Tech-Friendly Tools

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“Formative assessment identifies areas where students are excelling and struggling so that teachers can best alter their instruction to meet the needs of all students.”

Using technology as a formative assessment tool allows teachers the ability to immediately see where their students may be struggling and adjust their lessons accordingly – they can shift their lessons to answer student questions. Technology  may also offer teachers an alternative to pen and paper.  If they prefer, they may use technology to enhance their pre-existing formative assessment.

Using technology allows teaching to plan with a purpose.  They may use the data they collect to plan their next lessons – they may spend more time on a concept that the students may not be having difficulties with or they may move on to the next topic, if all of the students have mastered the concept. The patterns that teachers may find in their data can help to find patterns in individual learners and tailor groups for student success.

To utilize technology effectively within the classroom, teachers must first find what works for them.  It is through this inquiry that they are able to explore various modes of formative assessment and discover what works for them and their students.  Upon finding what works, technology can be used to tailor lessons and work toward student success.

Burns, Monica (2015). Empowering teachers with tech-friendly formative assessment tools. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tech-friendly-formative-assessment-tools-monica-burns

Integrating Technology

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“Integrating technology into classroom instruction means more than teaching basic computer skills and software programs in a separate computer class.”

Edutopia suggests that technology integration should support four components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. As I have come understand, integrating technology into the classroom should be seamless.  Rather than make  technology a separate class, it should be integrated across the curriculum and should be utilized in all areas of study – supporting the wider curricular goals. It offers students a new and exciting way to learn, which will keep them engaged and reduce behavioural problems within the classroom. Technology also offers teachers a new way to teach.  Rather than be the figure head at the front of the room, teachers are able to offer students an alternative form of learning where they can utilize their own skills and seek the teachers help as a context expert.  The teacher is able to use technology to enhance their teaching and offer students the ability to search for answers and become critical thinkers.  Technology integration, therefore, more beneficial when it is used as a tool alongside the curriculum content and with the guidance of a trained educator.

Edutopia (2008). Why integrate technology into the curriculum?: The reasons are many. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-introduction

Primary Assessment

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While on my practicum I have been intrigued with how to use technology for formative assessment with primary students.

My class has been using Freshgrade as a portfolio for assessment. The classroom teacher is able to upload examples of student work, criteria for assessment, comments, photos and videos, and descriptions of students activities and assignments. Parents and students can then go online and view their child’s progress and comment on the content.  It gives parents the opportunity to see assignments and criteria that they may not otherwise see – work that could be left at school, only used for assessment, or that never makes it home.  It is an interactive tool that can be utilized by students, parents, and students. It offers a collaborative approach to assessment.

While it is an effective collaborative tool, in the primary grades it is more teacher than student lead. It is difficult for the students to upload their own work and comment it on it from the classroom.  Because of this, the posts are more teacher lead than a way for students to showcase their own learning.  Students in the intermediate grades are able to post their own work and comment.  To enable students to post examples of their work it requires a lot of practice and time committed to ‘teaching’ how to effectively comment and reflect.

As Fabrikant, York,  and Morris suggest, it is important to know what we, as teachers, are doing before we can expect our students to know.  It is not necessarily about the integration of technology but knowing what content you need to cover and then using technology to enhance learning. To be better equipped to teach our students how to properly utilize technology. As teachers we ourselves must understand how to effectively incorporate technology into our lessons.

Fabrikant, K., York, S., Morris, M. Integrating technology into pedagogical content knowledge in K-12 and university professional development. Building Sustainable Futures for Adult Learners, 541-558. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/21070374/Integrating_technology_into_pedagogical_content_knowledge_in_K-12_and_university_professional_development

Living Resources

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During our living inquiry workshop we had the opportunity to connect with not only our classmates but people from a different cohort.  It was interesting to connect with people who, although were from a different area of focus, had similar inquiry questions. We were able to use our colleagues as resources. As we are working figuring out our teaching style and what type of teacher we would like to be as we work toward becoming professional teachers, it is our colleagues and those who are within the profession that are our best resources.  Although did we did not all have the same inquiry question, it was through discussions that we came to realize how similar our areas of interest are.

In the article ‘No Teacher is an Island: How Social Networks Shape Teacher Quality’ they discuss the importance of developing a social network and working with other teachers and professionals.  Through these networks you can teach one another the tools that you have been utilizing within your classroom, or you can learn from others and gain new insight or tools for your students success.  Before we introduce our students to a new technology tool, we must first teach ourselves and understand the uses of the specific tool.

Our living inquiry workshop was a way for us to network and develop social networks.  We were able to share our experiences and exchange information.  We were also able to exchange our social media and email information, developing a connection that we can use to facilitate our students and our own learning.

Baker-Doyle, K. (2015). No teacher is an island: how social networks shape teacher quality. Promoting and Sustaining a Quality Teacher Workforce, 367-383. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/19709903/No_Teacher_is_an_Island_How_Social_Networks_Shape_Teacher_Quality

Research Study

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In a study conducted to look at students’ experiences in integrating technology in the classroom, it was found that communication between the teachers and faculty was increased, but that student learning was insufficient (Brown & Warschauer, 2006). In conjunction with this research, I believe that I will experience similar results in regards to teacher to teacher information sharing.  I am confident that using technology in the classroom is reinforced through teacher’s response and willingness to integrate it in to the curriculum.  I also believe that as we are currently experiencing a new learning curve, it will take time to fully implement the use of technology in a student-centered approach. I believe that through the interactions between teachers, we will gain a better understanding of how technology can be utilized within the classroom. Yet, I also believe that students will gain from the use of technology.  Therefore, not only will the use of technology in the classroom change the way that students learn, it will also give teachers more opportunity to collaborate and learn from what others have tried and tested in their classrooms.

Brown, D. & Warschauer, M. (2006). From the University to the Elementary Classroom: Students’ Experiences in Learning to Integrate Technology in Instruction. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(3), 599-621. Chesapeake, VA: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education.

Media Literacy

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The Edutopia article “ Frictionless Formative Assessment with Social Media”, offers many helpful ways to integrate social media and technology into the classroom and for use as a formative assessment tool. As social media has become increasingly more popular, it is useful to use a medium of assessment that the students are familiar with.  It also encourages the use of approved technology.  Students are going to interact with technology whether or not it is used in the classroom, but integrating social media and other familiar online reporting tools, the teacher is able to not only offer students immediate feedback on their work, but also introduced students to media literacy.  I believe that introducing students to media literacy at a young age is imperative. So not only is it important to utilize technology and social media in the classroom, I feel it is equally as important to introduce students to media literacy; understanding how to properly post as well as what is information that should be shared and information that needs to be kept personal.

 

Alfonzo, Paige (2014).  Frictionless formative assessment with social media. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/frictionless-formative-assessment-social-media-paige-alfonzo

BYOD Toolkit

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In my mini-lesson I wanted to introduce my group to resources that I found useful and would hopefully help them with their inquiry projects. Last week Amanda introduced us to a few websites that could be used for formative assessment.  Her presentation got me thinking more about tying assessment to technology use.  For my presentation I explored many apps and websites that can be used as teaching strategies, extensions of a lesson, or for assessment.

I introduced my group members to:

Quizlet: a website that lets you create study sets or explore pre-made study sets.  It allows you to use unit specific vocabulary and create online ‘flashcards’ which students can use to review and/or study for an exam or assignment.  It would be a useful tool for intermediate or high school students, but would not be entirely useful for primary students.

https://quizlet.com

Edmodo: is a “social learning community where teachers, students, and parents can connect safely and securely”. As a teacher, you are able to create a class page where you can post text and pictures of what is going on in the classroom. After creating a page, teachers must invite students to the page and give them the class code that is specific to their class. The class pages have a similar layout to Facebook and are easy to navigate.  Teachers, parents, and students are able to go to the class page and know what is going on in the class and if the student is away, they are able to catch up on what they may have missed in the classroom that day. It is also a free resource.

https://www.edmodo.com/home

Read Write Think: a website that include classroom resources around literacy. It includes lesson plans, student interactives, mobile apps, calendar activities, and printouts. Not only does it include classroom resources, it includes parent and afterschool resources.  The resources are also grade specific and offer a wide variety of resources, activites and projects, games and tools, and tips and how to’s. The student interactives are ways to differentiate instruction and include all learners. I introduced my group to the Haiku student interactive.  It introduces students to the concept of a haiku, asks them to brainstorm, and then compile their own haiku, after which they are able to print out their completed poem.

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/haiku-poem-interactive-31074.html

I also introduced my group to two articles from Edutopia:

The Epic BYOD Toolchest (51 Tools You Can Use Now) by Vicki Davis

It is a collection of apps and websites, along with descriptions, that can be used in the classroom. The apps are categorized, which allows you explore apps that you may not have previously known but are interested in specific areas.

Davis, Vicki (2014). The epic BYOD toolchest (51 tools you can use now). Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/the-epic-byod-toolchest-vicki-davis

5 Fantastic, Fast, Formative Assessment Tools by Vicki Davis

A list of formative assessment tools that can be used within the classroom.  I appreciated the inclusion of assessment tools that did not include each student having a device.

