Monthly Archives: March 2016

Inquiry Synthesis

Where I Came From:

I anticipated that technology is becoming an important part of 21^st century learning; however, I discovered through personal experiences, scholarly research, and discussions with colleagues just how impactful technology can be. My inquiry journey took me far beyond my initial expectations. I will address each of my initial expectations, how they were confirmed or denied, and how my expectations were taken further.

Where I Am Now:

Expectation Number One: It is not a matter of if we will use technology for assessment but when and how.

Formative assessment has proven to help increase student learning and as a result technology has begun to catch up in the classroom. There are many different tools for formative assessment that are now becoming available for school districts and they need to be taken advantage of. In their article Technology and formative assessment Brown, Hinze, and Pellegrino state: “With technology, assessment can become richer, more timely, and more seamlessly interwoven with multiple aspects of curriculum and instruction (2008, p. 253).”

Edutopia blogger Monica Burns suggests four categories of apps or websites that can help teachers with formative assessment: Quiz Apps, Show What You Know, Mind Mapping, Miscellaneous Apps (2014, December 14). These apps can then be translated into use on Fresh Grade. Students can easily share the pieces of work they have created on these different platforms on Fresh Grade.

Expectation Number Two: Technology for assessment does not automatically mean students are engaged in the process.

Technology can help students be more engaged in their learning when it is used in a way that considers students interests and needs. Students often love using technology and have a lot of knowledge about it. Teachers need to consider the audience or age group, the goal of the assessment, and the type of formative assessment when selecting engaging technology. Ms. Lileana Rios has found that the use of Edutopia in her classroom increased student engagement and students who would not normally be engage in their learning are sharing ideas, videos, and thoughts related to the topics (2013, February 9). Student’s learning is more visible than ever before through the use of technology and digital portfolios. Now students can share their excitement about learning on a platform that can travel with them from grade to grade.

Expectation Number Three: Technology for assessment must be well thought out in order to be meaningful.

Research has proven that technology can have a strong role in formative assessment so long as teachers are willing to search for the right technology and the right use. While technology can enhance formative assessment it cannot replace a good teacher who has strong pedagogical practices in place. It would seem that teachers are the key to technology enhancing formative assessment.

Expectation Number Four: Technology is particularly important in formative assessment because it provides more open and immediate feedback.

Using technology for formative assessment can provide open and immediate feedback in two ways. First, teachers can use quiz apps or exit slips posted to a website such as Padlet to instantly know if students have grasped a concept. With this real-time feedback the lesson can quickly be adjusted based on the information. Second, teachers, students, and parents all have access to student learning throughout the year on a tool like Fresh Grade. Every stakeholder can see a student’s achievements and areas where they are struggling. Students can set goals based on formative assessment before the summative assessment piece comes.

Expectation Number Five: Technology helps students reflect on their journey as a learner throughout the year.

Students often display a sense of pride and ownership when they use Fresh Grade. Fresh Grade provides a platform for children to develop their self-assessment skills. Through a careful, ongoing process the digital portfolios can help give evidence of student learning, show their learning journey, and invite students to reflect on their learning. The Early Childhood Research and Practice has found that instant video revisiting, which allows students to immediately view videos of themselves working and reflect alongside their teacher, has helped support student learning (Beyne, 2015).

Through writing, drawing, and video students can reflect quickly in real time providing an authentic look at their thoughts. Kelli Vogstad discusses the joy of watching her students using Fresh Grade stating, “It is exciting to watch and listen as students talk and write about what they did, and how they learned; what they struggled with, what was successful for them and how they know this is true. Through this language of reflection and analysis, students learn to monitor, assess, make decisions, and goals to move their learning forward (2015).”

Expectation Number Six: Summative assessment is a key piece in using technology for formative assessment.

While my inquiry project focused on formative assessment it has become clear to me that formative assessment is closely linked to summative assessment. Technology can help strengthen the process of student learning which has the potential to help them demonstrate their learning more clearly through summative assessment. This aspect of assessment is one that I will look forward to inquiring into in the future.

Where I Am Headed:

Armed with the knowledge of how technology can enhance formative assessment I look forward to using this knowledge in my practicum. The use of Fresh Grade will be a big part of assessment in my classroom. Students will continue to post evidence of their work on Fresh Grade. I plan to use online concept maps and perhaps Padlet walls for conducting formative assessment. I know that self-reflection is an important part of formative assessment and student learning. Therefore, students will be given many opportunities to engage in peer and self-assessment, most likely through Fresh Grade.

I plan to bring the use of iPad’s and technology into the classroom on a weekly basis. Students will be given opportunities to create projects using technology such as a biome video project and a math fraction book using Book Creator. Students will also be setting up their own blogs where they will post some of their learning and write reflections. I will also be using video recording in P.E. Students will record one another performing a task, watch the video and assess for criteria. They can then decide if they have met the criteria. If not, they can refilm. Once they are satisfied they have met the criteria they will write a self-reflection based on the video.

Most importantly, I will be constantly self-evaluating and checking with my students to make sure the technology is still meaningful in formative assessment. The goal of formative assessment should always be to help students learn and the use of technology is one powerful way this can be accomplished.

References

Burns, M. (2015, December 14). Empowering Teachers with Tech-Friendly Formative Assessment Tools. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tech-friendly- formative-assessment-tools- monica-burns

Ledezma, Daniel. (2013, February 9). Technology in the classroom-Infuse Learning and Edmodo. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz0hNJjFy-M

Vogstad, K. (2015, August 31). Digital Portfolios…Making the Learning Visible. Retrieved from http://kellivogstad.com/2015/08/31/digital-portfolios-making-the-learning-visible/

Technology and Formative Assessment

Formative assessment has been recognized as an important part of helping students to enhance their learning. Research has shown that formative assessment can help increase student performance and grades. Brown, Hinze, and Pellegrino state, “There is now a substantial body of evidence from K-12 classrooms showing that quality formative assessment practices enhance teaching effectiveness and produce student academic achievement gains (2008, p. 246).” Because formative assessment has proven to help increase student learning, technology has began to catch up to formative assessment. Brown, Hinze, and Pellegrino state, “The importance of formative assessment in instructional practice, coupled with the requirements of NCLB and data-driven decision making, has given rise to a wave of commercially available technology-based assessment products that are being heavily marketed to school districts (2008, p. 249).” There are many different tools for formative assessment that are now becoming available for school districts and they need to be taken advantage of. This article details various tools that are available to schools. These various tools can help to meet the needs of various users of assessment including districts, schools, students, and parents. The most important conclusion that is drawn by this article is that technology can be an important part of assessment. Brown, Hinze, and Pellegrino state: “With technology, assessment can become richer, more timely, and more seamlessly interwoven with multiple aspects of curriculum and instruction (2008, p. 253).” Formative assessment can become much more valuable with the use of technology.

Brown, J., Hinze, S., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2008). Technology and formative assessment. 21st Century education, 2, 245-255.

Focusing in on Fresh Grade

When I first chose my inquiry topic, I chose it with the intention of researching and discovering more about the benefits and downfalls of Fresh Grade. I quickly discovered that there is much more technology to be involved in formative assessment in the classroom. However, I still wanted to reflect on the use of Fresh Grade and how it can help student learning. With the introduction of Fresh Grade students are now developing a digital portfolio of their learning. The idea behind Fresh Grade is to make the learning visible. Kelli Vogstad documents her own journey of using Fresh Grade in the classroom. She sums up the importance of Fresh Grade stating, “It placed the child at the center of the learning process; students were invited to reflect on and talk about their learning in real and informed ways, and to identify and set new learning goals (2015).”

Through a careful, ongoing process the digital portfolio can help give evidence of student learning, show their learning journey, and invite students to reflect on their learning. Vogstad emphasizes the importance of the teacher’s role in this process stating, “To capture and document student learning, I must be a careful observer, listener, and questioner. I have to help students create artifacts that are worth “putting their brains on” to talk about and analyze. I need to be patient and remember that it takes “a lot of slow to grow” (2015).” Fresh Grade is not an effective tool if it does not show what students are learning and how they are growing in that learning. That learning journey can be documented throughout the year using formative assessment. The teacher and students can document ongoing processes and therefore see the progress that has been made. Vogstad discusses how she creates tasks that will help showcase student learning saying, “The tasks behind the documentation have to be well constructed, process-centered, open-ended, thinking tasks in order to invite students to reflect on and talk about their learning (2015).”

Vogstad suggests four types of documentation that could be used on Fresh Grade: two of the same, showing the knowing, celebrating the learning, and communicating the hows and whys (2015). For each type of documentation she provides a brief description as well as real examples of student work. Through Fresh Grade teachers can easily share pieces of work and formatively assess. This can then help inform student’s work later on when they work towards summative assessment pieces.

