Writing Effective Learning Objectives for Digital Literacy Instruction

 

Effective learning objectives form the basis for developing high-quality instruction and assessments. Once you articulate learning objectives, you can design instructional activities to help students master the material (Orr et al., 2022). 

Characteristics of Learning Objectives 

A behavioral learning objective is a statement that identifies what students are expected to know and be able to do once instruction is complete. There are three components essential to ensuring clear statements of objectives: 1) the skill or competency students should learn, 2) the conditions in which students will perform the skill or competency, and 3) the standard for achievement (Orr et al., 2022).

• Skill/Competency: An objective must describe the competency students will learn in performance terms. If the verb stating an objective identifies an observable student behavior, then you have established the basis for a clear statement.

• Conditions: An objective should describe the conditions under which the learner will perform in the evaluation situation and clearly explain what tools, references, or other aids you will provide.

• Standard: An objective should make clear how well a learner must perform to achieve proficiency. This is an opportunity to apply proficiency levels articulated in a digital literacy framework. Here are four frameworks to choose from: the Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (VuorikariRina, 2022), the Digital Literacy Framework for Adult Learners (Maryland Department of Labor, 2021), the College and Career Readiness for Adult Education (Pimentel, 2013), and the UNESCO’s Digital Literacy Global Framework (Law, 2018).

Learning Objective Example

The components of an effective learning objective (standard, skill/competency, and condition) occur in the statement in the textbox below. All the characteristics must be present to develop a clear and measurable learning objective.

Students will demonstrate proficiency in using digital collaboration tools to facilitate teamwork and communication in a virtual environment.

 

Another way to express the learning objective is in the table below, which identifies each component.

Component	Students will:
Standard	demonstrate proficiency (indicate proficiency level from chosen digital literacy framework)
Skill/ Competency	to facilitate teamwork and communication
Condition	using digital collaboration tools in a virtual environment.

 

Based on this learning objective, you can plan a lesson with the following activities:

Working in small groups, students will use digital collaboration platforms such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Teams to collaborate on a shared project. They will create and share documents, collaborate on real-time edits, schedule/attend virtual meetings, assign tasks, and provide feedback to group members using the features of the chosen platform. At the end of the project, each group will deliver a presentation displaying their collaborative efforts and reflecting on the effectiveness of the digital tools used.

Choosing Verbs to Write Learning Objectives

The choice of verbs is crucial in writing learning objectives. Ineffective learning objectives use the verbs “remember” or “understand.” It is impossible to measure whether adult learners remember or understand. Instead, you need to ask them to demonstrate the information they remember or understand in a measurable way. Instead of remembering, you can ask learners to list, define, or select. Likewise, learners can demonstrate their understanding by classifying, identifying, locating, or selecting.

 

Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) is a commonly used tool for writing learning objectives that specify observable behaviors that demonstrate learning. These objectives are organized by Bloom's 6 cognitive levels, which are organized from lower-order to higher-order thinking skills.

 

Remember: Recall or retrieve information from memory.

Understand: Comprehend or explain concepts and ideas.

Apply: Use knowledge or skills in new situations.

Analyze: Break down information into parts and understand relationships.

Evaluate: Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.

Create: Generate new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things.

 

Bloom’s taxonomy (1956) has been used for assessment purposes. Recently, the taxonomy was adapted for digital literacy to provide educators with direction on designing and assessing digital skills (Churches, 2008). The following graphic of Bloom’s Taxonomy for Digital Literacy provides sample verbs to write effective learning objectives for digital instruction. Some of these words were not used as verbs before the digital age, such as bookmarking, blogging, tweeting, and uploading.

 

Remember	Understand	Apply	Analyze	Evaluate	Create
Bookmarking Copying Defining Describing Duplicating Googling Highlighting Liking Listing Matching Naming Quoting Recalling Recognizing Retrieving Searching Selecting Tabulating Visualizing	Annotating Associating Boolean searching Categorizing Classifying Converting Demonstrating Differentiating Estimating Exemplifying Explaining Grouping Identifying Interpreting Paraphrasing Predicting Tagging Tweeting	Administering Articulating Charting Choosing Computing Constructing Determining Displaying Executing Implementing Editing Hacking Downloading Operating Presenting Running Sharing Uploading Using	Appraising Attributing Comparing Contrasting Correlating Deducing Estimating Explaining Inferring Integrating Illustrating Linking Ordering Organizing Planning Prioritizing Questioning Structuring	Arguing Assessing Critiquing Concluding Debating Defending Detecting Experimenting Hypothesizing Justifying Measuring Moderating Monitoring Networking Persuading Posting Reframing Reviewing Scoring	Adapting Animating Blogging Collaborating Composing Designing Developing Directing Facilitating Integrating Inventing Making Mixing/remixing Negotiating Podcasting Producing Programming Simulating Writing

 

 

You can follow these steps to write behavioral learning objectives using Bloom's Digital Taxonomy:

1.    Identify the Learning Outcome: Determine what you want students to know or be able to do by the end of the lesson, course, or activity.

2.    Select the Appropriate Level of Bloom's Taxonomy: Choose the cognitive level that aligns with the desired learning outcome. Consider the complexity of the learning task and the depth of understanding required.

3.     Write the Learning Objective: Use action verbs corresponding to the chosen level of Bloom's Digital Taxonomy, and craft a clear and specific statement describing the observable behavior students should demonstrate to achieve the learning outcome.

The table below contains sample learning objectives for digital literacy skills, organized by Bloom’s cognitive levels, compared to competence areas from the Maryland Digital Literacy Framework for Adult Learners (Maryland Department of Labor, 2021).

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy	Digital Literacy Competency Area	Learning Objective
Remember	Technical	Using pen and paper, list key features of a web browser such as navigation buttons, address bar, and bookmarks with 90% accuracy.
Understand	Civic	In a word document, describe why it is important to safeguard personal information when using social media platforms and online shopping websites with 90% accuracy.
Apply	Investigative	Using a library database search platform, conduct an online search for an assigned research topic using Boolean operators and filters to locate credible sources for a research paper.
Analyze	Computational Thinking	Using the internet, evaluate two websites on the same topic and identify differences in the reliability of their information based on factors such as author expertise, publication date, and domain authority.
Evaluate	Productive	Critically evaluate the potential consequences of posting personal photos and information on social media platforms, considering issues such as identity theft, cyberbullying, and online harassment.
Create	Communicative	Develop a multimedia presentation outlining strategies for practicing digital citizenship, including guidelines for online communication, copyright awareness, and cyber safety. Present your campaign to the class.

 

These examples demonstrate how Bloom's Taxonomy for Digital Literacy can be applied to digital literacy learning objectives, ranging from basic recall of digital concepts to more complex tasks involving critical analysis and creative problem-solving in digital environments. They also link the development of learning objectives to a digital literacy framework.

 

References

Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals by a committee of college and university examiners. McKay.

Hogle, P. S. (2024). What is Bloom’s digital taxonomy? https://www.neovation.com/learn/27-what-is-blooms-taxonomy-for-digital-learningomy?

Law, N. W. Y., Woo, D. J., de la Torre, J., & Wong, K. W. G. (2018). A global framework of reference on digital literacy skills for indicator 4.4. 2. Available https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip51-global-framework-reference-digital-literacy-skills-2018-en.pdf

Maryland Department of Labor’s Adult Education. (2021). Digital Literacy Framework for Adult Learners. http://labor.maryland.gov/employment/dwdalfederalprogramfunding.shtml

Orr, R. B., Csikari, M.M., Freeman, S., Rodriguez, M. C. (2022). Writing and Using Learning Objectives. CBE Life Sciences Education, 21(3):fe3. doi: 10.1187/cbe.22-04-0073.

 

Pimentel, S. (2013). College and Career Readiness for Adult Education. Available https://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/CCRStandardsAdultEd.pdf

VuorikariRina, R., Kluzer, S., & Punie, Y. (2022). DigComp 2.2: The Digital Competence Framework for Citizens-With new examples of knowledge, skills and attitudes (No. JRC128415). Joint Research Centre (Seville site).