Assessments in the Digital World

 

Assessments in the digital age is a concept teachers have had to get familiar with rather quickly. Within the past 10 years or so Michigan has begun to move away from traditional paper assessments and closer to digital tools. As I dive into this topic I am considering the social constructivist perspective. 

Social constructivism according to Effective Assessment in a digital age is defined as “...Learners actively construct new ideas through collaborative activities and dialogue” (Effective Assessment in a Digital Age A guide to technology-enhanced assessment and feedback, n.d.). As we explored in last week's lesson collaboration is beneficial to the learning process, and can be easily accessed through the use of digital tools. In our classrooms, we can combine collaboration with formative assessments. Formative assessments are a way to monitor student understanding and comprehension of lessons taught in class. Some examples are quizzes, polls, Kahoot, and more. Quizizz is a great tool that incorporates global collaboration, flexibility, customization, as well as increased student engagement. Assessments can be customized by educators based on their current lessons given in class, or as a tool to observe what other teachers around the world have used for their students. For example, a teacher creating a multiple-choice assessment on a lesson can create their own questions or use the Quizizz database and pull questions from other assessments that other educators have used. Teachers face a lot of pressure in trying to keep up with current technology as well as keeping students engaged in ways that are both fun and educational. We must constantly evolve and continue learning of ways that will help our students gain the most from our lessons, and Quizizz provides endless resources that allow us to learn from each other and find new ways to keep students engaged with the material. Emma Pellerin mentions “Teachers underscored the importance of working with colleagues when developing their performance assessments. One described her first coaching session with other Virginia science teachers as “mind-blowing” because they offered invaluable feedback on how to improve her grading rubric” (Pellerin, 2020). Educators can also become overwhelmed evaluating data and grading what seems like endless stacks of paper. The Office Of Educational Technology says “These frustrations include being overwhelmed with large amounts of data from disparate sources, incompatibility of data systems and tools that make data analysis unnecessarily time-consuming, inconsistency in the level of detail and quality of data, and delays in being able to access data in time to modify instruction” (Measuring for Learning, 2018). Tools like this one have made me reevaluate my relationship with assessments. What if I had been provided these resources early on in my education, and how would they have affected my performance? We have all felt the crippling anxiety rushing through us as a 10-page packet overflowing with test questions hit our desks. Imagine instead of feeling rushed and overwhelmed by the number of questions in front of you we had the option of fun background music, unlimited time, creative displays, and motivating quotes between each question. Test anxiety can affect scores just as much as not knowing the material. By providing a less intense environment students are not only less intimidated, but they are also more engaged. According to Emma Pellerin teachers noticed students becoming more excited and focused on assessments given digitally. 

Using resources like Quizizz in classrooms we can ensure students' knowledge and education are not impacted by the use of technology. By collaborating with and getting feedback from other educators we are able to see exactly what students are struggling with, and what parts of the lesson need to be re-worked. As teaching evolves technology gives us the opportunity to create assessments that both accurately measure our student's knowledge as well as improve our methods of teaching in the classroom. 

  Resources 

Department of Education. (2018, May 9). Measuring for Learning. Office of Educational Technology.                                                                                https://tech.ed.gov/netp/assessment/

Hilliard, P. (2015, December 7). Performance-based assessment: Reviewing the basics. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/performance-based-assessment-reviewing-basics-patricia-hilliard

Pellerin, E. (2020). Performance Assessment: An Engaging Alternative to Traditional Test-Taking. Institute of Education Sciences (IES). https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/appalachia/blogs/blog32_performance-assessment-engaging-alternative-to-traditional-test-taking.asp

Quizizz. (2019, March 20). How do teachers use quizizz? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmqRCMPpHbA