Bloom's Taxonomy for Online Learning: A Crash Course (+Template)

Bloom's Taxonomy is a well-established teaching framework to help teachers effectively meet the needs of their pupils. But are entrepreneurs and creators of courses able to use the same framework to develop their business? It's certainly our opinion.

When you were in the school system, what was it that made you excel in terms or numbers? Did you find Maths and Science the subjects you enjoyed most, or were you apprehensively waiting to attend English class?

Have you stopped to reflect on what you did to get there? It was when you learned to count and after which you learned to add which led to Physics as well as Calculus. It wasn't like you arrived in Grade 1 with a volume of Shakespeare in your hands; someone taught you about letters, and the way they are incorporated into the words in the book you've always loved.

The brain learns slowly, layering concepts upon concept with growing levels of complexity. From kindergarten to the halls of the Ivy League, Educators rely upon the building block principle to spread information. They use pedagogical methods - theories and practices of teaching - to systematically impart concepts to their pupils.

In addition to the class, understanding how students learn is a great way to help course creators to build higher-quality course. If you have a good understanding of how the brain creates knowledge, you can strategically build courses that will more effectively deliver solutions to your learners. This will keep them coming back for more, in turn, encouraging them to recommend your course to others and will help your business to grow.

What is Bloom's Taxonomy?

Benjamin Bloom originally published his taxonomy in the year 1956. The pedagogical method was developed by Bloom to assess the development of cognitive abilities of students. In creating a hierarchical framework to track a student's depth of knowledge, Bloom created a way to ascertain the ever-elusive question every Educator asks themselves: are my lessons working?

Bloom's theory was straightforward: if you cannot remember a concept, you aren't able to comprehend the concept; and if you do not comprehend something, you cannot apply the concept. You cannot distinguish between correct and wrong answers, or argue the benefits and downfalls; any expertise or depth of argument can be accomplished without establishing foundations of remembering and understanding.

To keep this in mind, he developed the concept of a continuum of cognitive development, divided it into six stages and assigned each stage an adjective to indicate the ability or degree of intelligence a student must be able to master prior to moving onto the next stage.

The continuum is usually presented as a pyramid to illustrate the layers' dependence on the other levels:

• A student is not able to apply until they have a solid understanding of
• They aren't able to evaluate until they begin to learn how to analyse.

Bloom was referring to this procedure as scaffolding, and the metaphor works: when construction workers build tall buildings, they erect scaffolding to provide support for their workspaces beginning from the ground. Similar to this, every taxonomy level is built on the foundation of the previous level. In the event that there is cracks on the ground - for instance, a cognitive skill was skipped or was not properly reinforced - the next level up will have to be on unstable ground.

It is not the case that every student will begin at square one and work their way upwards. Some students will have already developed certain skills that allow them to jump in somewhere between the two and start climbing up from there.

What are the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy?

Every level in Bloom's Taxonomy is accompanied by a set of verbs that describe the tasks a person is expected to be able complete in that level. After a student has mastered the vocabulary on one level then they can move onto the next level, and then up to.

The levels also include learning goals, which can be particularly useful when thinking about what you can do with them in the outline of your course. As your modules in your course progress you may use greater and more sophisticated learning objectives because you'll get higher levels of expertise from your students.

Finally, we've included special software for creators of courses and teachers in a digital classroom. For those looking for exercises and assessments to flesh out different lessons and different levels of your course outline, this list is the perfect place to start.

Stage 1 : Remember

The process of remembering is easy: it is the simplest way of retaining of knowledge. It's a memory-based game and there's a reason it's at the bottom of the pyramid: it's the simplest, most basic foundational element in learning as well as the most important, because nothing else can be done until you retain a substantial amount of data in your memory.

Students who have mastered the basics of this subject will be able to remember information, or define important concepts. They should be able to create a bullet point list of important terms, and identify a diagram, and have enough knowledge of the subject that they are aware of the terms they can plug into Google to find further information.

Put it to the test:

• Send students on an online search. Ask them to curate an index of bookmarks or favorites of relevant sites, or search for Facebook groups or social profiles in which this subject is discussed. The students can then add their research into a resource guide that they can share with fellow students.

Stage 2: Understand

At this point in Bloom's Taxonomy the students have advanced beyond simply remembering facts, and demonstrate a contextual knowledge of the facts.

This is evident in their ability to explain information to others and they are able to paraphrase or summarize news articles, blog posts or other sources of data accurately. They can perform more advanced web searches now - using Boolean phrases and digging through academic journal databases - and utilize their newly acquired knowledge to accurately identify and label various online resources that support the subject.

Test it: test:

• Start a topic thread in your Facebook group or community site with students being given the responsibility of contributing in a meaningful way to the discussion group. By explaining and discussing the topic together, students are able to improve their knowledge and assist one another in progressing into the next step.
• Ask students to write a sample blog post and record a vlog. post a social status or live stream on social to explain the concept clearly and succinctly for others. It doesn't matter if students live stream the event or create the content and submit private to the class - the important part is producing content with a simple description.
• Give students the article or blog for them to read. Then, have them write annotated notes on the article with notes to describe how it is related to the subject.

Stage 3  3: Apply

Students who have reached this level have learned the ability to take knowledge and apply it in diverse situations.

