ADDING NEW DIMENSIONS TO LEARNING

Technology Support for Assessment

Introduction

Before considering the use of technology to support assessment, there are some questions to keep in mind:

What is the purpose of assessment?

What are the assessment strategies used with your students?

How do you currently store portfolios?

How do you organise observation data?

What % of learning is paper-based?

What's missing in your current method of storage and retrieval of data about student learning?

More Background Questions

What if . . .

Teachers, parents and students could have immediate access to many examples of student work throughout that student's school years?

not just paper and pencil work

including performance assessments

including audio & video samples (multimedia)

Teachers, students and parents had access to emerging high-density storage media to keep copies of student work?

Teachers could streamline the process of acquiring and storing anecdotal observations of student learning?

Other Questions …

Who owns the work that students place into a traditional portfolio (an ever-growing file folder?)?

How can a teacher manage innovative assessment techniques on top of everything else?

Can information technologies make classroom assessment easier, not more work for everyone?

The Big Picture: The purpose of an assessment system

A good assessment system allows students and teachers to have a shared understanding of what constitutes good work. Assessment as a lever for school reform and is grounded in shared values. Assessment is a social process that is grounded in:

Conversations about student work as evidence of accomplishment

Development of common language for discussing accomplishments

Development of shared values and transparent criteria for evaluating student work

Why use technology?

Technology support in assessment allows students and teachers:

To make work in many media accessible, portable, examinable, widely distributable

To make performance replayable and reviewable; it is important to see more than once

To address ownership issues

Rick Stiggins (1995) defines a Portfolio

"a collection of student work assembled to demonstrate student achievement or improvement. The material to be collected and the story to be told can vary greatly as a function of the assessment context"

The context determines the "Context" factors:

Purpose- the story to be told and the audience

a portfolio is intended to document a student's improvement over a year

Nature of the outcomes

will dictate student work samples to be collected

Focus of the evidence

either show change over time, or

status at one point in time

Time span

over what time period should work be collected?

Nature of evidence

what kind of evidence will be collected?

Basic Ingredients of a portfolio

Guidelines for selection of materials - to keep collection from growing haphazardly)
Teacher feedback
Student self-reflection
Clear and appropriate criteria for evaluating work (rubrics)
Put students in touch with the nature & extent of their improvements in performance over time:

According to Stiggins (1995):

written, audio or video records compared over time are a powerful tool for increasing the learners' sense of control over their own academic success." (p. 35)

Varied Contexts of a Portfolio/Assessment System should determine which tools to use:

Teacher-centred vs. student-centred approach
Varied Purposes for a Portfolio
Primary levels different than Secondary levels of Portfolio Information
Product - assessment of products
Process - assessment of abilities
Program - for program evaluation
Outcome Focused Portfolios

Models for Assessment Components of Assessment System

Checklists

based on rubrics/outcomes
keep track of how students are doing
could be aggregated for comparison to building/district/state/national standards

Portfolios

demonstration/evidence of student accomplishment
a purposeful collection of students' work that illustrates efforts, progress, achievement.

Functions of a Portfolio

display range of student's work
provide essential information about individual child progress and overall classroom activities
make it possible for children to participate in assessing their own work
form basis for evaluating quality of student's overall performance
integrate instruction and assessment

Using Technology to Support Outcomes Focused Assessment

What to look for in software to support Electronic Portfolios

Outcomes and Learning Goals

Standards, Rubrics/assessment criteria

Student work samples

Student self-reflection

Teacher assessment/feedback

Look for the differences between an electronic portfolio and an electronically stored collection of student work.

Media Components of an Electronic Portfolio

Text

Graphics

Audio

Video

Publishing Mediums

Different for Working Portfolio & Formal Portfolio
Video tape
Floppy diskette
Zip disk (high density floppy disk)
CD-Recordable disc
WWW server

A Decision Matrix needs to be developed that will help schools:

assess needs
determine purpose of portfolio
recommend technology options based on; budget and equipment in place and skills of students and teachers
which multimedia components to include
most reasonable publishing medium

Varied electronic tools available
Observation tools to support observational assessment (checklists)