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

Bloom's Taxonomy is an established educational framework that can help teachers to meet the requirements of their students - but can course creators and entrepreneurs utilize the same framework in their businesses? It's certainly our opinion.

In the days of high school, which subject did you do well in terms or numbers? Were Maths as well as Science the subjects you enjoyed most, or did you long for English class?

Did you stop to reflect on the process that led you to this point? You learned to count, later adding, then you were introduced into Physics and Calculus. The first grade you entered wasn't one with an entire volume of Shakespeare on your desk You were taught by someone about the alphabet and the way they are incorporated with the words you see on the page of the book you've always loved.

The brain learns slowly, layering concepts upon concept with growing complex. From Kindergarten to the Halls of the Ivy League, Educators rely on the principles of building blocks to impart knowledge. They depend on pedagogical strategies - theories and practices of teaching that help them introduce concepts to their students.

Beyond the classroom, knowing how people learn can help course creators to build higher-quality course. With a thorough knowledge of how the brain forms knowledge, it is possible to design courses that are more efficient in offer solutions to your learners. This will keep them coming back for more, make them more likely to recommend your program to other students and will help your business to grow.

What is Bloom's Taxonomy?

Benjamin Bloom originally published his taxonomy back in 1956. Bloom developed this method of teaching to measure the cognitive development of students. In creating a hierarchical framework to track a student's depth of knowledge, Bloom created a way to answer the question that all educators ask themselves is: Are my classes effective?

Bloom's theory was straightforward: If you are unable to recall a notion, then you aren't able to comprehend the idea; or if you can not know something, then you are unable to apply the idea. There is no way to differentiate between the correct and wrong answers, or argue the benefits and downfalls; any expertise or understanding of the argument is impossible without first establishing the fundamentals of understanding and remembering.

With that in mind, he developed the concept of a continuum of cognitive development, which was divided into six stages and assigned each stage an adjective to indicate the level or skill of cognition a student should be able to master prior to moving onto the next level.

This spectrum is typically shown as a pyramid, to demonstrate the degrees of dependence upon each other:

• Students cannot be accepted until they understand,
• and they can't evaluate before they learn to analyze.

Bloom described this method as scaffolding, and the metaphor is effective: as builders construct a tall building then they build scaffolding to help support their work starting from the bottom up. Similar to this, each level of the taxonomy is built upon the foundation of the level before. In the event that there is cracks in the foundation , a cognitive skill was skipped or was not properly reinforced - the following level may be a bit unstable.

Every learner isn't going to start from the bottom and work their way up. Certain students have developed certain skills that allow them to jump in somewhere between the two and start climbing from there.

What are the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy?

Each level of Bloom's Taxonomy is accompanied by a set of verbs to describe the actions a student must be able to perform at that point. When a person is able to master the words at one level then they can move onto the next and the next level, and so up to.

These levels include also learning objectives, which are particularly useful when thinking about the best way to incorporate them into your outline for your course. As the modules of your course progress you may use greater and more advanced learning objectives as you can expect greater knowledge from your students.

We've also included applications for course creators as well as educators working in a virtual classroom. If you're looking for activities to practice and tests to help flesh out different lessons and levels of your course outline, this list is a great place to start.

Stage 1.  Recall

The process of remembering is easy: it is the simplest way of retaining of information. It's a memory-based game which is why that it's on the bottom of this ladder - it's the most simple, basic element of learning and the one that is the most crucial since nothing else will be done until you keep a significant amount of facts in your working memory.

Students who have mastered the level of this will be able to remember details, or even define key concepts. They should be able to create the bullet points of key concepts, identify a diagram, and are knowledgeable enough about the topic to know the search terms to plug into Google in their search for further info.

Try it out to the test:

• Send students on an online scavenger hunt. Encourage them to create a bookmark or favorites list of sites relevant to the topic, or locate Facebook pages and other social media accounts in which this subject is discussed. You can add their insights to a resource list to share with their fellow students.

Stage 2: Understand

At this level of Bloom's Taxonomy Students have moved beyond simply remembering facts, and demonstrate a contextual understanding of facts.

They show this in the ability they have to communicate the facts to another person; they can translate or summarize news articles, blog posts as well as other bits of information in a precise manner. They are also able to perform more complex web searches now - using Boolean terminology and looking through journals of academic research - and utilize their newly acquired knowledge to accurately identify and label various online resources that support this topic.

Test it: test:

• Make a thread for the subject in your community website or Facebook group as well as assigning students the task of contributing meaningfully to the discussion group. In discussing and explaining the subject together, they can improve their knowledge and aid one another to move into the next step.
• Have students write a sample blog post and record a vlog. post a social status, or go live on Facebook to present this concept simply and concisely to other students. It doesn't matter if they do this live or just create the content and submit private to the class The most important thing is creating content that has a clear explanation.
• Assign students an article or blog post to readand then request them to note the article with notes to discuss how the article relates to the subject.

3rd Stage  3. Apply

Students who have reached this stage have mastered the ability to take knowledge and apply it in different situations.

