BENJAMIN BLOOM'S TAXONOMY ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIORS

CONTENTS: Article on applying Bloom's six-level taxonomy to understand and develop appropriate student-centered learning activities.
SOURCE: The National Teaching and Learning Forum newsletter, Vol. 8, No. 4. From online sample articles (http://www.ntlf.com/html/ti/blue_1.htm) Adapted June 1999.

…According to an educational model developed by Bob Gowin, knowledge construction begins with current knowledge represented as concepts, principles, and theories. Through a process of inquiry (formalized in academic disciplines as methods of inquiry), we transform empirical evidence (e.g., natural phenomena, historical events, human behavior) into revised and new knowledge structures. The six levels of Bloom's taxonomy reflect not only the importance of acquiring information (i.e., Level 1: Knowledge) but also the intellectual processes of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation by which we transform raw data into formalized knowledge structures. Utilizing the taxonomy during the instructional planning stage, teachers can establish the ability to construct knowledge as a meaningful student learning outcome and embed its practice explicitly into the essential components of their courses (e.g., classroom instruction, evaluation).

Computer Screen Choice and Placement: Ergonomic Tips to Avoid Neck and Shoulder Pain, Eyestrain and Headaches

Alan Hedge, PhD, CPE
Professor, Ergonomics
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY

Do you experience neck and shoulder pain, eyestrain, or headaches after working at your computer for a while? If so, then you may need to make sure you are using the best screen for your needs and position the screen to avoid twisted postures while working. In addition, eyestrain and headaches can be caused by uncorrected vision, poor image quality, screen glare, and by screen viewing distance.
Corrected Vision
Make sure your vision is properly corrected before you make changes to your computer screen set up. Natural changes in vision occur in the early 40's. Periodic eye examinations by a qualified professional are valuable.

Image Quality
Make sure the screen image is sharp - not fuzzy, stable - not jittery or flickering, and bright enough for comfortable viewing. If not, try adjusting the screen brightness, contrast, refresh rate, and resolution to give you the best quality image.

The screen image must be a comfortable viewing size. Most software programs allow you to magnify your screen content to a comfortable size. If screen content is too small (or large), then select a different font size or use the zoom function.

Screen Glare
The screen should be free from any bright reflections (specular glare) and the screen image should not appear to be 'washed out' (veiling glare). To avoid glare, you might need to reposition the screen, wear darker clothes, dim the overhead lights, or use an antiglare filter to cover the screen.

Sometimes a hood can be placed around the screen or the screen can be slightly tilted up or down to eliminate the glare. Using a privacy filter on your screen can help because you will only be able to read your screen when you are properly aligned with it.

Viewing Distance
The screen should be at a comfortable horizontal distance for viewing. If you can't position this at a comfortable viewing distance, it is better for the eyes to have the screen too far away and zoom into the content rather than sit too close to the screen. The most comfortable viewing distance is usually is at least an arm's length away from your body.

Avoid Neck and Shoulder Pain
Neck pain can be caused by working in a twisted posture. To eliminate neck twisting, place the computer monitor directly in front and facing you; not at an angle to left or right side. A screen that is too high or low can also cause neck and shoulder strain. You will tilt your head backwards to look up if the screen is too high and crane your neck forwards if too low.

Ideal Screen Position
The ideal vertical position for the screen depends on the size of the screen and the size of the casing around the screen. The most common screen size range is 17" to 19". Using this as an example, your eyes should be in line with an imaginary point on the screen - about 2" below the top of the visible screen image when you are seated comfortably.
Computer Screen Choice and Placement: Ergonomic Tips to Avoid Neck and Shoulder Pain, Eyestrain and Headaches by:
Alan Hedge, PhD, CPE
Professor, Ergonomics
Cornell University
Ithaca, N

Several research studies have confirmed the best position for most users is to have the center of the screen about 17-18 degrees below horizontal for optimal viewing. Flat panel LCD (liquid crystal display) screens are lighter and easier to reposition than cathode-ray tube (CRT) screens.

Corrective Eyewear
If you wear bifocals or progressive lens you may have to make minor adjustments to the screen position. However, if you sit back in your chair in a relaxed, reclined posture and follow the above guidelines, you should be able to see the screen without an awkward neck posture.

Working with Paper Documents
If you also work with paper documents, you should use a document holder that positions the paper so it can be comfortably seen. This might involve using either an in-line document holder that fits between the keyboard and screen; a document holder mounted at the side of the screen; or a freestanding document holder positioned next to the screen and slightly angle closer to you.

Concluding Thoughts ...
Why not try a few of these ergonomic tips at your office or workplace computer setting? You might be surprised to find that by making a few adjustments, working at a computer can be more comfortable and increase your efficiency too!

