There are multiple ways to learn. The introduction of Internet technology enables us to gather knowledge online. When I was young, accessing the internet was expensive since we were charged by the minute. I still remember it took us almost 6 hours to download low-grade pictures. Although the internet was more accessible when I was in the university, the students used a hybrid way (library in person or online) to do their academic research. I still can’t forget how excited I was to access academic journals from the online library. By the time I was doing my MBA, most people exclusively used the internet for their research.
We can gain many types of information from the internet. I do not have to physically go to a library to access journal or newspaper articles. You can quickly learn the name of a capital city of a country. I admit my life changed because of the internet; however, I sometimes fear I skipped a fundamental step of the learning process, such as creating my hypothesis or acquiring foundational knowledge of a subject. I admit that the internet enhanced our lives in many ways, yet I sometimes fear losing something due to acquiring convenience.
When I was a child, we once had a big argument about why frogs lay eggs over the water surface. Most of us were eight-year-olds. Since we lived in a tiny city in Japan, we knew we could always find frog eggs over a still creek near our school. The argument started with a simple question from one of the children. We used to catch Tadpoles in the water; we all agreed that eggs must be over the water’s surface. But how do all frogs know where to lay eggs? We had an excellent, elementally teacher who encouraged us to discuss a child’s questions. Instead of answering the question, she told all of us to find out the reason. I checked the school library and my father’s library. I pulled out the encyclopedia and looked for the answer. I do not remember whether I found out the answer by myself this time. I do remember how hungry I was to find out the answers. I think the experience impacted me immensely later in my academic life.
I found out later in my life that my school teacher guided us to understand why a frog lays eggs above the water surface by using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s Taxonomy elaborates the framework of the six levels of learning stages. According to Bloom’s Taxonomy (as cited in Armstrong, n.d.), we go through six cognitive levels: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.
Knowledge: Recognize or Remember facts, terms, or basic concepts without understanding why.
Comprehension: Demonstrate or Understand the reasons behind the facts, terms, or fundamental concepts.
Application: You can apply acquired knowledge to solve problems in a new situation.
Analysis: You can analyze and connect or differentiate the facts, terms, or basic concepts in a single dimension.
Synthesis: You can connect the facts, terms, or basic concepts with multiple dimensions.
Evaluation: You can evaluate ideas or create or plan a new idea or a product from facts, terms, or basic concepts.
It would be easier if the teacher just answered the children’s questions; however, we would have stopped at the first cognitive level, knowledge. A year before, we came up with an identical question with a different teacher. The teacher scolded us for discussing something irrelevant to the subject. I was fortunate to have a teacher who motivated us to think and research. Remembering my early school year learning experience prompted me to question whether current children get this learning experience since they can obtain answers very conveniently from the internet.
Finding quick answers from the internet can easily prevent us from progressing in our cognitive level of information if we are not careful. The use of the internet can make completing our assignments efficient; however, I am not sure of the effectiveness of the learning. I have no desire to quit using the internet since it is convenient; however, we must be mindful of how we integrate technology into our learning process.
I understand the theory behind Bloom’s Taxonomy, yet, I caught myself getting easy answers from the internet. A YouTube channel shows dropping an ant from 10m, 20m, and 30m. The show was demonstrating terminal velocity, and nothing happened to the ant. I should have known the theory since I learned it in my undergrad. Instead of putting my effort into understanding the idea, I was satisfied finding the terminology.
My husband, who teaches at a university, told me that finding out “what” from the internet would help us think about the idea or information ourselves. It would be ideal to think about the idea before finding out the “why”. Processing the information with the concept first helps us identify what we need to find out from further research. Now, you have more purposes or objectives, and you can progress into the 2nd cognitive level of comprehension. Of course, we still need to be careful about biases caused by doing so; but it still enables us to progress to a higher cognitive level.
There is nothing wrong with using the internet, but we must be mindful of how we use it to acquire our knowledge. There are steps I use to prevent my experience of acquiring information from limiting my knowledge. Once I obtain the information, I rephrase the concept within one day. Then, I categorize the idea; then, I link it to other information I acquired previously. I used to do this process on paper with great difficulty. Now I use Zotero, a computer application, to do this process. It is a free app until you become a heavy user. I discovered this software from a book, How to Take Smart Notes from Sonke Ahrens. This made me re-think how I learn. If you get a chance, it is a good book to read.
References
Ahrens, S. (2017). How to take smart notes: one simple technique to boost writing, learning and thinking – for students, academics and nonfiction book writers. [Kindle Edition]. North Charleston
Armstrong, P. (n.d.). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/