It is possible that they can use their newly acquired skills to tackle a particular issue. In the event of a hypothetical blockage, they may use their information to plan the most basic solution. It is possible to practise their skills with a simple project or assignment. These projects are akin to fill-in-the-blank exercises, where students will be provided with a simple structure and must use their understanding to create the bigger picture. However, they're developing their understanding of the subject issue and are getting closer to being able to use these skills to think more abstractly.

Try it out to the test:

• Students with fundamental issues and request them to come up with solutions using the subject matter
• Provide students with a sketch or piece of paper that has some missing terms, and have them complete the gaps using the appropriate terms.
• The students already know how to explain this concept; Now ask them to come up with a hypothetical assignment or practice exercise you could offer to someone in order to assess their knowledge.

Stage 4 : Analyze

At this stage of Bloom's Taxonomy, students can divide information into small pieces to investigate relationships between complex ideas. It is also the time when students are able to make judgment calls about the subject matter. They will be able to assess information, compare and contrast concepts and gather proof to back their claims.

Test it: test:

• Provide students with a condensed information or a list of words then ask them to classify the data. They can rank it by importance, split into categories, or create compare/contrast lists with explanations.
• Students are asked to make a pro/con list based on their understanding of the topic and how they can use it in a specific challenge or issue.
• Provide students an open-ended thesis statement, and request them to present their opinion or answer. It is crucial that the students must present evidence in support of their decision, and demonstrate that they are able to evaluate the subject critically.

5 Stage : Evaluate

This is the stage where students have gained an increased level of autonomy in their understanding of the subject. They're not limited to knowing how to communicate, use, and organize information provided to them, but they also can use everything they've learned and rearrange the pieces to create new concepts which can be evaluated through debate, discussion, and measurement.

As of now it is possible for students to be able to intelligently engage in debate over a thesis question. Students can develop new ideas or suggestions, as well as design and develop tests to gauge their effectiveness. Students at this stage are so well-informed of their subject, that they should be able to draw on it immediately to have spontaneous conversations and deal with ad-hoc issues.

Put it to the test:

• Put students into groups and hold a debate on a thesis that was chosen by you.
• Students should develop a comprehensive project in order to solve a particular problem. They could even produce an online slide deck or other type of content to showcase their work.
• Students are asked to contribute to thread discussions on your group or community website. A key part of the activity for groups is to actively participate in discussions on the discussion, and then moderate it, and critically review details in the comments
• Give students a task and request them to design a test to measure or address the issue. Students can present their solutions in a group like presenting on a whiteboard. The ability of students to communicate arguments, defend, and justify their ideas will be a determining factor in how well they comprehend of the topic.

6. Stage  6: Make

This is it - the training wheels have come off, the cord has been cut, and the work there is complete. You've taught your students enough that they are able to go out and apply this information to a myriad of different situations. They can also create brand new resources to inform and inspire people. They've climbed to the top on the Bloom's Taxonomy scaffold and they're ready to succeed and grow independently. Are you proud? That's what you should be!

Test it: test:

• Have students create a video or blog post using a unique technique of their own to present the subject using a convincing method.
• Group students into groups to design and create a series of podcasts related to the topic. The students can be part of a class to decide what issues should be addressed throughout the series. each episode can build on the one before.
• Have students make, edit, or add to a wiki about the subject

What is Bloom's Taxonomy

Learn about your students. What kinds of questions do they respond to? What activities and projects will they be responding to? Are they motivated enough to take part in discussions with their classmates?

When you begin a lesson, ask questions from a number of Bloom's Taxonomy levels in order to establish a base of knowledge for your pupils. Be attentive to the answers and their engagement level - the students are less interested when you move up the levels that they're unfamiliar with, and this will help you determine the extent of their knowledge. You can now develop an approach to aid them to advance to upper levels.

Determine the cognitive goals of the course. Does this course intend to provide students with an introduction? An opportunity to revisit previously-studied concepts? Are there any skills they're required to master or an academic level they're required to achieve? The Bloom's taxonomies do not all created equal; the application of each taxonomy will differ according to your subject matter and the degree of knowledge you are aiming for.

Plan an assessment plan which helps students go through levels within the taxonomy of your course. When you have decided which direction you'd like to take with, you'll be able to plan the pit stops along the route with Bloom's Taxonomy to help you ensure that you meet every requirement.

In a single unit in a single unit, you should move from the lower-order to higher order thinking-related questions. These levels of questioning should form part of your lessons and can be scattered strategically throughout the course, starting to lower-order ones at the start of the class, then moving onto higher-order issues closer to the end in the class. In this way, you'll be able to check if students are keeping on top of the material, and you can address any roadblocks or assist students who are struggling before moving to the next level.

Learner outcomes to ensure Online course's effectiveness

If you're now equipped with the keys to pedagogical success You're now able to design a curriculum outline with a punch. No matter whether you're teaching someone how learn to play the piano, or launch a small business; our brains learn the same way, along the same lines regardless of nature of the subject. The ability to harness that is the key to creating a course that is successful and keeps your students returning to learn further.

      This article was first published in September 20, 2020. It was updated in March 2023 to be far more valuable.