Bloom's Digital Taxonomy - 21st Century Pedagogy/Learning

First, we must creep, then walk, then run, then fly. I liken Bloom's taxonomy to this adage. 

As a new teacher without any pedagogical training, I always chafed against what seemed to me the focus my superiors possessed on lower-order skills in my test design.

I've always known I wanted students to be creative, to make their own music and that teaching music wasn't worthwhile to me if I couldn't do that. I knew they couldn't just make it unless I equipped them, or facilitated them equipping themselves, via the internet, with some foundational knowledge. 

So I was eager to teach music, and to make tests. I, a creative myself, loved the opportunities in my examination script mistakes, mostly omitted guidance words, thinking: Aha! There's an opportunity to show creative thinking, to think outside the box, to communicate with me the teacher and say, "Miss, I think instead...", to discover and use a learnable moment out of it. But I did begin to see how the omissions which seemed so small to me could create confusion!

At one point, knowing nothing about Bloom's taxonomy, I even invented a taxonomy of my own for music education, with four components I don't precisely recall now. I didn't use it, though; I just kept it in my mind as I taught and assessed - and I looked especially keenly for evidence of imaginativeness.  However, so much of my teaching history has been enthusiastic, self-blinding and self-congratulating re-invention of wheels. I'd like to stop that, and make things that haven't actually yet been made, building on those things that actually have, and not do so much hit-and-miss. 

I lacked the patience required to test my students on their acquisition of the knowledge required to create; I assumed that their ostensible love of music would motivate their acquisition. Not so! I'm really grateful to my teachers. I never noticed the progression through the taxonomy; and now a happy creator, I haven't been sufficiently appreciative of their seemingly seamless work.

Thanks to the teachers of the mighty 80's. You nailed it. I'ma try to follow in your footsteps now. 

So: Learning Objective = Define composition in music, and identify compositional devices

Learning Activity = Make a facts chart / flash card sequence using ANKI app and present 

Learning Objective = Describe composition mentioning the devices and accounting for personal taste

Learning Activitiy = Create a story with an analogy to cooking

Learning Objective = Apply compositional devices to your own composition

Learning Activity = Express a particular emotion through use of a particular device and one motif

Learning Objective = Analyse the use of compositional devices in a particular composition

Learning Activity = compare works completed and their effects on persons who have not yet heard it

Learning Objective = Evaluate composition based on variety of use of compositional devices

Learning Activity = create a video grading the compositions evaluated in a humourous way

Learning Objective = Produce a completed composition and promotion package 

Learning Activity = Composition must be sent to mp3 from musescore and the sheet music uploaded using TIKTOK, YOUTUBE, PODCAST, BLOG or any combination thereof

What I learned from this activity is that verbs are very important parts of speech, helping to clarify what needs to be done at each stage of the learning activity. I especially liked the fact that higher-order thinking skills have begun to be prioritized in recent times; but it is still not quite clear to all educational think tanks that creativity doesn't always rest on a foundation of recall, analysis and implementation. I personally am very curious to experience what Edward De Bono, coiner of the term "lateral thinking" might believe are the means to achieving proficiency in thinking at higher levels.