Booth

=The 4Ws and H of Technology and Assessment = Joan Booth

====I read two articles that gave me an overview of using technology to implement educational assessment. As stated in Pellegrino & Quellmalz (2010) " a new generation of assessments is well on its way to transforming what, how, when, where, and why assessment occurs and its linkages to teaching and learning." So on this wiki page I will relay the what, why, who, when and how of technology and assessment. ====

What?

 * Getting beyond the advantages of using technology to quickly grade tests


 * Not just testing learned knowledge and skills but also thought processes such as critical thinking, problem solving and decision making.

NATURE OF ASSESSMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
Assessment is not an exact science - we use "indirect reasoning from evidence" to determine knowledge/skills attained by a student. It involves three aspects (Assessment Triangle): cognition, observations and interpretation. Presently, observations of knowledge attained is where we are weakest. Technology can fix this by alleviating "the inherent problems that come with paper and pencil tests." (Clarke-Midura and Dede, 2010, p. 310)

Using technology for //summative// assessments: test outcomes of learning for grading and accountability; high stakes assessments fall in this category; "innovative assessment formats, such as simulations, are being designed to measure complex knowledge and inquiry...[and] aim to align summative assessment more directly to the processes and contexts of learning and instruction."

Using technology for //formative// assessments: test learning to "diagnose and modify the conditions of learning"; considered helpful in improving students' knowledge and skills as it can provide corrective measures when students get off track and provide teachers with timely data to determine how to proceed with lessons (Pellegrino & Quellmalz, 2010, p. 122)

VIRTUAL WORLD ASSESSMENT

 * ====Using virtual worlds, "immersive environments and mediated experiences" to create simulations of learned information and skills ====

With the technology behind virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life) students can be "assessed on the enactment of complex situations with tacit clues, simulation of scientific instruments, virtual experimentation, simulated collaboration in a team, and adaptive responses to students' choices" - far outweighing what multiple choice tests can assess.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">"Virtual environments enable students to engage in authentic inquiry tasks (problem finding and experimental design) and increase students' engagement and self-efficacy." <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">(Clarke-Midura and Dede, 2010)

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">OTHER THOUGHTS
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">"Technology could offer ways of creating, over time, a complex stream of data about how students think and reason, independently and collaboratively,while engaged in important learning activities...The demands and complexity of these types of assessment can be quite substantial, but technology makes them feasible." <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">(Pellegrino & Quellmalz, 2010. p. 130)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Authentic Assessments rarely get their due because the multiple choice tests meet so many criteria, primarily the ease of administering and interpretation of them. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">(Clarke-Midura and Dede, 2010)

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Shari - I fully agree with the above statement that over time, if utilized properly, the information gained by assessing with technology could be priceless. Being able to gain insight into where and why a students is struggling in a particular area would be beneficial not all stakeholders. Giving the students the means to apply what they are learning in open-ended situations, like in a virtual environment, where they would have to demonstrate their understanding of the concepts being taught, problem solve and collaborate would allow for 21st Century skills to be developed.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Video on using computer simulations to teach and assess.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">media type="youtube" key="U-GVEANUEVo" height="390" width="480"

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Why?
====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Consensus is growing that better methods for capturing and connecting compelling evidence of student learning, both content knowledge //and reasoning and inquiry skills// (emphasis mine), must be implemented." (Pellegrino & Quellmalz, p127) ====

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">We need better measures of "complex forms of learning" (Clarke-Midura and Dede, 2010, p 120)
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">"The type of observations and evidence of learning that technology-based assessments allow is unparalleled." (Clarke-Midura and Dede, 2010)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Studies of national standardized tests show that they do not adequately test for mastery of 21st century skills - Many 21st century skills involve higher levels of thinking that multiple choice, paper and pencil tests can't measure. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">(Clarke-Midura and Dede, 2010)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Paper and pencil tests measure different knowledge than hands-on and virtual investigations. (Clarke-Midura and Dede, 2010, p. 313)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Students should be assessed more than one way to fairly and fully understand their knowledge and skill level.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">[]
 * <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Click this link to a short report and 20 minute podcast discussing technology and assessment. **

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Who?
====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">**High stakes testing agencies**: National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), Programme for International Student Assessment - beginning to see the light on not just the ease of administering tests using technology but the need to measure thinking processes as well ====

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">**Teachers**: because of pressure to perform well on state exams, teachers do not have the time to implement the learning activities that lead to mastering 21st Century Skills

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">**Students**: Report that formative assessments done using technology increase their level of understanding

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">**Some Computer Based Assessments**: Diagnoser (for science assessment), ASSISTment (for math tutoring); Sim Scientist

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Watch a video of educators praising the affects of ASSISTments

media type="youtube" key="WzGUVPcHBiQ" height="390" width="480"

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">When?
====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">The authors of Assessment, Technology and Change, contend that despite **"three decades"** of advances in technology and pedagogy, " the field of assessment has not progressed much beyond paper and pencil item-based test," which "are not valid measures of sophisticated intellectual performance." (Clarke-Midura) ====

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">The time is **now** to use technology to teach and assess our students.
<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Shari - This is definitely true. We need to begin utilizing what is currently on the fore front of the educational advances. The students of today have been born into and are growing in the age of technology. They understand it, love it and want access to it all the time. We need to meet them where they are, not with a stagnate routine because it is comfortable for us as educators. Research is proving that, when done properly, teaching and assessing with technology can reach every student no matter where they are in their learning. Giving them these opportunities early and often will result in a graduate that is ready to successfully contribute to the 21st Century work force.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">How?

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Create simulations of real world knowledge and skills using virtual environment technology
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Create simulations in both single user virtual environments (SUVEs) and multiple user virtual environments (MUVEs) to assess individuals and groups
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Use a model for creating assessments such as the Assessment Triangle (discussed above) or Evidence-Centered Design used by Clarke-Midura & Dede.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Evidenced Centered Design


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Phases 1 & 2: domain analysis and modeling - determining the purpose of assessment, nature of knowing and structures for observing and organizing knowledge.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Phase 3: conceptual assessment framework and compilation - tasks that are performed in the Assessment Triangle


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">Phase 4: delivery architecture - presentation and scoring of the task

=<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Conclusion: = ====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Using technology to implement assessments has such great potential that it is unfortunate stakeholders don't take better advantage of it. Students should be tested on both knowledge and skills attained as well as thinking processes. Having an understanding of how a student arrived at his conclusions can inform teachers of the student's understanding and his correct and incorrect thinking. This in turn can help them decide how to proceed with a lesson and what concepts need to be reviewed. This in turn, provides the formative assessment that is so helpful in a student's education. ====

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Technology can also create real world scenarios through virtual environment simulations. This puts the student in a more authentic situation for being assessed. As the student is engaged in that situation the technology is obtaining data on his performance - not waiting until he is finished then checking the results. This tests for the mastery of the 21st century skills that are necessary for today's working world - higher level thinking processes.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> As the first video above mentions, engaging simulations and games can be found just about anywhere critical thinking occurs - except in education. This must change if we want our students to be competitive in the global job market.

**<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">References **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Clarke-Midura, J. & Dede, C. (2010). Assessment, technology and change. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 309-326.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Pellegrino, J.W. & Quellmalz, E.S. (2010-2011). Perspectives on the integration of technology and assessment. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 43(3), 119-134.