Assessment tools achieve assessment rules in assessment schools. Wisely choose or be an assessment fool. But what does an educator pick to be ‘assessment cool’?

Assessment Thoughts… and Kahoot

The ECI833 class came to a general acceptance and list of many digital assessment tools that are best used formatively. A large part of my experience with assessment tools, albeit limited, reinforced this belief. I had used Kahoot several times this year with my students but found that if students didn’t have their own device, or some had slower connections than others, it led to a misrepresentation of student understanding and has the potential to leave a small minority of students frustrated. Students may not be as successful with a timer (as I’ve used), and some get so caught up in the competition they will go with a speedy response rather than a calculated one for a chance to be in the coveted “top 5”. Therefore, formative, at best. (Kids love it though, just like in Heidi’s class, lots of excitement throughout the high school with grades nine-twelve finding enjoyment from it). I know that you can shut off the timer in Kahoot, but that takes some of the fun out of the activity for some of the students. In order to try and find a solution to the formative problems, I decided to look into the highly-touted Socrative.

Socrative

Socrative is “your classroom app for fun, effective classroom engagement. No matter where or how you teach, Socrative allows you to instantly connect with students as learning happens.”

So how does it work?

Email to login? Done.
Click on create quiz? Done.
Created a question? Done (see picture below).
Share account ID with a student? Done.
Student finishes quiz, I can see immediate feedback.
Pros – accessibility and very straightforward.
Challenges?

My first quiz from Socrative taken via Screenshot saved with Paint.

The biggest challenge was figuring out what the heck Space Race was. Fortunately, like mentioned above, that too was very easy to fire up and use. Upon using “Space Race”, it appears I’ll be able to scratch the competitive itch for my students that may be done by Kahoot as well. If students didn’t not have availability to a device, this may not be as useful, but they do, so no worries!

Visually, it is far more professional-looking than Kahoot (no offence meant). For my senior science courses, considering a digital  alternative (formative or summative) to paper quizzing, I have every intention of using it. Like any program, there is an incentive to spending money to widen its capabilities (for myself, only $30/year), but the free features are more than enough. You can use images, much like in Kahoot for the question process or combine images with questions.

I decided to look up websites that had lists of assessment tools to see how it compared, but most sites had it listed near the top or in the discussion of great tools (even the EduTechChick did)!

Why digital assessment?

I avoided the thought entirely of whether or not digital assessment is wise in the classroom. I’ve historically used paper and reading body language for assessing student understanding, and justified it by stating that it “will prepare them for post-secondary”. But not only is post-secondary transitioning in assessment, but some students may not even pursue it. Therefore, maximizing engagement in the school including the assessment practice is likely the most student-oriented approach. Not to mention that these apps also minimize my marking workload with exports to excel and instant data recording.

So what more is there to say? It appears to be the next direction I head for assessment in the classroom. I have anticipated student reaction, but have yet to experience it, only time will tell. Unless, dear readers, you provide me with feedback on your experiences! What is your preferred digital assessment tool? Do you think there is still a place for paper and pen assessment as well? Or should we complete a transition to full digital assessment for the sake of engagement?

Comment!

– Logan Petlak

Productivity by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

“Is the Internet really a productivity tool or merely an endless series of distractions?  Has the Internet created a world of ‘multitaskers’ who don’t accomplish as much as they could have without it?”

Internet enhances productivity and connectivity.

Pound for pound, we are exposed to more information and ideas than any point in human history. The internet and wireless connectivity is to thank for this. Can it be overwhelming? Undoubtedly. Does it pose the potential of distraction? Certainly. But this glass half-empty nonsense fails to appreciate the depth of opportunity that the internet provides us with. Ultimately, it has the power to increase productivity. It makes us capable of accumulating a greater knowledge-base, organizing that content, requiring us to think critically about said knowledge-base, and network with others on the topic, be it independently (through MOOCs) or in the school setting.

How we as educators utilize this?

I love PowerPoint. While some evidence may dictate that PowerPoint in excess isn’t successful, I would question the parameters of the testing. I use PowerPoint as a organizational visual for a wide variety of instructional strategies. It can describe to students how to do a reading strategy for an article, it can incorporate pictures into content, build foundations for Screencasting or flipped classrooms as well as provide steps for group or lab work. I can ask meaningful questions to the class but cater to the learner who might understand it better by reading the question… or collect and organize information from students and provide copies to those that have missed. The program, and others like it, all serve this purpose and, when used appropriately and alongside YouTube and search engines, enhance instruction and outcome achievement in students.

In a Science 9 classroom, I have the opportunity to feed inquiry and answer the questions of my students right before their eyes. I don’t simply provide an answer, but also show them how learning can grow and extend into new learning as I ask new questions to allow the pursuit of knowledge to grow. And I keep the tabs open to show how we went from one idea to the next. Ex. Mitosis -important parts of what’s copied?-> Nucleus -contains information, as what?-> DNA – there’s something similar to DNA?-> RNA – what has RNA in it?-> Viruses -Example of virus?-> E. Bola –> can E. Bola affect us in SK?

That is what students learn in a classroom with PowerPoint and a visual of how their instructor utilizes the internet and wireless connectivity to learn… and it models proper use of devices that extend this learning to anywhere they are… or communication with experts, opinions and facts from around the world.

A friend shared this video on Facebook the other day (Holly shared a post about the School System by the same individual, Prince Ea), and the pro-tech and social media-using individual in me actually got rattled by the assumptions in this video. Prince Ea is very poetic and engaging individual but I feel his take on this is very much the negative side of the range of connectedness we have today. Literacy rates have increased substantially since the advent of increased global connectedness in the past fifty years, and while I believe he may feel we are more distracted, I would be inclined to disagree.

Reminded me of our discussion regarding how we commonly villainize changes, presentation media, the internet and we may fail to appreciate the “new normal” or “changing humanity”. Any thoughts? Are we really more disconnected now than ever or do our devices help us connect even better now than ever before?

– Logan Petlak