Week 2: Writing Clear Objectives

Teaching is a two-way road. On the one hand, you teach, on the other – you learn.  The ABCD model is a new theory for me and I feel I will have to study this method more profoundly in the near future.

For me this model means analyzing your every step while planning and / or conducting a lesson. Identifying objectives transfers from a mere intuitive domain into a scientifically / pedagogically structured system.  There are definite questions that need to be answered:

1) Who are your learners? (audience)

2) What do you expect them to be able to do? (behavior)

3) How do you organize the learning process, what are the circumstances and context of the learning process? (condition)

4) How much of the task will be accomplished, how well and to what level will the behavior be performed? (degree)

From the first sight, it is not an easy task. However, if you perform it every time, I believe it will gradually reach an automatic level of performance. Bearing this model in mind will help you concentrate on the learners and not on yourself and keep the teaching process student-centered. 
Though it is not the end of the journey. in our digital century every theory tends to develop itself and change its approach taking into account new IT trends. Thus, traditional Bloom's taxonomy evolves into the following network:

(taken from  B'sDT)

As a result, we travel from ‘interpreting and summarizing’ to ‘blog journaling and twittering’, from ‘comparing and organizing’ to ‘linking and media clipping’, from ‘designing and constructing’ to ‘wiki-ing and videocasting’…  Incredible! But is it too difficult? NO! It is the same system, the same analysis, the same ABCD model but … different behavioral interpretation.

Teaching is a long two-way road and no one will ever abolish the learning side. We the teachers have to learn and adapt new ideas and correspond to the fast-developing world to be not only trip companions but also leaders and advisors.