Davis, Vicki (2015). 5 fantastic, fast, formative assessment tools. Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/5-fast-formative-assessment-tools-vicki-davis

Introducing my group members to these resources opened up a discussion of other digital resources that we have found and how we could use them not only in our inquiry project but also as a part of our practicum classrooms.

How can we assess technology use?

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While some apps offer the teacher the ability to track student progress, not all classrooms have a class set of iPads at their disposal that they are able to consistently track student’s progress. Therefore, what is the usefulness of asking students to use specific apps when we cannot track their progress?

This question led to the modification of my inquiry topic and main question. While I originally wanted to focus on how technology could be used to personalize learning and not only as an assessment tool. Yet, I would now question the validity and relevance of using technology that we are not able to assess it.  Without being able to assess the student’s technology use, how do we know that they are meeting the learning outcomes that we have set?

Code Builders

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My students are very interested in coding and have coding apps that they are allowed to utilize when they have finished their work or when we are having a maker space with whole class involvement.

My class uses the coding app “Kodable”.  It is a fun way to get the students involved in computer science. The app uses fun characters and gets the students excited about trying something new. The website that accompanies ‘Kodable’ includes a teacher’s learning guide, which I find to be very helpful.  While coding is growing and becoming a part of our everyday lives, we were not not taught how to code.  By having a guide for teachers, Kodable enables teachers to familiarize themselves with what they are asking their students to do. It also provides lesson plans, unplugged activities, and specific coding vocabulary.

I questioned how to assess students progress with Kodable.  I was surprised to find out that each student can create an account and as the teacher, you are able to see students progress as well as who has been working on ‘coding’ more than others.  Coding can be used as an extension activity for students who finish early.  With that though, there could be students who always finish early and are therefore at a higher level than other or they have completed all of the stages. Conversely, there will be students who never finish early and do not have a chance to work on coding. So while I would like to include coding and computer science in my classroom, I find that I am not yet fully prepared and will continue to explore ways in which I may include it in other subject areas.

Link to Kodable Resource

Does Assessment Kill Creativity? – Reflection

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Does assessment kill creativity?
Pre-reading:
This title asks me to consider many other questions. What is assessment? What kind of assessment? In what subjects? What is creativity? How can you assess creativity?
I find it difficult to assess creativity at all. In this sense, how are you able to determine whether or not assessment can kill creativity. The title is quite damning. It is a matter of opinion, rather than something that can be defined. So how can you determine whether or not assessment kills creativity. Kill is also quite intense – couldn’t we instead just say does assessment impact creativity?

During:
The article asks many of the same questions that I had from the title. There are a number of ideas and quotes that I found to be useful and interesting:
“Creativity researchers generally agree that creativity involves a combination of uniqueness and usefulness” (255).
“Creativity is often viewed as simply that which is unique, out of the ordinary, bizarre, or deviant. Without the additional criterion of usefulness, creativity quickly can become a euphemism for negative, undesirable traits” (256).
Creative process = two stages: divergent and convergent
Divergent: brainstorming; focuses on generating novel ideas, problems, or solutions to problems
Convergent: focuses on evaluating and choosing ideas, completing the task, and communication results
“A mastery goal structure is representing by goal-related messages that focus on self-improvement, skill development, creativity, and understanding” (258).
Provides students with information and feedback on their performance in regards to their personal prior achievement
Assessment as providing useful feedback on how to improve
“Student creativity is fostered when teachers minimize the use of assessments in making social comparisons. When students focus on self-improvement, they are more likely to take risks, seek out challenges, and persevere in the face of difficulty” (259).
Ideas for Assessment:
Minimize Social Comparisons
Minimize the Pressure of Assessment
Focus on Informational Aspects of Assessment
Recognize Risk-Taking and Creative Expression

Post-Reading:
The best answer to the question of “does assessment kill creativity?” comes from the article, “it depends”. I found it interesting that the article addresses many of the questions that I initially had from reading the title. The article does a sufficient job of answering the question and providing ideas for how to foster creativity while also using assessment. The ideas for assessment focus mainly on the individual. They focus on minimizing the social comparisons and the pressure of assessment. They instead offer ideas for focussing assessment on informal aspects and recognizing when a student is taking risks and expressing their creativity. While the article attempts to offer definitions of creativity, it cannot give a definitive definition as it cannot be defined. Instead, it offers an ambiguous definition of which is a combination of uniqueness and usefulness. Therefore, to answer the title of the article, if assessment is student centered and focuses on individual improvement then it does not ‘kill’ creativity. Rather, it fosters the uniqueness and usefulness of each individual’s creativity.

Beghetto, R.A., (2005). Does assessment kill student creativity? The Educational Forum, (69) 2 p254-263

http://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/ref/10.1080/00131720508984694