Before we can ask the question, “How does technology enhance formative assessment?” we must first understand what formative assessment is and how to successfully and meaningfully integrate it into the classroom. This article helps guide teachers through integrating formative assessment into the classroom. Formative assessment helps teachers to understand their student’s strengths and weaknesses and help guide them throughout the learning journey. Dyer states: “Formative assessment is a proven tool for moving students forward, there are many techniques that make it flexible and accommodating for nearly any classroom environment and it’s not hard to implement (2015).” Dyer suggests five quick tips for integrating formative assessment into the daily classroom routine (2015):
1.Start small
2.Be transparent with how students are doing and why
3.Teach the students about formative assessment so they can use it too
4. Integrate it daily
5. Celebrate the shifts
Starting small allows the teacher to implement one or two strategies at a time and do those well. Once these formative assessment techniques become familiar to the students then the teacher can feel free to try new strategies. An important part of the success of formative assessment is letting the students know what and why you are doing it. By informing students of your practice they become comfortable with it and can become a part of formative assessment through techniques such a self-reflection. Students often do formative assessment such as reflecting in group discussions about what they liked or did well at in an activity. Students can also be taught formative assessment techniques such as editing peer work. They can and should be an important part of the process so long as they are taught how to do so. Celebrate and enjoy the positive changes that formative assessment makes in your classroom. Dyer describes the importance of celebrating stating: “Formative assessment is an ongoing process and should therefore be part of the daily routine. As students become learners, as learning becomes the habit, as mistakes and assessments are seen as additional opportunities to learn – celebrate (2015).” Once formative assessment becomes a part of the daily routine and students learn how to assess and grow in their learning, teachers can begin to consider how technology can enhance that process.
Dyer, K. (2015, May 1). Praise for Formative Assessment and Five Steps for Successful Classroom Integration. Retrieved from https://www.nwea.org/blog/2015/praise-formative-assessment- five-steps-successful-classroom-integration/