29th May 2018
We can assess learning scenarios using cultural heritage by using peer reviews or peer-to-peer activities (P2P), rubrics and other types of formative assessments that teachers can integrate in their daily practice.
The aim of the module are as follows:
1. Receive an introduction to general assessment approaches
2. Understand possible ways to assess 21st-century skills in your students
3. Become familiar with a self-assessment rubric for your cultural heritage lesson plans
4. Become familiar with a student assessment rubric for cultural heritage lessons
5. Take part in the final course activity
Assessment is the final part of the learning process. Assessment is important, since it is the tool that teachers and students use to judge whether their educational needs have been met. The two main categories of assessments are summative, which focuses on the outcomes, and formative, which focuses on the development of a programme.
Summative assessment can take place during the implementation of the educational project, but is most often undertaken at the end of a project. It is outcome-focused, rather than process-focused. This type of assessment provides the means for finding out whether your project has reached its goals/objectives/outcomes.
On the other hand, formative assessment is a technique that allows the evaluation of student learning during an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. However, information from summative assessments can also be used formatively, when students or teachers use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses. According to the Carnegie Mellon University’s definition, the goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning and to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by teachers to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.
The balanced use of both the summative and the formative technique allows a broader/holistic vision of the entire learning process and enables one to improve at each stage, while ensuring a reliable way to justify the level of achievement of what has been learned.
Assessment can be carried out with different tools, including digital ones, such as Kahoot, Socrative, Plickers or Quizziz, all of which offer a platform to give participants valuable feedback.
Another innovative way of assessing students is peer assessment. Peer assessment is a collaborative learning technique, in which students assess their peers' work and have their work assessed by peers. It gives students feedback on the quality of their work, often with ideas and strategies for improvement.
Digital tools can help change assessment from something teachers do to students into something teachers and students collaboratively construct. Here are some examples of free tools teachers can use in their classrooms to create digital learning portfolios with their students: Padlet, Evernote, Kidblog. But it could be anything that has a shared platform, therefore making it accessible for everyone to contribute.
Rubrics are an attempt to delineate consistent evaluation criteria. They allow teachers and students to evaluate based on complex and objective criteria, and provide a framework for self-evaluation, reflection and peer review. With rubrics, it is possible to get a fair and accurate assessment, foster understanding of the topic at hand, and indicate a way to proceed with the learning/teaching, without actually having to "grade" students.
I have already started using rubrics and I would like to use more web tools in my lessons but we have no internet working in class and students would have to pay as a result most of my formative assessment is based on printed materials. I should find a way for assessing the students but I feel that it will take time before I can use these modern tools.
Andromeda in the Canvas and in the Night Sky is a learning scenario created by Carla Ribeirothat teaches constellations to students in a fun way, using the myth of Andromeda to engage them. It helps develop skills with mobile learning, collaborative learning and visual search and learning.
Link online https://youtu.be/KIo-J4VrQpA
The European Union Matters is a learning scenario created by Rafael Climent that explains the European Union to students and brings it closer to their day-to-day life. It is a great example of student-centred, collaborative and cloud-based learning.
Another self-reflection video can be accessed below. In this one, Rafael explains his learning scenario and its implementation.
Link online : https://youtu.be/keeadlom1lw
Europe is currently facing new skills challenges:
The aim is for everyone to have the key set of competences needed for personal development, social inclusion, active citizenship and employment. These competences include literacy, numeracy, science and foreign languages, as well as more transversal skills such as digital competence, entrepreneurship competence, critical thinking, problem-solving and learning to learn.
The European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens (DigComp) is a document that collects several guidelines and offers a tool to improve citizens’ digital skills.
As the World Economic Forum reports, the skills that people have are lagging behind the skills that people (or employers) actually need, and the gap is growing wider. The skills that are needed the most are collaboration, communication and problem-solving. These are primarily acquired through social and emotional learning (SEL). Eventually SEL leads to higher employability and educational fulfillment. If you would like to find out more regarding the World Economic Forum’s position on the issue, please consult this article.
It is interesting to compare this position with the framework of the National Council on Measurement in Education:
1. Ways of thinking (creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning to learn)
2. Ways of working (communication, collaboration and teamwork)
3. Tools of working (information literacy and ICT literacy)
4. Living in the world (citizenship, life and career skills and personal and social responsibility)
A rubric is a tool that provides focused feedback on works in progress and allows one to evaluate, rather than grade, learning outcomes. It is a document or table that describes different levels of quality and lists what is expected from participants throughout the learning process. Rubrics can be used to evaluate student work but also as part of a formative, student-centred process. They have the potential to help students develop understanding of the topic at hand and different kinds of 21st-century skills. Students and teachers can build their own rubrics, by using different online tools such as Rubistar, among others.
An interesting scenario prepared by Katarzyna Kwiatek-Grabarska: European Wonders of Nature with Europeana Collections.In this scenario, Katarzyna uses Europeana collections to show the beauty of Europe by exploring scientific and cultural resources within Europeana, which enable students not only to acquire geographic and linguistic knowledge but also to interact with arts in a more innovative and engaging way. Moreover, students also had the opportunity to carry out a self-assessment with the online tool, Kahoot, which created a lot of interest and motivation among them.
http://storage.eun.org/eun-form-submission/1106/Europeana_DSI3_LS_European_Wonders_of_Nature.pdf
· Ability to perform a basic search (identify keywords and collect information about cultural heritage)
· Ability to use digital tools (use a variety of techniques)
· Competence to work in a team (assume shared responsibilities, respect different viewpoints)
· Competence to communicate (listen actively and express ideas)
· Development of critical thinking (reflecting on learning; justifying arguments)
· Character (respect and maintaining of positive values)
The primary aim of the rubric is not to grade or induce competition: rubrics help to assess, communicate and develop.
Link to a rubric: http://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/documents/4625641/5245020/Europeana+DI3_Students_rubric.pdf/17b61e87-2aec-4f5d-948d-e832f173f648
Christianity in the Middle Ages, a learning scenario created by Gwendoline Juilleron, is a good example of a History lesson that teaches collaboration to students. This scenario deals with how Christianity spread in the Middle Ages and how it became institutionalised, influencing politics, socio-economic values and the daily lives of people
If you are interested in knowing more about Gwendoline’s scenario, watch the following videos. In the first one, Gwendoline talks about her own classroom implementation, and in the second one, her students express their impressions of the lesson, Europeana as a platform for cultural heritage, and the skills and methods they developed by participating in the lesson.
Link to the presentations by the teachers http://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/documents/4625641/5245020/Europeana+DIS3_MOOC-Teachmeet_presentations_31052018_final.pdf/b513e6fd-9ceb-428d-a7f2-0ce61f38c708
And now I am getting ready to work on my Lesson Plan and the ideas which I found in the Mooc. I will put some into my Lesson Plan.