Rubrics

About Rubrics in:
Making the Grade: The Role of Assessment in Authentic Learning By Marilyn M. Lombardi
Evaluating Individual Work

Students have traditionally been graded on individual performance, and this structure
remains valuable for many learning exercises. That said, different assessment methods are
more or less appropriate for different kinds of authentic learning projects.
Rubrics
The word rubric derives from the Latin rubrica, or “red,” and relates to red print used to direct or redirect readers’ attention to text of special importance. Today’s grading rubric is essentially a set of scoring guidelines that are disclosed to students—or, in many cases, actively developed in collaboration with students. A good rubric identifies the criteria by which work will be judged and describes the difference between excellent and weaker work.
When an instructor accompanies an open-ended challenge with an effective rubric, the instructor is actively directing the learner’s attention toward potential solutions that are more reasonable than others. Often the rubric will come into play most dramatically during authentic learning experiences at the critical moment when students realize there is no one “right answer” to the challenge before them. They confront the limits of their conditioned responses, question what the instructor wants, and recognize for the first time that they really have no idea how to deliver a high-quality response in an ambiguous, real-world dilemma.

What would such a response consist of? The rubric helps redirect their attention to the concerns that matter most when choosing the most reasonable solution and the strongest argument among many possibilities.

One noteworthy example of institutional commitment to assessment through effective rubric design is the Critical Thinking Project at Washington State University that identifies seven key performance criteria for assessing student writing across the curriculum:

• Identifies and summarizes (and appropriately reformulates) the problem, question, or issue
• Identifies and considers the influence of context (cultural/social, educational, technological, political, scientific, economic,
ethical, or experiential) and assumptions
• Develops, presents, and communicates individual perspective, hypothesis, or position
• Presents, assesses, and analyzes appropriate supporting data/evidence
• Integrates issue using other disciplinary perspectives and positions (to qualify analysis)
• Identifies and assesses conclusions, implications, and consequences
• Communicates effectively

Social Networking

Social Networking "contras"

Social Networks such as Facebook implement a targeted-ad solution that lets advertisers reach people based on their user profiles and interest. This could trigger an exodus of people who don't want their private information exploited for commercial purposes.

Also, There's a issue about networking saturation because existing media brands web efforts will be directed to social networking.

Social networking is something potentially deeper than user-generated content such as blogs or homemade videos in You Tube, it represents a way to live one's life online; and that ties to engagement.

Social bookmarking:

Activities like social bookmarking give users the opportunity to

express differing perspectives on information and resources

through informal organizational structures. This process allows

like-minded individuals to find one another and create new com-

munities of users that continue to influence the ongoing evolution

of folksonomies and common tags for resources. Using a folk-

sonomy-based tool for research lets you take advantage of the

insights of other users to find information related to the topic you

are researching, even in areas that aren’t obviously connected to

the primary topic. If you are looking for information about sailing,

for example, you might find that other users saw a connection

between sailing and boat repair, taking you in new, potentially

valuable directions. These kinds of tools also encourage users

to keep coming back because the folksonomy and the collec-

tions of resources are constantly changing. It’s easy to imagine

assigning a value for individual resources, resulting in a ranking

system that functions as a collaborative filter.

Learning activities meet learning objectives

The instructional materials should support the stated learning objectives and have sufficient breadth and depth for the student to learn the subject. The learning activities should promote the achievement of any stated objectives and learning outcomes.
Learning activities can include class discussions, case studies, simulation exercises, practice quizzes, tests, etc. Choose activities that align with and support the learning objectives. Students should be able to reasonably achieve the learning objectives by completing these activities.

http://vudat.msu.edu/activities_objective/

Do you know...

Asynchronous tools
Asynchronous tools enable communication and collaboration over a period of time through a "different time-different place" mode. These tools allow people to connect together at each person's own convenience and own schedule. Asynchronous tools are useful for sustaining dialogue and collaboration over a period of time and providing people with resources and information that are instantly accessible, day or night.
http://www.asaecenter.org/PublicationsResources/articledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=13572

Do you know...

Synchronous tools

Synchronous tools enable real time communication and collaboration in a "same time-different place" mode. These tools allow people to connect at a single point in time, at the same time. Synchronous tools possess the advantage of being able to engage people instantly and at the same point in time.

