So a few weeks ago in my Assistive Technology class, we talked for a short time about Bloom's Taxonomy, which I had heard of before, but had not known anything about. Basically, it is a triangle that is divided into 6 different parts or tiers of thinking. Each level as it goes higher is a level that works toward higher level thinking.
So, I want to mainly talk about assistive technology's (AT) role in this Taxonomy ("the definition is:
the science or technique of classification" taken from Dictionary.com just in case you were curious). I asked the professor about this and he seemed to agree with this idea. And I think I finally understand why I have such a problem with the general idea of Assistive Technology.
I guess that I am very into knowledge, and that I believe that every student should know basic information. I thought, at least when I took the teaching inventory last semester, that I was very non-information, but according to why I am having a hard time with AT, I am very knowledge-based. So, basically, I think that students should know how to multiply or add and not just have AT thrown at them and then never be taught again.
So here is my thinking, AT skips the first step of Bloom's Taxonomy. It skips the Knowledge component of higher level thinking, but it replaces it with automaticity in calculators, screen readers, text-to-speech, etc. One might think that this is a bad thing, but I invite you to think about this, think about a student who can't read, can they ever evaluate or synthesize (the new version has create under this term) a text? No, they cannot evaluate the text if they have a difficult time reading.
Comprehension, according to my teacher in SPED 418, has to do in some part with fluency. If a student can't read fluently, she or he is much less likely to focus on what they are reading because they are focusing on trying to read what they are reading. But if they are reading fluently, they are much likelier to be able to focus on comprehending what they are reading.
Anyway, let's get back to AT and Bloom's Taxonomy. So, take out that need for fluency (which requires understanding of phonology underneath it) and give an AT such as text-to-speech. The student can now comprehend what they are reading. Comprehension is the second level in Bloom's Taxonomy, and after they have comprehended what they "read" or heard, they can apply it to the worksheet that they have to fill out. They are able to analyze what they just "read" or heard. They are able to create after hearing it and they are able to evaluate it.
This is an important thing, AT bypasses the first step and becomes the first step. The student no longer has to remember how to calculate because there is a calculator right there. This lets the student go on to the higher levels of thinking. Higher levels of thinking in our society is absolutely integral, if the student sees the website Tree Octopus and is focusing entirely on the first level of higher level thinking (reading it), then they won't go up to the highest level to evaluate it. Does the tree octopus actually exist? No, it does not. But students who have a hard time with reading don't get that high with higher level thinking because their disability keeps them at the bottom of the triangle.
So here is my thinking, AT skips the first step of Bloom's Taxonomy. It skips the Knowledge component of higher level thinking, but it replaces it with automaticity in calculators, screen readers, text-to-speech, etc. One might think that this is a bad thing, but I invite you to think about this, think about a student who can't read, can they ever evaluate or synthesize (the new version has create under this term) a text? No, they cannot evaluate the text if they have a difficult time reading.
Comprehension, according to my teacher in SPED 418, has to do in some part with fluency. If a student can't read fluently, she or he is much less likely to focus on what they are reading because they are focusing on trying to read what they are reading. But if they are reading fluently, they are much likelier to be able to focus on comprehending what they are reading.
Anyway, let's get back to AT and Bloom's Taxonomy. So, take out that need for fluency (which requires understanding of phonology underneath it) and give an AT such as text-to-speech. The student can now comprehend what they are reading. Comprehension is the second level in Bloom's Taxonomy, and after they have comprehended what they "read" or heard, they can apply it to the worksheet that they have to fill out. They are able to analyze what they just "read" or heard. They are able to create after hearing it and they are able to evaluate it.
This is an important thing, AT bypasses the first step and becomes the first step. The student no longer has to remember how to calculate because there is a calculator right there. This lets the student go on to the higher levels of thinking. Higher levels of thinking in our society is absolutely integral, if the student sees the website Tree Octopus and is focusing entirely on the first level of higher level thinking (reading it), then they won't go up to the highest level to evaluate it. Does the tree octopus actually exist? No, it does not. But students who have a hard time with reading don't get that high with higher level thinking because their disability keeps them at the bottom of the triangle.
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