As stated in Bruce & Levin(1996)'s paper, classifying existing things according to a certain taxonomy brings us much advantage, though it has disadvantage of oversimplifying. By applying some criteria, we can see what seemed to be an integrated whole in more depth and analyze it more systematically. We can get some idea about on what points more thought should be given and improvement is needed.
However, we have to keep in mind that it is just one of the many ways to see the real world problem. What counts would be what criteria we have used, because the criteria we choose decide how to see the problem as well as how to approach the problem. This taxonomy in this paper is applied under (1) the assumption that children have natural impulses and interests to learn things in the world based on John Dewey(1943), and (2) the view which emphasize interactive aspects of technology. When applying this taxonomy, we need to consider some factors inside the simple assumption.
Who will be the user of the technology? The way children shows natural interests in learning will be different among age groups. For different age groups, the role and effect of the technology should be different. 10 year old child will have difficulty in using computers as collaborative media. Besides, skillfulness in using technology can be confounded with age. There can be a 10 year old child who can program HTML, while 18 year old high school student has difficulty in typing.
We don't have to put equal importance into the 4 categories, because there must be areas in which computers can benefit more. As stated in this paper, math or science education fits better with technology than other area does. Besides, a taxonomy includes only discrete categories. As technology develops, the technology becomes more complicated which has several aspects at the same time. For example, it can be media for inquiry as well as media for communication. Let's see advanced web browsers. They not only enable us to find any information we need on network as a media for inquiry, but also enable to communicate with the information provider by connecting with electronic mail system.
I think it would better to think the 4 criteria as continuous measures, not as discrete 4 categories. Rather than putting existing technologies into one of the categories, it would be better to consider them as 4 different aspects that a certain kind of technology can have. In that case, the focus would be how much it shows each 4 aspects.