Analysis of Information Technologies

Preface:After examining several media checklists for technology analysis, I came away feeling that most did a good job of categorizing, but lacked true pedagogical implications.Therefore I was drawn to the article entitled, “Educational Technology: Media for Inquiry, Communication, Construction, and Expression,” published in the Journal of Educational Computing Research, by Bertram C. Bruce and James A. Levin.This article brings to light that a taxonomy in which “pedagogical philosophy become the guiding focus, rather than technology features abstracted from actual uses,” would be most beneficial to teachers.Perhaps being a science teacher myself I feel more comfortable in a frameworks patterned after Carolus Linnaeus.Linnaeus gave biologists a way to categorize all living things, those that came before, those that are here now and those that will be discovered in the future.Like the five Kingdoms of life, Bruce and Levin, acting on the insights of John Dewey, created a taxonomy of four “kingdoms” of technology.As the title of the article suggests these four would be: Media for Inquiry, Media for Communication, Media for Construction and Media for Expression.I like this taxonomy very much and it leads me an idea that serves my classroom purposes.Analysis of informational technology based on Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Informational Technology

Introduction: The National Science recommendations and standards require that science students be able to operate at all levels of thinking.I reference Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive objectives as part of my curriculum from lesson plans to assessment.However it is easy to get trapped in the two lower levels of the hierarchy, as it is shown here:

Descriptions of these levels of thinking as they apply toward science are charted below.

Knowledge	Memorization of terms, definitions and facts
Comprehension	Understanding enough to explain concepts in own words and understand a variety of ways to describe principles and concepts
Application	Able to apply knowledge and comprehension to solve problems in a new setting
Synthesis	Hypothesizing and experimental design
Analysis	Data analysis, interpreting data and drawing conclusions about hypotheses
Evaluation	Comparing the relative merits of different theories, hypotheses, or explanations

While looking for technology to boost one up to a higher level, one finds that most of it, especially the world wide web is bombarding students with information that they can never assimilate past the first level of this taxonomy which is basic knowledge. Therefore, carefully chosen media that has been evaluated by the instructor is essential, or science will again slip down this pyramid and students again will think that science class is just a bunch of information gathered by “scientists.”This is an idea that the national science standards have been trying to eliminate in our schools. 

The Evaluation:Below are 3 evaluations of software and 2 evaluations of web sources that I am using in my project proposal, “You are what you eat.”They are categorized according to the taxonomy above.

Taxonomy	Knowledge & comprehension
Title	A.D.A.M. the Inside Story
Publisher	A.D.A.M.
Type	CD ROM
Grade Level	6-12
Description	A.D.A.M. is a human anatomy and physiology program that gives good visual animations of the body systems.It contains a dissection animation that allows students to remove m.m. layers from skin to bones.It also has animated stories that explain all the systems of the body.A vocabulary section with pununciations is included.
Use in this project	In this project A.D.A.M. will explain the digestive system to the students. After viewing the story they will label the diagrams and take quizzes.
Strengths	Students love this program.It contains a lot of humor, which is useful for maintaining their attention while trying to introduce much knowledge.There are several ways to interact with the program including quizzes.Very up to date medical knowledge.
Weaknesses	Sometimes the humor seems a bit immature for my more sophisticated students.It is not at a high enough level for advanced classes.
Other comments	A.D.A.M. does have CD ROMS appropriate for advanced classes and even college level anatomy.This company also has a great set a physiology CD’s for A.P. Biology classes.

Taxonomy	Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application
Title	Cber-Ed: Biochemistry
Publisher	Cyber-Ed., Inc.
Type	CD ROM
Grade Level	9-12
Description	This company has won numerous rewards for its biology series.They now contain over 20 titles on different biology concepts.The program contains pre-tests, post-tests, tutorials, and a presentation that can be accessed in outline form so you can jump to the section you need.A combination of animated drawings and a descriptive voice over help the students visualize what is happening at a molecular level.
Use in this project	During the unit, “You are what you eat,” I will allow the students to view this program individually with headphones on.It will help teach them the structures and functions of a carbohydrate, a protein and a lipid.It can also be used for reteaching in the tutorial phase and quizzing with the posttests.
Strengths	The visualizations are indispensable when you are dealing with things at a molecular level.The organization of the program is excellent and it is easy to access any one section you need.
Weaknesses	The students don’t like the “commercial like” voice of the narrator.The information is very detailed and some students have trouble maintaining attention.
Other comments	All of the Cyber-Ed. Programs I use (about 15) are great but must be accompanied by demos and lab activities to really bring them to an application level.

Taxonomy	Application, Synthesis, Analysis, and Evaluation
Title	Pasco interface technology
Publisher	Pasco scientific
Type	Software with probe interface
Grade Level	9-12
Description	Pasco has designed several software packages in biology, chemistry and physics. An analog box, in which various types of probes can be inserted interfaces with the software to collect data.Some of the probes I use are: temperature, colorimeter, pressure, pH, EKG, dissolved oxygen. There are prepackaged labs or you can design you own.The data analysis includes graphs, mode, mean, and much more.Application of various concepts is possible with these probes.Scientific method is used to collect the data which the students can analysis immediately.The variables can be manipulated to compare different theories or hypotheseses in one class setting.
Use in this project	I will be using the temperature probe this time to measure calories.As different types of dehydrated foods (carbohydrate, lipids and proteins) are burning the probe measures the heat absorbed by a premeasured amount of water.This will be graphed immediately and the data will be used to mathematically calculate calories.
Strengths	The software and probes is very user friendly.I have compared Pasco to Venier and it is much quicker to learn and easier to remember how to use.You get real time data, while the students are still interested in it.
Weaknesses	Costly!Many of the biology labs that come with the software aren’t very good.You must be revise them or design your own from scratch.The questions in the lab manual are very poor and not at a high enough thinking level.
Other comments	The use of these probes is unlimited.It saves a tremendous amount of time compared to manual labs that test the same thing.

Taxonomy	Knowledge, Comprehension and Application and maybe Evaluation
Title	http://www.mayohealth.org/
Publisher	Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Type	Internet web site
Grade Level	7^th grade - college
Description	This is one of my favorite websites because it keeps me up to date on medical news and research.At first it would seem that this site, like most internet websites, is for gathering knowledge.However, after deeper investigation one will find that it contains quizzes, and self-evaluation check lists, which brings it up to a comprehension and application level, dealing with health issues in one own life.
Use in this project	I will have my students use this site to gather more knowledge about the digestive tract and health issues related to it.Then I will have them take a nutrition quiz.Finally they will do a weight assessment exercise in which they will calculate their Basal Metabolic Index and use this information to evaluate their own weight management needs.
Strengths	Mayo clinic is a very reputable site.Although it contains very advanced information it is written at a reading level that my students can understand.Medical jargon is not overused.It contains a very good Q & A section
Weaknesses	Since the site contains a broad spectrum of medically related issues it can be a long process to navigate through.
Other comments	To make a site like this useful, the instructor should preview the site and bookmark the pages relevant to the lessons.Much time can be wasted navigating through such a large website.

Taxonomy	Application
Title	http://www.nat.uiuc.edu/mainnat.html (Nutrition Analyzer)
Publisher	Department of Food Science & Human Nuitrition, University of Illinois, Urbana, Champaign
Type	Internet Web Site
Grade Level	6^th- College
Description	This site allows a person to type in different types of food and have them analyzed for protein, fat, and carbohydrate content.It also allows a person to calculate energy used or calories burned during different activities.
Use in this project	Students will use this to calculate their calorie intake and output for one week.Then they will be able to evaluate this for weight gain or loss and their metabolism.
Strengths	Large database of which is easier to use than charts out of books.
Weaknesses	Students still need to have an idea of meal sizes by weight.The activities list for calories burned is not too extensive.
Other comments	I haven’t found any program that does this task flawlessly, but this one seems to be pretty easy for students to use.