Fresh Grade also allows students to formatively assess and reflect on their own work. Vogstad discusses the joy of watching her students using Fresh Grade stating, “It is exciting to watch and listen as students talk and write about what they did, and how they learned; what they struggled with, what was successful for them and how they know this is true. Through this language of reflection and analysis, students learn to monitor, assess, make decisions, and goals to move their learning forward (2015).” Students can also go back and compare their learning from the beginning of the year to the end. Fresh Grade is a tool that is changing the way we assess our students and the way they assess themselves.

My own experiences with Fresh Grade have allowed me to see the potential for helping students keep track of their learning journey. Students often display a sense of pride and ownership when they use Fresh Grade. Fresh Grade provides a link between the home and school, giving children an opportunity to share their learning with their parents. Fresh Grade also provides a platform for children to develop their self-assessment skills. They can easily go online and write about their strengths and areas that need improvement. Those comments are visible to the teacher and parents and a plan to meet student goals can be developed. Fresh Grade not only supports teachers and students in engaging in formative assessment, it provides a platform for creating a daily learning plan. Student’s learning is more visible than ever before through the use of digital portfolios. Now students can share their excitement about learning on a platform that can travel with them from grade to grade.

Vogstad, K. (2015, August 31). Digital Portfolios…Making the Learning Visible. Retrieved from http://kellivogstad.com/2015/08/31/digital-portfolios-making-the-learning-visible/

Evaluating Technology Tools for Formative Assessment

Kathy Dyer has researched and written many blog posts about formative assessment and using technology for formative assessment. In her blog post Evaluating Technology Tools for Formative Assessment Dyer discusses the importance of evaluating and assessing the effectiveness in using technology for assessment. Because technology is rapidly evolving and quickly becoming a part of our daily classroom routine, we need to take a critical approach to the effectiveness with which we use it. Is the technology helping us assess whether our students understand the objectives of the lessons? Does the technology help elicit evidence of student learning? Fellow education blogger Steve Peha discusses the importance of measuring the effectiveness of technology stating:

Of course, one thing technology can do is gather data on its own effectiveness. But to truly discover what works and what doesn’t, we also have to know what’s up—that is, we need to know the “why” and the “how” of technological advances in education, and we have to measure those advances against yardsticks other than those provided by the creators of the technologies themselves (2013).

Teachers must search for the right technology to help enhance formative assessment.

Dyer’s blog post along with various other resources confirms that technology can indeed enhance formative assessment. Dyer states:

Research has shown that formative assessment can make a difference in the classroom and while technology tools will always need evaluating there are some good ones out there that can help make a difference. Think of technologies today as tools to enable student learning improvements, not tools to take over teaching, though who knows what the future holds (2013).

Dyer, K. (2013, September 25). Evaluating Technology Tools for Formative Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.nwea.org/blog/2013/evaluating-technology-tools-for-formative-assessment/

Peha, S. (2013, September 16). What Works? What Doesn’t? What’s Up? Retrieved from http://gettingsmart.com/2013/09/works-doesnt-whats/

Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment

Classroom response systems can be a useful way to engage students in formative assessment. Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment: A Research-Based Pedagogy for Teaching Science with Classroom Response Technology discusses using technology-enhanced formative assessment for teaching science. Classroom response systems are often known as clickers and are typically used for multiple-choice questions. Clicker systems allow for student anonymity with only the teacher being able to see student answers.

Beatty and Gerace emphasize the importance of distinguishing between the pedagogy and technology of classroom response systems (2009). They explore the use of clickers as a part of the pedagogy of formative assessment. The pedagogy that they pose is called Technology Enhanced Formative Assessment or TEFA and it focuses on using technology to enhance formative assessment. The TEFA pedagogy focuses on four key principles:

Motivate and focus student learning with question driven instruction.
Develop students’ understanding and scientific fluency with dialogical discourse.
Inform and adjust teaching and learning decisions with formative assessment.
Help students develop metacognitive skills and cooperate in the learning process with meta-level communication (Beatty and Gerace, 2009, p. 153).

These four principles tap into a deeper motivation for using technology for formative assessment: motivating students, developing fluency and understanding, adjusting teaching based on student learning, helping students develop metacognitive skills, and creating a cooperative learning environment Classroom response systems can help teachers and students make formative assessment meaningful. Clickers might seem like a simple way to conduct multiple-choice formative assessment; however, they can be integrated with a teacher’s assessment pedagogy to take on a deeper and more meaningful use.

Beatty, I. D., & Gerace W. J. (2009). Technology-Enhanced Formative Assessment: A Research-Based Pedagogy for Teaching Science with Classroom Response Technology. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 18 (2), 146-162.