Assessing with Technology: From the Classroom to Large Scale: Week 7

ASSESSING IN THE DIGITAL ERA

TOPIC: Assessing with Technology: From the Classroom to Large Scale

EDUC 7726 Week 7

The topic I choose to focus on is Assessing with Technology from the classroom to large scale learning targets.  When assessing technologies one must identify the critical issues, understand the available assessment tools appropriate for student learning and be able to evaluate multiple ways to assess when using technology.  The article “Effective Assessment in the Digital Age”, by Sarah Davies struck me with her ideas when assessing students digitally.  Davies stated, “Nothing that we do to, or for, our students is more important than our assessment of their work and the feedback we give them on it.”  When discussing digital assessment Davies discussed twelve REA principals to follow which are (Davies, pg. 15)

1. Clarify good performance through clearly defined and specific goals and standards.
2. Emphasis on appropriate time and effort on harder tasks
3. Provide students with high-quality feedback
4. Give opportunities to reply to feedback given
5. Ensure assessments have a positive impact on learning
6. Emphasize peer and teacher interaction
7. Provide opportunities for self-assessment and reflection
8. Give students an opportunity to help “design” the assessment
9. Involve students in the process
10. Support groups learning
11. Encourage positive self-esteem through motivation
12. Share information to other teachers

Through the understanding about the interwoven relationship between assessment, feedback and effective learning is only the beginning when looking at student learning through assessment (Davies, pg. 15).  Many believe assessment should be done in absence of technology; however, technology can benefit assessment through self-evaluations and immediate feedback (Davies, pg 17).  In order to achieve an acceptance of assessment and technology one must provide appropriate evidence of the benefits it provides the learners with (Davies, pg 19).  A great way to ensure students are engaged is to increase self-assessments through online tools such as WebPA (Davies, pg 21). Below are a couple more programs that could be used for assessment in the classroom:

1. Lino – A board of sticky-notes.  The program can be used for exit slips or a quick check for understanding.
2. Socrative, Kahoot – Great tool to give pre and post assessments.
3. Coggle – A great mind mapping tool to help organize student thoughts and provide organization
4. Google Forms – A program to develop surveys, quizzes, as well as student sign up sheets.

You must ensure the assessment is considered a valuable assessments for learning by asking yourself the following question.  Does the assessment engage my students? Does the assessment support a personalized learning experience with valid feedback?  Does the assessment focuses on development and stimulate dialogue (Davies, pg. 53)? Digital assessments can be a great tool to develop formative and summative assessments.  Learning can be enhanced through these avenues because technology, when used properly, can help ensure your students are engaged and continue to actively learn.

Resources:

1. Davies, S. (2010). Effective assessment in a digital age: A guide to technology-enhanced assessment and feedback. S.l.: Higher Education Funding Council for England
2. 33 Digital Tools for Advancing Formative Assessment in the Classroom. (2014, January 21). Retrieved May 17, 2015.