Can ThingLink Flip Bloom's Taxonomy Upside Down?

I had the opportunity to participate in Susan Oxnevad's ThingLink Teacher Challenge which is a free, self-paced, online course that aims to help teachers to transform classroom teaching and e-learning using ThingLink; a tool that enables users to upload their photos and tag them using a variety of media, e.g., text, audio, video, links, ... etc. It simply adds life to the static images and make them more interactive and engaging for the audience. During the ten weeks of this course, we created fabulous images that fulfill certain purposes. 

Among the activities that we completed are:

1. Creating simple interactive images that explain “How To…” 
2. Designing digital avatars as an introductory activity.
3. Digging deeper into vocabulary.
4. Creating interactive maps.
5. Flipping lessons using ThingLink For Video.
6. Extending learning outside the classroom walls using ThingLink App (Android, IOS).
7. Adding a voice to images using Audioboo.
8. Engaging students in collecting informed feedback using Polldaddy.
9. Creating a portfolio channel or a collective image.
10. Creating collections reusing images shared by others with our own students.

Here is a collective image including all my products throughout this Challenge:

 Of course, it took a long time to create these images above, however, I enjoyed this experience so much. It successfully unleashed my creativity and improved my ability to think outside the box. It also helped me to recognize some abilities that I don't know if I have them. Just imagine spending the whole day thinking, searching, and making decisions, then you find a piece of art that is created by YOU. It is a very fantastic feeling, isn't it? Throughout these weeks, I noticed that my ability to create greatly improved. Looking back to my products and others' work urged me to do the best and to be different in each task. Really, teachers need such educational opportunities to refresh their minds and discover the creative side within them, then try to transfer the whole experience to their classes. I mean to teach students how to create and innovate. 

"What if we started with creativity?"

It is just a question that comes to my mind when thinking about a way to use ThingLink with my students this year. 

Shelly Wright asked the same question when talking about Flipping Bloom's Taxonomy. She points out that "Rather than starting with knowledge (i.e., Remembering), we start with creating, and eventually discern the knowledge that we need from it." Wright explained her point of view with great examples that inspired me to rethink about my way of teaching. Actually, we unconsciously do that in our classrooms, but we don't recognize it as many practices that we follow without knowing anything about their underpinning principles. I believe that being a ware of this idea will help us to find a clear way to make it a reality.

Throughout the ThingLink Teacher Challenge, we were asked to accomplish a series of activities in which the starting point was creating an image. This leads to another question that needs a clear-cut answer:

Can ThingLink Flip Bloom's Taxonomy Upside Down? 

To find an answer to this question, I have to design a ThingLink-based lesson that integrates the Flipped Bloom's Taxonomy starting with creating, then evaluating, analysing, applying, understanding, and ending with remembering. 

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• learn about Ernest Hemingway.
• create a poster using ThingLink.

Tools and Materials Needed:

1. Computer lab.
2. Internet Access.
3. Search Engine, e.g., Bing, Google, ... etc.
4. BigHugeLabs Mosaic Maker, Canva, or Autocollage software offered by Microsoft.
5. ThingLink. 
6. Class e-Portfolio using Padlet.
7. Blank sheets and pencils.

Steps:

1. Creating Level:

• Divide students into groups of three. 
• Ask them to brainstorm some questions that they would like to ask Ernest Hemingway if they had the opportunity to meet him. Give them some time to complete this task using blank sheets and pencils.
• Once they finish, tell them to use Bing or Google to collect some images and resources that can be answers for the list of questions they generated in the step above.
• Using BigHugeLabs Mosaic Maker, Canva, or Autocollage, ask students to create a collage or poster using the images they have collected.
• Students, then, upload their final collages or posters to the ThingLink platform and start tagging them using the resources they have selected earlier.  
• Ask students to go to the Class e-Portfolio to share their final products.

2. Evaluating Level:

• Provide students with interactive images created by others as models to evaluate according to a rubric designed for this purpose.
• Ask groups to compare their images with the models and see if they include the criteria given to them. It is not just all about the form of the posters, but also the information provided about the character.

3. Analysing Level:

• Give students more time to analyse the models and encourage them to create a list of elements that good posters should include, e.g., title, bight images, a variety of media that is suitable for the topic, organization of tags, the name of group, references, ... etc.
• Ask them to analyse the resources that they have collected about Ernest Hemingway and see if they are suitable and easy for other students to read and understand.

4. Applying Level:

• Ask students to go back to their images and apply what they have learned during the two previous steps.
• They can edit or recreate their products trying to include all the elements of the list they have created earlier.

5. Understanding Level:

• Encourage students to explore other groups' images and leave comments about both form and content.
• Students can extend their information by searching for other examples and products by others to identify more advanced elements that can make their images more attractive and informative.
• Students can also go into depth by exploring more about Ernest Hemingway. They can listen to talks about his life and works. Watching YouTube movies for his novels is another way to do so.
• Ask them to write a reflection about what they have learned or create a summary talking about their character. 

6. Remembering Level:

• Ask students to take a quiz about Ernest Hemingway using the items they have explored. This is a way to check the knowledge they have constructed through the activity.
• Ask them to list all the steps they have followed when creating their posters and put them in a tutorial for using in other classes.
• Tell them to bookmark useful websites, resources and interactive images for later use.

Here is a visual scenario for this lesson. Check out the large interactive image here.

I am not sure if my example can convey what I have in my mind. I just want my students spend more time using their higher order skills, i.e., creating, evaluating, and analysing to construct a new knowledge that is difficult to be forgotten. That's why I thought of using ThingLink as a way to flip my way of teaching. 

References:

• Flipping Bloom's Taxonomy by Shelly Wright.
• ThingLink Teacher challenge Series by Susan Oxnevad.