Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy in the Saudi EFL Classrooms

Blooms taxonomy is named after Benjamin Bloom, a psychologist who in 1956 proposed a model of classifying thinking for the purpose of allowing students to engage in higher order thinking processes. In order to achieve this purpose he identified six levels of cognition, with knowledge being lowest  and comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation being highest thinking skills.

In the 1990s, one of Bloom's students, Lorin Anderson, made some changes to the original taxonomy. Bloom's six major categories were changed from noun to verb forms for the purpose of reflecting that thinking is an active process. In addetion to that, the knowledge category was renamed and became remembering. Also, comprehension and synthesis were changed to understanding and creating.

Now, in each level students are going to develop critical thinking skills, especially in the higher levels. Starting with how they are going to learn new concepts by recalling facts, and terms.Understanding of these new concepts by discussing ,describing ,and classifying. Moving to how they are going to use these concepts in new situations. Also, the ability to break down concepts into smaller components for the purpose of understanding the relationship between them.Ending by creating a new product or point of view.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is not very evident in setting learning objectives in the Saudi EFL classrooms because students may go through only two levels of the taxonomy. learners can understand and memorize the concept, but they don’t have the opportunity to apply what they understand inside or outside the classroom,or even create something new out of it. By using bloom's taxonomy in the classroom, the teacher can plan a powerful lesson ,which includes a verity of activities and questions that students must work with at each level of the taxonomy. It is like providing teachers with a guideline for creating activities that suite each level and at the same time encourage students to be critical thinkers. Not to forget that students can be involved in creating a product to show their understanding of the concept. So, is it necessary for teachers to use it in their classrooms.