Techification of the Taxonomy: Part Four

Welcome to the final installment of the techified taxonomy! Today, I’ll be tackling the final two levels, Evaluating and Creating.

The upper levels of the taxonomy seem to be what teachers aim to assess…we strive to encourage our students to push their knowledge of content beyond the simple recall level.

How can we incorporate technology into the top levels of the taxonomy? I’m glad you asked! 😉

Evaluate
This level is HUGE in my classroom, as it is in your classroom, I’m sure. Students are constantly inundated with information from the web…much of it great and credible, much of it not so much. I love the meme about Abraham Lincoln that reads, “The problem with internet quotes is that you can’t always depend on their accuracy” -Abraham Lincoln, 1864. I use this quote in my classes…and it is hilarious. If honest Abe is credited with the statement, it must be true! Right?! Below are some technology tools that you can use in your classroom to assess the “evaluate” level of the taxonomy:

• Google Forms
• Google Forms can be used in SO many ways in the classroom, and are a great way to effectively integrate classroom technology. If you are a GAFE school, your students have access to Google Drive, which includes Google Docs, Presentation, Sheets, and Forms among many other amazing tools. Forms can be used to assess or critique their own work, or their classmates’ work. Forms can also be used as exit passes, study guides, pre or post assessments, and so much more to help students rate their familiarity with concepts.
• Student Response Systems
• Do your students “geddit?” This is an amazing tool for students to use to gauge their knowledge of concepts and ideas discussed in or out of class. Tools like Geddit and Socrative allow the teacher to create lessons, quizzes, exit passes, or games to evaluate whether or not students have grasped concepts. Some tools, like Kahoot, are gamified which can drastically increase student engagement in the activity!
• QR Codes
• You no doubt know how much I love using QR Codes in my classroom. They are just so great! To meet the “evaluate” level of the taxonomy, teachers can create QR Codes that link to websites that relate to concept, event, person, etc. Students could be provided with a Google Form that requires them to evaluate a specific source, focusing on whether or not the source is “credible.” They could then take their Google Form answers, and create a QR Code to post in the classroom so that their classmates can view, and evaluate, the websites deemed “credible.”
• Google Moderator
• Teachers can use this tool to encourage students to evaluate a source and then discuss their opinions with their peers. This type of activity (completed using a variety of tools…Schoology, Edmodo, Google Docs, Padlet, etc) emphasizes the importance of making a claim and SUPPORTING that claim with relevant facts.  

Create
Ahh…the top level of the Taxonomy. The best of the best. The creme de le creme. At this level, students take what they’ve learned, and CREATE! The creative process is so fun to observe from the teacher’s perspective…it’s great to see what students can come up with using the knowledge they’ve learned in class!

• Blogger and Google Sites
• This example is kind of self explanatory…students can create a blog or a website for a concept or unit. The blog could be used as a study guide, an assessment, a peer teaching/evaluating activity, a discussion board, etc. For example, after students have completed the US Constitution unit, the teacher could divide the students into groups and assign each of those groups a basic principle of the Constitution. Students could work collaboratively to create entries on the blog that define the term, provide examples of the term in action, and describe whether or not this principle is necessary, etc. Students could comment on each other’s submissions, stimulating discussion and deeper understanding of the concept! Blogs could also be used to describe a novel read in class, or as a lab report for a science class..the possibilities are endless!
• Prezi
• After studying a concept, teachers can assign students a prezi in the same way they would have previously assigned a PowerPoint presentation. After studying the US Constitution, for example, students could be provided with a copy of the Federalist 10, 39, and 51. After analyzing one, two, or all three of those texts, students could create a prezi that describes how James Madison would view the separation of powers and checks and balances within our government today…are they enough or too much? Prezi can jazz up any presentation!
• Screencastify
• Students can use this FREE tool to create narrated screencasts of just about anything. They could create a blog or a website that serves as their ePortfolio, or a page describing content. This tool can help students with their presentation skills…sometimes getting students to do more than just read words off of a presentation is challenging! Students could then upload their screencast to YouTube or Google Drive. They could also use a tool like QR Stuff to create QR Codes to place throughout the classroom, displaying their screencast for all to use!
• Pinterest
• Students can use this wonderful (and addicting) tool to create boards containing information about a specific person or event. For example, if your class has just finished a unit on the legislative branch, a pin board could include…facts about Speakers of the House, primary sources of important pieces of legislation, structure of the House or Senate, and more! Students could search Pinterest to create these boards, or locate information on the web and create their own pins! Awesome!