Assessment
Assignment:
For Assessment, we were asked to look at a number of different ways to formatively assess students using technology. We explored web sites and different apps to help us redesign our assessment based on the feedback we received from using the tools. In addition to exploring the many tools, we were asked to implement a few and reflect on how the results changed our teaching.
Recap is a fantastic tool which allows teachers to post a question, and students reply through video. We have been working on a Water Cycle HyperDoc for a week, and we still have a week to go, and I wanted to quickly see where students were with their understanding of the Water Cycle. I asked students to tell me three things they have learned thus far in our unit. They recorded their responses, and Recap puts them all into a Daily Reel. You are also able to go in and give feedback on their individual videos. In addition, students are able to assess their learning after they submit their video with three different choices: Got it, Partially got it, Didn't get it. Recap puts this information into a graph on the teacher's dashboard, so at a glance, a teacher is able to see where their students are with the concept.
Reflection:
Formative Assessment is a must when teaching! Sadly, I was of the era where we were taught to:
- 1. Read the lessons in the chapter.
- 2. Answer the questions at the end of the chapter.
- 3. Assign a cookie cutter project with no student choice.
- 4. Take a test at the end of the chapter.
- 5. Move onto the next chapter.
This way of teaching gave the teacher information about a student's learning way too late in the game. In fact, most of us would have to admit, we didn't get the tests back to the students that day...it was more like a week later depending upon the day the test was given. Everyone lost. Teachers lost out on redesigning their lessons through instant feedback, and students lost out on taking ownership of their learning.
Formative Assessment and the use of technology is truly the only way to teach. Technology is a gift to teachers in that it provides information to help us make our lessons better, instantly. Technology gives students feedback in real time. By implementing technology into your assessment, everyone benefits. I am forever changed from this unit. I have seen innovative ways to assess, monitor, and give feedback to my students in relevant formats.
Feedback is crucial. Feedback and what to do with it, I am learning, has to be taught. Many of my students are conditioned to the method above, and they do not understand how feedback can improve their learning. Teachers have to model what it looks like to receive feedback and modify a lesson, so students understand how to apply feedback to their work. During my Water Cycle HyperDoc, the co-creator, Holly and I have put a feedback paper on the whiteboard. Every time we found something we could tweak, we wrote it on the paper and changed it in the HyperDoc in real time. Hopefully, this will help the students make a connection!