Upon reading the Boris case study this week, I was left reflecting on assessment in my own classroom. Boris (according to the case study) teaches Chemistry 11, and is having difficulties covering all the material in class, in addition to preparing his kids for exams. He devises a solution, in which he creates an online assessment tool which would quiz his kids on the Periodic Table, and then give them feedback instantly – this way he won’t have to cover the material in class, and the kids still learn what they need to in order to prepare for their tests.
I think Boris’ solution makes sense – there are a number of tools online which allow students to quiz one another or themselves, and immediate feedback is given. One such tool my students use is Quizlet. Quizlet allows students to make online cue-cards, and then to share their virtual card decks with classmates who are reviewing the same material. Since this platform allows for sharing, students could also access publicly created quizzes from students in other schools and in other countries. If Boris were to utilize this type of technology, he would also save himself the time from making the materials himself, since the materials are standard across the curriculum.
An issue I think this case study also raises is the importance that teachers place on standardize testing. I recently attended the ISTE 2015 conference in Philadelphia and the issue of standardize testing in the United States seems to a hot topic amongst teachers there. I’m not an expert on the education system in the U.S. by any means, but from my conversations with a few practicing teachers, they say that the move to Common Core (curriculum that spans the entire country), has resulted in a renewed emphasis on standardize testing. Amongst the many dangers of standardized testing in the United States, is that funding rests on performance, and the result could be vast inequalities as a result of demographics.