Objective Assessments of Student Learning

Blog 4 - Module 8

“I’m calling on our nation’s governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity.” —President Barack Obama, Address to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, March 10, 2009

(Office of Education Technology, n.d.)

Demonstration of knowledge does not just include summative assessments of testing or quizzing but can include portfolio and performance-based assessments as well. Projects, portfolios, reports, videos, and performance are great ways for students to showcase their understanding not just with summative test and quizzes. These alternatives allow students to use creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills that they can relate to real world problems and of interest to the student.

Assessments are a great fit for technology in the classroom. With more classrooms having student devices, access to Internet, and applications that assist teachers in delivery and scoring of assessments they can be a vital tool in the classroom to conduct assessments. Teachers now have greater access to data from these tools to better understand their students understanding of lesson content. 

The following are several types of assessments and technologies that align with them:

Formative Assessments are a great way to check for understanding and can guide instruction revisions to better match students learning styles. These assessments can include multiple choice, true false, open-ended, show work and drawing, and polling. Many times they are not graded but a check on where students are at with understanding during or after a lesson.

Formative https://goformative.com  

Formative is an easy to use and visually pleasing online tool for creating CFU, Exit Tickets, short answer, multiple choice, and show your work annotating activities. All answers come back to the teacher in real time and teachers can give quick feedback. Documents and PDF can be imported for creating formative assessments with existing materials.

• Easy way to go paperless with current assignments
• Create assessments with the tool or upload a PDF or Word document to build a formative assessment quiz
• Assessments can be shared with web link or embed code on other platforms

Diagnostic Assessments are important to find out what current knowledge students have to build upon or match up with in delivery of lesson content. These assessments are helpful in differentiated learning to meet students on their current level.

Popplet  http://popplet.com 

With Popplet students can mind map and visually showcase what they currently understand and know about a topic for teachers to review. The tool lets students map text and images quickly. Popplets can be shared and allow collaboration on the same mind maps.

• Visual representation of current understanding of topics can be created with the tool
• Mind mapping tool allows adding text, images, and videos.
• Sharing and collaboration is easy

Summative Assessments are the tradition test and quizzing to gauge student understanding. These assessments can serve as a standardized way of gathering data on how well students are doing but do not represent all aspects that students may have for learning and showcasing understanding of lesson topics. These assessments are usually graded.

Socrative  www.socrative.com 

Socrative can be used for formative and summative assessments. With the tool teachers can create quizzes and tests that are graded. Question types include multiple choice, true and false, and short answer.

• Real-time data on student quizzes
• Downloadable reports and shareable quizzes
• Accessible on web, iOS, and Android

Portfolio Assessments allows for students’ reflection. They can showcase assignments or projects students have completed. The portfolio is easy to share with teachers, students, parents, or perspective colleges and employers. Rubrics are important aspect to these assessments as they give the teacher a standard guide to grade and allow students to understand what criteria they will need to include in their performance-based assessments.

Seesaw http://web.seesaw.me  

Seesaw makes it easy to create and let students share their work in a digital portfolio that can be shared with parents as well. Teachers can approve projects and comment on them in the student portfolio. Students may show videos, images, text, drawings, and voice recordings. Students have a place to reflect on their own work.

• Teachers have moderating controls what projects can be shown in a student portfolio
• View whole-class or individual student work easily in the teacher dashboard
• Free account for teacher, student, and parent to see student work in the current school year

Schoology Portfolios www.schoology.com   

In the Enterprise version of Schoology is included student portfolio feature. It is located in the personal profile in Schoology and assignments students submit they can also add to this portfolio or students can add unique work as well that is not part of an assignment. Students can showcase Schoology assignments, images, videos, audio, web links, and documents. Students can create different portfolios for different categories. 

• Viewers of the portfolio do not need a Schoology account
• Easy for students to add any assignment they have completed to their portfolio
• Portfolio can be shared with a web link

Performance-based Assessments allow students to create demonstrations showcasing understanding. With performance-based assessments teachers and students can explore more open ended questions with the students of their assessment. Rubrics are important aspect to these assessments as they give the teacher a standard guide to grade and allow students to understand what criteria they will need to include in their performance-based assessments.

Adobe Spark http://spark.adobe.com  

Adobe Spark is free and one can log in with an email address, Google Account, or Adobe ID account. All creations are saved to the tool online under your account and they can be shared with a URL, social media, or downloaded. Adobe Spark consist of Spark Post to create graphics, Spark Video to create animated storytelling videos, and Spark Page that can utilize both Spark Post and Video for creating a web story that can include text, images, and web links as well. You can upload images from Google Photos, Dropbox, or Adobe Creative Cloud and Lightroom. Videos can be embedded from YouTube, Vimeo and Spark Video.

