K-12 mLearning Apps
Blooms Taxonomy in Apps!
Remembering: This is the first level on Blooms Taxonomy. At this level students are to recall previously learned data or information.
Sight Words & Spelling with Pixopop HD is an iPad app for pre-schoolers, kindergarteners and first Graders that will assist students to learn sight words through seeing, hearing and spelling. The app offers three different game modes (Flash Card, Word Challenge and Spelling). Students will see and hear the word, recognize and recall how to spell the word in the spelling mode.
This app is great for people who teach reading and spelling phonetically with customized lists or even for those who choose to use the pre-programmed sight word lists. It could be used in the classroom as a part of literacy centers for student review.
understanding: this is the second level on blooms taxonomy. At this level students are asked to demonstrate an understanding of what they have learned, it is not merely a recall of fact.
This would be a fantastic app to place on a class set of iPads to use in higher grade. Students could form small groups for presentations and work together and rotate throughout presentations quickly. It could really enhance student engagement and information retention!
Applying: this is the third level on blooms taxonomy. At this level students are using what previous knowledge they may have and are using it in different aspects of their learning.
They are able to draw directly on the iPad's screen with their finger and create a picture book page by page. They can also add customizable text with the built-in keyboard, import images from their photo albums, and publish their story and flip through its pages like a real book.
I would use this app in an elementary school setting. Kids love to see their stories coming to life and this app has the potential to be a fantastic motivator for kids that have difficulty putting pen to paper and developing their ideas!
Analyzing: This is the fourth level on blooms taxonomy. At this level students move beyond information gathering, they are asked to use what they have learned and create other hypothesis', ideas, and answer deeper thought provoking questions.
This would be a fantastic app to use with curriculum from the Alberta grade 6 science unit "Trees and Forest" where students are to examine local species, and learn to recognize the characteristics of different trees and develop skill in describing and interpreting the structural features of trees. A bonus is that students can post the locations of the trees they have identified on Twitter and participate in the crowd-sourced tree census.
Evaluating: This is the second highest on blooms taxonomy. This level asks students to make critical analysis of information while evaluating for validity and usefulness.
• Sync all of your notes across the computers and devices students use
• Create and edit text notes, to-dos and task lists
• Save, sync and share files
• Record voice and audio notes
• Search for text inside images
• Organize notes by notebooks and tags
• Email notes and save tweets to Evernote account
• Connect Evernote to other apps and products students use
• Share notes with friends and colleagues via Facebook and Twitter
In the classroom, students doing research projects can take handwritten notes and still add them to their digital research by scanning or taking a snapshot and have access to them anywhere at any time with their mobile device.
Creating: This is the final and highest Level on blooms taxonomy. At this level students are more free to answer open ended questions and use all of the information that they have obtained from the lower levels. Answers may not be clear cut, but open to interpretation..
Social Studies class students could use the iMovie movie to create video reports. Expectation for these video productions would be that students incorporate cross curricular skills to develop scripts to shoot from. Story boards could be constructed to help guide students during the filming process.