Topic outline
ICT to Support Assessment
By the end of this unit you should be able to demonstrate how various ICT can be used in the curriculum and be used to improve assessment.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify and understand the use of ICT to improve assessment;
- Appreciate the support of digital tools to support assessment;
- Select digital resources and tools to support assessment.
4 hours
This unit is an example of online learning. It will be facilitated remotely using the LMS for participants to interact.Introduction
Click on the video below to watch a quick introduction to Unit 12- ICT to Support Assessment.
How can ICT support your assessment needs? There are various tools, some simple others sophisticated that can help in this regard. We will investigate these tools and deliberate on their strengths and weaknesses.The characteristics of an effective assessment strategy designed to promote learning includes:
- Assessment is embedded into teaching and learning as an essential component;
- Learners know and recognize the standards they are aiming from the start;
- Learners are encouraged to self-assess;
- Assessment provides feedback which leads to learners recognizing their next steps and how to take them;
- Is underpinned by confidence that every pupil can improve;
- Involves both teacher and learners reviewing and reflecting on assessment data.
Assessment Tools
120 minutes
We are all familiar with tests and examinations but what other assessment strategies are there? We will investigate some other ways to conduct summative assessment but also encourage you to use formative assessment, testing as a form of teaching, to ascertain if learning is taking place.
Access the two readings from Wikipedia to make sure you are familiar with the differences between summative and formative assessment. Then Investigate the following assessment tools as identified by the Australian Victoria Department of Education:
- Graphic Organizers - Specifically Correlation Graph, DIGA, KWHL and Webs;
- Rubrics;
- Review and reflection tools - Peer Assessment, Reflective Journals and Quiz;
- Familiarization & discussion tools;
- Feedback tools for formative assessment - Feedback boxes and Faces.
- Use the links below to differentiate between 'summative' and 'formative' assessment.
Wikipedia. (2017). Formative Assessment URL
- Use the links below to investigate different types of assessment tools.
Victoria Dept. Education & Training. (2013). Graphic Organisers File 47.8KB
3. In the forum below discuss the pros and cons of each of the assessment tools and suggest when their use would be appropriate for your subject or grade. Once you have posted your review look at, and comment on, your colleagues' posts
LMS Quiz
25 minutes
In time as your skills improve you might want to use the assessment tools inside a learning management system (LMS). This platform, Moodle, is an example of such a platform. It comes with a set of assessment tools that can be used to test students online. The great thing about using these tools is that much of the marking is done by the platform. Also the LMS keeps students grades! Term marks can be calculated using the LMS. Lets first see a quiz in action and then for those who are interested we will point to where you can set up your own LMS (for free)!
- Complete the short LMS Quiz that uses Multiple Choice, True & False and Matching Pairs below. As this is the first time many of you will be using the quiz you might want the facilitator to provide support. The test's true function is to demonstrate what is possible in terms of online assessment tools when using an Learner Management System (LMS), sometimes referred to as an Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), like the one we are using for this course.
Portfolio Assignment
95 minutes
Reflect on value to your teaching of the ICT based assessment tools. In either a word processor or presentation package reflect on how an assessment strategy for your subject or grade could incorporate both formative and summative assessment. Identify where you would use each and what tools you would use to support each.
- Create a document that outlines a revised assessment strategy for a section of the syllabus;
- Identify where formative assessment will be used;
- Identify which assessment tools you will use;
- Upload your revised assessment strategy using the assignment upload tool below.
Assessment Criteria for Portfolio Assignment #12File16.9KB
Summary and Conclusion
Ideally a good assessment strategy should set criteria for assessing knowledge, performance or product and for giving feedback. Ideally the strategy should identify where both formative and summative assessment can add value to the learning process. A range of resources are widely available to support teachers, many of which are digital tools.
The following Open Education Resources (OER) were consulted and/or adapted to create this unitLicense- Victoria State Government - Department of Education. (2013). Assessment Tools. (CC BY) Available online at: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/pages/tools.aspx
- Wikipedia. (2017). Summative Assessment. CC BY SA. Available online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summative_assessment
- Wikipedia. (2017). Formative Assessment. CC BY SA. Available online at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formative_assessment
All materials in this ICT Essentials for Teachers Course unit is licensed by the Ministry of Education, Rwanda under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License