• Students can show what they know in storytelling video, images, web links, and textual information
• Creates professional looking graphics, video, and web pages

Adaptive Assessments adapt with the student understanding with each question to better match student understanding. These are great for differentiated instruction as they can change questions based on the student skill level. Questions can adapt to challenge the student or complement current student understanding for asking questions.

Knewton  www.knewton.com 

Knewton is a free tool to use premade or create your own  adaptive assessments that help students meet their learning goals. Knewton allows for every student to be supported and challenged. You can sign in with email address or Google Account. Focuses on Math, ELA, and Biology lesson content.

• Personalizes the content based on what the student knows and how they learn
• With each question it adapts to the student
• Easy to use with visually nice design.
• Profiles for teacher or creator and student or learner

References 

Office of Education Technology. (n.d.). Future of assessment [Online image]. Retrieved from http://tech.ed.gov/netp/assessment

What does the technology-infused classroom look like?

Blog 3 - Module 6

(IBM, 2013a)

“People have talked and dreamed about the vision for the classroom of the future for years in a variety of forms: Students partake in interactive learning with computers and other technology devices; teachers roam around as mentors and individual learning coaches; learning is tailored to each student's differences; students are engaged and motivated” (Christensen & Horn, 2008).

(IBM, 2013b)

The technology-infused classroom will not be about the technology, applications, or devices but instead, it should be about the learners and creating a successful learning opportunity for all students. The technology-infused classroom will involve Good First Teaching, 21st Century Standards, Digital Citizenship, thoughtfully planned lessons, and using technology for more personal and experiential learning.


Good First Teaching

Technology cannot make a teacher great but it can give a good teacher super powers.

Good First Teaching strategies need to be in place with or without a technology-infused classroom. Those strategies include:

• Being clear what students will know or be able to do at the end of the lesson
• Using appropriate formative and summative assessments to analyze students’ knowledge or abilities to do what is planned for in the lesson
• Activating student’s prior knowledge
• Motivating interest and curiosity of the student
• Reviewing key vocabulary terms
• Guiding students on their prediction for what will happen in a story, problem, or experiment
• Suggesting possible strategies for students in their independent practices
• Modeling critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration
• Allowing students to contribute their own experiences that relate to lesson or project
• Following the teaching model of: I Do, We Do, You Do model
• Breaking complex tasks into easier steps
• Utilizing teaching strategies for differentiation and higher-order thinking

21st Century Standards

(P21, 2007a)

Following 21^st Century Standards in the technology-infused classroom will allow for both teachers and students using the 4Cs of creativity, critical-thinking, communication and collaboration with technology and learning.

The Partnership for 21^st Century Learning (2007b) framework for the technology-infused classroom:

1. 21^st Century Standards

Focusing on standards that build skills, content knowledge, expertise, and engagement of real-world problem solving.

ISTE
ISTE Standards for both teachers and students align classroom teaching with skills and knowledge for students to learn and live in a digital society.  

• ISTE Standards for Students: http://www.iste.org/standards/ISTE-standards/standards-for-students
• ISTE Standards for Teachers: http://www.iste.org/standards/ISTE-standards/standards-for-teachers

AASL
AASL Standards for 21^st Century Learner guides teaching and learning for the technology-infused classroom and schools. 

• Standards for 21^st Century Learner: http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards/learning

2. Assessment of 21^st Century Skills

Balance of technology-enhanced formative and summative assessments. Give useful feedback on student performance. Allow students to create e-portfolios that show their work and demonstrating of 21^st Century Skills.

3. 21^st Century Curriculum and Instruction

Applying 21^st Century Skills across content areas. Encourages using community resources. Use technologies that support inquiry, problem-solving, and higher order thinking skills.

4. 21^st Century Professional Development

PD opportunities for teachers to learn technology teaching and classroom practices. Assist with lesson activities using technology. Showcase how technology can enhance problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Cultivate teaching abilities to identify student learning styles. Encourage personal learning networks and community sharing.

5. 21^st Century Learning Environment

Project-based and applied work for students to learn in relevant and real world 21st Century Skills. Equitable access to learning tools, technology, and resources. Support expanded community communication and collaboration with face to face and online.

