Chapter 3- Developing Lessons with technology
Focus Question: How can teachers evaluate and assess their students?
There are three strong influences to how teachers approach assessment which are personal experiences, standardize testing, and teacher tests. Most teachers tend to teach the way they found easiest to be taught and assess the way they were assessed as students. Since the no child left behind law passed in 2001 there has been an influx in standardized testing nation wide. Based on personal experiences, I am not a fan of this method because these tests are usually a high stakes tests meaning grade-level promotion or school graduation is depending on a passing score. In my opinion this is just a way to enter a cycle of failure. Teacher tests are simply tests to make sure teachers are capable and are able to show competency of the subject to teach it.
When I was on my observational time at a middle school I noticed that they had smart boards and one program the teacher used was called class dojo where the students were assigned a monster and based on academic and behavioral performance the student was awarded points. After a certain amount of points was awarded to an individual student they were given a passcode and was able to log on the site at home and change there monster and play more interactive games. This with plus a 'race' to see which of her classes would perform the highest every week with an award. They used clickers and to anonymously vote their answers in which I though allowed the students to feel included, and participate while eliminating fear or anxiety of being called upon.
This is a great video that talks about the different programs that are out there to asses student progress and the interactive benefits with them.
Using technology in performance assessment has become easier with new technology like the smart board and clickers. There are a variety of ways now that a teacher can assess the classrooms progress though interactive activities. Unfortunately there will always be standardized testing.
Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010).Transforming learning with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon.