By Kelly Bielefeld
One of the most important duties of modern educators is to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving abilities so they can adapt to a future labor market that will include jobs not yet imagined. To achieve that, students must regularly engage in the deepest levels of learning: analyzing, breaking ideas down, making connections, evaluating situations, and synthesizing new solutions.
Understanding Surface, Transfer, and Deep Learning
Deep learning occupies the top three levels of Bloom’s taxonomy—analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. At these levels, learners have internalized knowledge or skills and can apply them to novel, complex problems. Surface-level learning, by contrast, covers the two lower levels of Bloom’s taxonomy—acquiring information and demonstrating comprehension. A typical example of surface learning is teaching the elements of the periodic table, administering a multiple-choice quiz, then moving on to another topic without further application.
Research by Professor John Hattie demonstrates that surface-level learning is necessary as the foundation for deeper learning. Hattie describes the progression from surface knowledge to deeper understanding as the “transfer of learning.” The application level in Bloom’s taxonomy aligns with Hattie’s transfer stage: it’s where teachers provide practice that helps students consolidate new knowledge, identify misconceptions, and begin to own skills so they can transfer them to new contexts.
How Technology Supports Each Stage
Teachers face limited time and heavy workloads, which can make the additional work to move students through the transfer phase into deep learning seem daunting. Fortunately, thoughtfully chosen technology can support every stage of this progression, increase efficiency, and boost student engagement.
Technology for Surface-Level Learning
Surface-level learning is generally teacher-directed and can feel tedious for students who lack background knowledge. In whole-class settings, interactive displays and presentation tools can spark curiosity through videos, vivid images, and multimedia demonstrations. These tools create context and motivation, helping students absorb foundational facts and concepts.
Screencast tutorials tied to lesson content also prove useful, especially for students who miss class or need targeted remediation. Short, well-paced screencasts that include a bit of humor or real-world framing can make review more engaging than traditional lectures.
Technology for the Transfer of Learning
The technology used during the transfer phase should target practice and timely feedback. Self-grading assessments and formative tools help isolate the specific skills students still need to master and provide immediate feedback so learners can correct errors. Free, standards-aligned resources such as LearnZillion and Khan Academy (used without linking) can offer remediation and enrichment, allowing students who need extra practice to progress independently while others move ahead.
At this stage, the goal is to allow students to apply their surface knowledge in structured ways that reveal gaps and build fluency. Technology that tracks performance and delivers adaptive practice shortens the feedback loop and supports differentiated instruction.
Technology for Deep Learning
When students reach deep learning, technology becomes a means to demonstrate higher-order thinking—analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. One effective strategy is to have students play the role of a teacher: choose the most appropriate tools or activities (such as a video, lab experiment, or project) to convey complex content. Selecting and justifying a tool requires students to reason about purpose, audience, and depth of content, which deepens understanding.
For instance, a student preparing a presentation on the periodic table might create a slide deck or produce a short documentary-style video using basic video tools. These creative productions ask learners to organize, analyze, and synthesize information rather than merely reproduce facts. Students should receive basic, surface-level instruction on the chosen technologies, but today’s learners often pick up digital tools quickly and move on to deeper content-focused thinking.
Practical Considerations and Classroom Strategy
The progression from surface learning to deep learning is not always strictly linear. Some activities combine surface and deep learning simultaneously. For example, early coding lessons often look like surface-level language acquisition—learning syntax and commands—but working with educational robots or programming projects can also integrate math and science concepts, yielding deeper understanding through applied problem solving.
Another practical reality is the sheer volume of standards teachers must cover. It’s unrealistic to take every standard to the deepest level. Prioritize: identify which standards warrant deep exploration and which can remain at surface or transfer levels. For example, in a Chemistry course, students might explore the periodic table through a student-designed lab experiment while other, less central concepts are addressed at a surface level.
Cross-curricular projects are an efficient way to create time for deep learning. When a single project addresses multiple standards across subjects, it frees classroom time for sustained, hands-on inquiry. Be mindful of district curriculum policies and the degree of flexibility allowed, and plan projects that align with required outcomes.
Final Thoughts
Reflect on how much of the typical school day focuses on surface, transfer, and deep learning. If you influence curriculum, evaluate how your program supports each stage. Introducing deeper learning requires careful planning and complex thinking from teachers, but technology can make the transfer of knowledge more efficient and engaging. When used intentionally, digital tools help students progress from acquiring facts to applying them creatively and critically in new situations.
About the Author
Kelly Bielefeld is the Assistant Superintendent of Unified School District No. 264 in Clearwater, Kansas.
This article was originally published by The Learning Counsel, a research institute and news outlet focused on the shift to digital curriculum in education.