Technology and Assessment

     Assessment is an integral part of education.  It informs educators where their students need them to begin, where their students' understanding breaks down, and if students have mastered the skills they were intended to.  Education is a continuous cycle of teaching and assessment of student comprehension/mastery.   We set goals aligned with standards for our students, teach students the content, use formative assessment to gauge student understanding,  then provide feedback to our students about if they have or have not met the learning goals (including how to meet them).  Assessment should inform our teaching practices and help us differentiate our teaching to help all learners grow as much as possible.  I particularly like this graphic by Rich James depicting the learning cycle.

Step 3 (Gathering Data) is where you assess. 

      Formative assessment can NOT be some sort of high stakes test.  We learn by trying and making mistakes, so formative assessment should only be work a few completion points at best.  Practice should never be punitive.  Some classes do not need a point value and complete the work because they see the value in practice, and I would argue that some of the best teachers work this way.  It is also important to note that some summative assessments turn out to be formative.

       

     So where does technology fit in to assessment?  I would argue it is becoming an essential tool for effective assessment.  New technology, especially technology used in 1:1 classrooms, allows for teachers to be in constant communication with their students.  Students are able to interact with lessons and work at their own pace.  Technology such as newsela.com allows teachers to differentiate reading to help all students increase comprehension.  Teachers can use applications such as Kahoot or Peardeck to ask the whole class to respond to a question, or they can use different apps to ask individuals questions.  The best part, in my opinion, is that teachers can instantly compile who is meeting learning goals and who isn't and provide feedback (both whole class and individual) more efficiently and more often.  This is the ultimate goal of assessment!