Technology Puts Some Spring In Bloom's Steps

How can technology help develop higher order thinking and problem solving skills?
In accordance with Ben Bloom's thoughts on higher order thinking, computer technology can help increase the speed of learning. This comes not just through accumulating many electronic references, but rather encourages the development of the whole thought process. Bloom teaches that once knowledge is attained, one should be able to comprehend the nuances of that knowledge. And once the content is comprehended, the next step is to apply that knowledge in some fashion. In addition to application, one should be able to analyze that data or information which the student has come to comprehend. Can the student see trends, patterns, or discrepancies in the content presented?

Next, can new ideas be put together from the comprehension, application, and analysis of the given information? And finally, can one use standards to evaluate the data?

Given Bloom's ideas, computers can greatly increase the speed and means by which one will learn using Bloom's different criteria. Given interactive games and quizzing materials, students can quickly be tested of comprehension. Given online productivity tools (such as blogs, image sharing, photo caches, etc), students can apply the knowledge to creative projects to illustrate that which they are learning. In sharing one's online creations or test results, students can quickly analyze their applications of knowledge. A student need not leave his seat at the computer to compare his current project to past projects or lessons. In this, students can quickly discover trends in lesson-work. It is important to note that the student must still be learning to put forth effort to learn, but the computer is making the process very efficient.

While it might have taken students a week to proceed through Bloom's steps in former days of education, a student can easily pace through Bloom's steps in an afternoon, if not one class period. Many tools and resources are compiled into a single machine (computer) for a single user, and can present a wide range of challenges and learning experiences on one screen.