take full advantage in learning using all of the wonderful technologies available. I also feel that as the librarian, you are also a media specialist. Students should be given opportunities to explore the use of technologies in the library.