Version History to support Assessment

Version History in both Google & Microsoft platforms allows you to track the progress made in a word processed piece of work, a presentation or many of the other applications available.

This negates the need to save the document at different points. Seeing the History of the Document will allow the person assessing the teaching and learning that has taken place to the impact of the feedback that has been given to a learner. This will also show the changes made by the learner in response to the feedback they have received.

To use Version History in Google Workspace for Education

This will then show the history of that document, with the dates and times of recorded edits, the account which has made those edits (digital footprint) and where learners have named the version, the name of that version.

To use Version History in Office365

This will then show the history of that document, with the dates and times of recorded edits, the account which has made those edits (digital footprint) 

An Example in practice here

The first date in the version history shows the template which the learner started with.

The second record shows the work initially carried out by the learner. 

In this example, it was to write the story of the 'Three Little Pigs'

Teacher- will now be able to assess the success of the class, identifying any issues as a class or for individuals. In this example, it could be that learners had not used paragraphs in their work.

The following day, the teacher recaps what paragraphs are and where they could/should be used in the work.

Learners- edit their work to include paragraphs based on the feedback from the teacher.

Teacher- the teacher can assess the success of the understanding of paragraphs, and decide on the next steps in learning.

Following a second teacher assessment, the teacher has identified the lack of dialogue used in the story. The teacher can then support learners in understanding how they can do this.

Learners- make edits to their story by adding dialogue to their story. 

Teacher- can identify misconceptions that individuals have had in the use of paragraphs or adding dialogue.

On Thursday, learners conduct peer assessment.

Learners- share their work with a peer, and add comments to the work. These should be based on the learning objectives which have been developed throughout the work. 

Teachers- can target their support to ensure misconceptions are corrected.

This example shows what the peer assessment/feedback looks like.

Learners can offer support with comments on what their peer can change, or make edits to the work where the owner can accept or reject that work.

Working in this way will allow learners to make actionable edits to their work based on the feedback they are getting in the class during the lesson, or from feedback from their teacher at the start of the next lesson, they can return to their work and make edits based on lesson introduction. 

In the example above there is no visible record of teacher assessment, however, there are several examples of where learners have improved their work. 

This is evidence of the feedback process- the teacher has assessed the needs of the class and individuals several times, then based on this supported learners in how to edit and improve their work.

Peer assessment further strengthens the understanding of the learning objectives. Assessing the work of their peers against the success criteria they have used, will allow learners to discuss their work and look for ways that they can suggest improvements. 

Following this process, learners will have had the opportunity to apply the feedback they have received over several sessions to improve their work. 

This work is all retained in the version history of the document they have created.