Digital Citizenship

Digital Citizenship lessons and Acceptable Use Policies for students, teachers, and staff need to be in place for the technology-infused classroom.

According to Common Sense Media Inc. (2016), Digital Citizenship empowers students to think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in our digital world. Topics to consider in Digital Citizenship instruction include:

• Information Literacy
• Internet Safety
• Self-image & Identity
• Relationships & Communication
• Privacy and Security
• Creative Credit & Copyright
• Digital Footprint & Reputation
• Cyberbullying 

Ideas for teaching digital citizenship should include objectives, assessments, discussions, and interactive activities. Activities could include students to reflect on concepts, explore websites, watch videos, create drawings and projects, polling, writing, discussing, think-pair share, and check for understanding quizzing.

Digital Citizenship needs to be taken seriously by school districts, teachers, students, parents, and the community. Workshops and lessons geared to each of those groups is valuable to get everyone involved in understanding, practicing, modeling, and enforcing Digital Citizenship.

Additionally, Mike Ribble (2016), includes the following nine topics that should be included in Digital Citizenship:

• Digital Access
• Digital Commerce
• Digital Communication
• Digital Literacy
• Digital Etiquette
• Digital Law
• Digital Rights & Responsibilities
• Digital Health & Wellness
• Digital Security (self-protections)

Thoughtfully Planned Lessons

Lesson plans are vital to any lesson being taught including those that utilize technology.

The lesson plan is the outline and guide for the teacher on what to do. It includes the objective, aligned standards, and what the students will be able to do from the lesson. The lesson plan takes into account for planning needed equipment and technology, accounts that need to be created, reviewing concepts that will be needed to understand and complete tasks with the lesson, and what to do if the technology does not work.

Having such a plan will give the teacher a better classroom management for having a plan for unexpected behaviors with technology and knowing what the next step will be. The lesson plan will take into account resources to be shared and timing of each area of the presentation.

Lesson plans help in preparing resources for the lesson including: previewing resources, preparing resources, preparing the teaching environment, preparing learners, and providing the learning experience (Smaldino, Lowther, Russell, 2015).

The lesson plan also gives fellow teachers, administration, substitute, and teacher assistance a framework to know what the teacher and students will be doing in the lesson.

The Instructional Design Model ASSURE (2013), is a process teachers and use in creating their lesson plans and improve their teaching with a technology-infused classroom.

The ASSURE model guides teachers in effectively using technology in their instruction:

• A – Analyze learners
• S – State standards and objectives
• S – Select strategies, technology, media, and materials
• U – Utilize technology, media and materials
• R – Require learner participation
• E – Evaluate and revise

Knowing where the learners are at the start of instruction by assessing their knowledge and skills is important for planning the lesson for differential instruction and making sure all learners are successful in their learning.

Students need to know what is expected of them and their roadmap for achieving those goals.

Take time to gather feedback and reflect what went well and what to change. Redesigning is an important step of lesson planning.

(Smaldino et al., 2015)

Multimedia in the Classroom for Personalized and Experiential Learning

Understanding how to appropriately and effectively use multimedia in the classroom is important for the teacher of a technology-infused classroom. This presentation includes what to consider in any multimedia lesson and applications for creating a personal and experiential learning experience for students.

(click on image to view Adobe Spark online Presentation)

References 

Christensen, C. M., & Horn, M. B. (2008, August 13). Disrupting Class: Student-Centric Education Is the Future. Retrieved December 22, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/student-centric-education-technology

Common Sense Media Inc. (2016, January 15). K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum

IBM. (2013a). Personalized Learning: 5 Future Technology Predictions from IBM. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTA5GyWamR0

IBM. (2013b). Personalized Learning: 5 Future Technology Predictions from IBM Storymap [Digital image]. Retrieved from http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/global/images/us__none__predictions__5in5_2013_storymap_education__900x587.jpg

Instructional Design Models ASSURE. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/assure.html

P21. (2007a). P21 Framework for 21st Century Learning [Digital image]. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework

P21. (2007b). Framework for 21st Century Learning - P21. Retrieved from http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework

Ribble, M. (2016). Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship. Retrieved from http://digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2015). Chapter 3 Integrating Technology and Media into Instruction: The ASURE Model. In Instructional Technology and Media for Learning (pp. 37-61). Pearson Education.

Impact on Teaching Using Visual Literacy and the Internet

Blog 2 - Module 4

Visual Literacy and Internet are dynamic instruments in 21^st Century Learning. Critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration are all aspects of what is possible using online web applications, visuals, video, and audio.

(Anderson, 2013)

The Internet and Web Applications such as Office 365 and Google Apps for Education have made it easier to create, share, edit, store, and collaborate together for students, teachers, staff, and administration. Without the network of tubes, wires, and radio signals we would not be able to collaborate in real time. 

References

Anderson, S. (2013, October 1). Connected educator [Digital image]. Retrieved from   https://plus.google.com/+edutopia/posts/VbTMBPoxxmo

Instructional Strategies and Technology Integration for 21st Century Teaching

Blog 1 - Module 2

“Students are engaged when they are both highly interested in and committed to their learning pursuits. They have some level choice and voice in their school experiences and are motivated to persevere in the face of challenges that occur” (Renwick, 2016).

Students learn best when instructional strategies provide:

• meaningful experiences
• emotional investment and interest
• positive environments and relationships
• real life hands-on problem-solving 
• creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication

These instructional strategies can be face to face, distance learning, blended, independent study both informal and structured. Most lessons have a blend of both teacher centered and student centered strategies.

Student-centered strategy – are those where the teacher is not the instructor of information but the facilitator or guide of the information and students are responsible for their own learning. This involves cooperative learning, problem-based learning, games, simulations, or discovery (Smaldino, Lowther, Russell, 2015). Most lessons have a blend of both teacher centered and student centered strategies.

Teacher-centered strategy – learning is directed by the teacher that involves a presentation, demonstration, drill and practice, tutorial, or a discussion (Smaldino et al., 2015). Utilizing a variety of instructional strategies gives both teachers and students a chance to experience information with different learning styles ways to connect with the information for learning. The variety offers new ways for engagement and participation.

Drill and practice learning let students build basic knowledge on how to complete particular skills. Technology integration can involve websites that offer drill and practice problems and flashcard creators. Cramberry.net and Quizlet.com let students create flashcards online for study. These flashcards can be shared and allow several users to work together in creating them.

Problem-based learning gives students opportunities to use critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration to solve problems. This cognitivist learning theory practice provides students with engaging and authentic tasks. Technology integration can involve mind mapping applications such as Padlet.com or MindMeister.com for students to layout thoughts and solutions. Students can use digital portfolios to showcase their projects with services like Seesaw.me.

Cooperative learning allows students to learn from each other’s perspectives and experiences for interpreting information in new ways. Using collaborative tools such as Google Apps for Education or Office 365 students can share and work on documents or presentations together. Socratic seminar and jigsaw projects are beneficial for students to work together in groups for sharing and discussing information with their peers.

Simulations and discovery learning allows students to take more control over their own learning that matches their interests. Simulated experiences can create meaningful and memorable experiences for students to understand information in new ways. Google Expeditions lets teachers take their students on virtual field trips to any place in the world to explore nature, landmarks, and different cultures using Google Cardboard (“Expeditions Pioneer Program,” 2016). See the embedded presentation at the end of this post about this emerging technology in the classroom.

Instructional strategies for Instructional Technology Trainers, such as myself, we tend to use presentation, demonstrations, hands-on, and drill and practice strategies. Training teachers, staff, and administration on how to use technology and applications usually is an hour to a couple hours to cover the topic. Having more time with the adult learners would allow for using more problem-based learning, cooperative, and authentic real life simulations.

I have found through my teaching experience that adults learn best when:

• they understand why something is important to know how to do
• freedom to learn their own way
• learning is experiential
• they can immediately apply what they are learning
• have encouraging feedback
• and the process is positive

Applying multiple instructional strategies such as problem-based, cooperative, simulations, and discovery learning can lead to students having more responsibility for their own knowledge. Matching learning with memorable experiences and student interest in a positive environment can lead to authentic learning opportunities. Using simulations such as Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions will allow teachers to explore new virtual environments and experiences that students and teachers have not been able to use before. Using more student-centered instructional strategies will create a better climate for our training and student learning.

Take a look at Google Cardboard an emerging educational technology for simulations and discovery learning:

References

Expeditions Pioneer Program - Google. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/edu/expeditions

Renwick, M. (2016, April 30). Student Engagement and Closing the Opportunity Gap. Retrieved from https://readingbyexample.com/2016/04/30/student-engagement-and-closing-the-opportunity-gap/

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2015). Chapter 1 Exploring 21st Century Learning. In Instructional Technology and Media for Learning (pp. 7-12). Pearson Education.

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Reflective Blog for TEC-538 Learning in the Digital Age with Dr. Jim Lehmann, Grand Canyon University