Dr. Travis Thurston and Erin Wadsworth-Anderson describe an approach to designing online discussions that promote learner autonomy and higher-order thinking in their post, #DIGITALPOWERUPS (hosted on Adobe Spark). The credit the idea to Brad Gustafson, citing page 15 of his book, Renegade Leadership: Creating Innovative Schools for Digital Age Students. Dr. Thurston was also interviewed by Bonni Stachowiak on February 6, 2020 on Episode 295: Online Engagement Through Digital Powerups on the Teaching in Higher Education Podcast.
As I understand it, a digital powerup starts out as a discussion prompt that provides a few questions, just as you might have in a traditional online discussion. But in addition, students are asked to respond by asking students to structure their responses according to Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (Krathwohl, 2002). They do this through the use of hashtags (e.g., #create, #remember) that are added to the end of portions of their responses.
#DigitalPowerups
Remember: List or restate something you just read; then, add an opinion in your response. Use #remember
Understand: Ask a question that will help you understand what you read. Allow a peer to respond to your question. Use #understand
Apply: Organize what you read into something new. Include a poem, chart, timeline, diagram, or model in your response. Use #apply
Analyze: Examine a quote you read, and then compare it to a different text. Explain why you think they’re related. Use #analyze
Evaluate: Critique something that you read in a respectful manner. Cite text-based evidence in your response. Use #evaluate
Create: Develop a novel response based on what you read using text, video or other supplies to innovate. Use #create
Connect: Connect to an issue outside of your school. Think globally, and share how collaborated in your response (this requires actual action on your part). Use #connect
I think that this is a fascinating idea and I am looking forward to attempting it in my online courses.
Sources:
Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(4), 212–218. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2
Thurston, T. (2019). #DigitalPowerups Scaffolds and Hashtags To Empower Higher-Order and Humanized Student Engagement in Online Discussions. In Architecture Of Engagement: Autonomy-Supportive Leadership for Instructional Improvement (pp. 79–147). Utah State University.