The new expertise to resolve a challenge. If they are faced with a possible roadblock, they can apply knowledge to come up with basic solutions. They may be able test their knowledge with a simple task or assignment. In the beginning, these assignments are similar to fill-in-the-blank activities, where the students are given a basic outline and are required to utilize their skills to understand the big picture; but they're starting to deepen their knowledge of the subject matter and they're well getting closer to being capable of using these abilities to think more abstractly.

Test it: test:

• Provide students with basic issues and request students to develop solutions using the subject matter
• Give students a diagram or piece of paper without some words. Then, have them complete the gaps using the right terms.
• Students already know how explain the concept. now ask them to come up with a hypothetical assignment or practice exercise that they could give to someone to check their comprehension.

Stage 4. : Analyze

In this phase of Bloom's Taxonomy, students can break information down into smaller parts to explore relationships between complex ideas. It is also the time when students are able to make judgment calls about the subject matter. They are able to evaluate data, compare and contrast concepts, and find the evidence that supports their conclusions.

Put it to the test:

• Provide students with a condensed list of terms or facts then ask them to classify the data. Students can sort it according to importance, split into different categories, or even create comparison/contrast charts with an explanation.
• Have students create an argumentative list of pros and cons based on their understanding of the topic and how to use it in a specific challenge or issue.
• Provide students with an unrestricted thesis statement and request them to present the reasoning behind it or provide a answer. This is the most important thing: the students must present evidence in support of their decision, and demonstrate that they are able to critically assess the topic.

Stage 5  5: Assess

The stage at this point is where students have gained an increased level of autonomy regarding the subject. They are not just able to explain, apply, and organize information provided to them; now they can use everything they've learned and rearrange the pieces into new ideas that can be tested as well as debated and evaluated.

In this stage, you can expect students to be able to intelligently debate one another over the topic of their thesis. They are able to come up with fresh ideas or ideas and design tests to measure their efficacy. The students at this stage are so well-informed of the subject that they ought to be able to draw on it on the spot to engage in spontaneous conversations as well as tackle ad-hoc challenges.

Test it: test:

• Students should be divided into groups and hold a debate about a thesis chosen by you.
• Ask students to design a detailed project to solve a particular problem. You could create slideshows, a webpage or other type of content to showcase their work.
• Invite students to participate to thread discussions within your group or on a community site. The task for the group is to comment actively on the discussion, and then moderate it and review the details in the comments
• Students are presented with a challenge, and ask them to design a test to measure or address the issue. Students are able to present their ideas in a group like presenting on a whiteboard. They will be able to explain arguments, defend, and justify their ideas will be a determining factor in how well they comprehend of the subject.

Step 6  to Create

The training wheels are gone and the cord has been cut, and your work here is done. You've taught your students enough that they are able to go out and apply the knowledge to a variety of new situations, and create brand new resources to educate and entertain others. They've reached the peak of the Bloom's Taxonomy scaffold and they're prepared to be successful and develop as individuals. Are you proud? It's a good thing!

Try it out to the test:

• Ask students to produce the following video or blog using a unique technique of their own to convey the concept in a compelling way
• Students should be put into groups and plan and record a series of podcasts on the topic. Students can collaborate as a class to decide what subjects should be included throughout the series. every episode could build upon previous ones.
• Students should design, edit, and make contributions to a Wiki on the topic.

What is Bloom's Taxonomy

Know your students. What kinds of questions do your students engage with? Which projects or activities will they be responding to? Do they feel motivated to participate in classroom discussions?

In the beginning of a lesson begin by asking questions from a range of Bloom's taxonomy levels in order to establish a base of understanding for your pupils. Take note of their responses and their engagement level - students will engage less as you ascend through the areas they're not familiar with. This will help you determine the extent of their knowledge. Then you'll be able to create a strategy to help them advance to more advanced levels.

Determine the cognitive goals of your course. Does this course intend to provide students with an introduction? Revision of previous concepts? Are there any skills they must master, or a level of theory they need to attain? There are many Bloom's taxonomies that are not made equal. The application of each one will vary according to your subject matter as well as the level of proficiency that you want to attain.

Plan an assessment plan to help students progress through levels within your taxonomy for your course. When you have decided where you want to end at, you'll need to determine the pit stops along the journey, using Bloom's Taxonomy to make sure you have covered every aspect.

As a unit in a single unit, you should move from the lower-order to higher order thinking questions. The levels of questions you ask must be a component of your lesson planning, and they are able to be strategically distributed throughout the lesson. You can start between lower-order and higher-order questions in the beginning of the lesson then moving onto higher-order issues towards the close in the class. So, you'll have the ability to determine if your students are staying on top of the material, and you are able to tackle any roadblocks or assist students who are struggling before moving to the next stage.

Learning outcomes for the online course's success

Now that you have the key to success in pedagogy You're now able to design a curriculum outline with a punch. There's no difference if you're teaching someone how learn to play the piano, or start a business of your own Our brains are wired similarly, following the same patterns, regardless of the topic. It is your ability to make use of this is crucial to creating a course which is effective and keep your students returning to learn further.

      This post first appeared in September 2020, and it was revised in March 2023 to be far more valuable.