1. http://www.asaecenter.org/PublicationsResources/articledetail.cfm?ItemNumber=13572

Gadgets, Games, and Gizmos for Learning by Karl M. Kapp
In this reading, I found very interesting the analogy between the boomers and the different categories of gamers. For example, Gamers 1.0 didn’t need to do much cognitive processing to play the games successfully. Players could not collaborate with each other through the game. Most games were single player or, were limited to two players. In this regards, baby boomer’s hierarchical and team-based command and control structures are so similar to this gamer’s characteristics.

Some things that I read in Web 2.0 new tools, new schools

21st-century students
• Students are setting trends with their use of technology both in school and out of school. They are innovative users of technology, adopting new technologies to support their learning and their lifestyles.
• Communication is a key motivator for students and drives their use of technology for learning and for personal use. The result is an explosion of communications tool use and the desire to transcend communications obstacles.
• Students are strong believers in the power of technology to enrich their learning experiences. They have ideas about their futures that include using technology tools for learning and preparing themselves for a competitive job market.

Technology affects how students live and communicate and when, where, and how they learn.

Today's students

According to Daniel Pink (2006), today’s students will need “a new set of aptitudes. They’ll need to do what workers abroad cannot do equally well for much less money: Forging relationships rather than executing transactions, tackling novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and synthesizing the big picture rather than analyzing a single component” p.40.

Constructivism:
As we know, constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge.
Web tools help the students to do more research, find information they would never encounter without Web access, and collaborate to create a product that shows how both a priori and new information are combined to become knowledge. Using Web 2.0 tools such as wikis allows students to collaborate on creating a document that displays what they have learned.

Inside Constructivism:

Project-based learning
Project-based learning allows students to use inquiry-based methods to engage with issues and questions that are rich, real, and relevant to their lives. It emphasizes learning activities that are long term, interdisciplinary, and student-centered. Students form a learning community that focuses on critical thinking.
Students engage in activities that are valued in the real world, manage their own task and time, work as part of a team, and communicate with adults and experts. They drive the accumulation of content knowledge and thus remember what they learn.
Project-based learning allows for alternative approaches that address student’s individual differences variations in learning styles, intelligences, and abilities and disabilities.
Web-based tools add the ability to communicate and collaborate with the world outside the classroom easily and at no cost beyond the technology. Web 2.0 tools engage the students in finding and analyzing resources themselves and, because the web has almost limitless information, also allow them to create social networks in order to interact, share information, and learn collaboratively.

Students and Learning

Connectivism:
Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking… George Siemen’s (2004) theory of connectivism also considers technology as a key factor. Combining connectivism with constructivism methods in the classroom offers students an opportunity to gain 21st-century skills.
“Including technology and connection making as learning activities begins to move learning theories into a digital age” (n.p.).

The things I like most about Blogs

For me, as a media consultant and instructor, the educational implications of blogs are priceless. 

Two things that I consider very helpful in a classroom are:

1. An individual student keeps a blog to reflect on his or her learning and to collect artifacts to demonstrate those reflections.
2. A group of faculty who teach different sections of the same course work together on a blog that houses all the interesting content they feel would be useful in the course.

Blogs are important to education

Blogs have potential benefits for education and learning:

• Increase engagement in a course
• Increase 21st. century information literacy skills
• Appeal to different learning styles

If you want to know more about it, visit: http://net.educase.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7006.pdf

New perspective about blogs

Before I start study at NMSU (course 580 Tools and Techniques) I consider blogs as a another "web  game" and that it is only for younger people. But now, I change my perspective about it.

A Blog reflects your unique perspective about yours interests and foster relationships among people with the same interests.

Blogs allow people to make comments, to read each other blogs, to "quote" each others and links yours blogs together, resulting a "community of blogs".

What I Know about Blogs

Blogs are software tools that allow one or more people to easily publish content to the web.

Blogs are personal online journals that serve to capture thoughts and comments and post them to a public web site for others to read and respond.

A post (a contribution of the blog) is displayed on the page in reverse chronological order (the newest post is at the top of the page and is followed by successively older pot.

A post can have audio, video, text, images, or a combination or those things.

Hi! 

My name is Nancy Corchado and I live in Puerto Rico. I'm pursuing a doctoral degree in Audiovisual Communication at Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. Nowadays I'm writing my dissertation about Virtual Bodies (Cyborgs) and Fantasies Identities in Internet. 

As a part of my desire to improve my teaching skills, I enroll in the Online Teaching and Learning Certificate Program at New Mexico State University. I think that I have to be prepared for the new technological challenges in the information industry and its impact in the classroom. 

At present I'm working as a media consultant to different academic institutions, as a part of my duties, I training the faculty members about multimedia tools for enhance learning. I'm thrill about my enrollment in the program because the prestige of my professors, the possibility to increase my technology knowledge and make new friends.

Saludos y Bienvenidos, Welcome!