Technology Tools for Assessment and Evaluation

Technology Tools for Assessment and Evaluation
By: LeAnne Robinson, Joanne Carney, and Tim Keiper
Summary:
In the article, Technology Tools for Assessment and Evaluation, the authors wrote about the three step process educators refer to as The Assessment Decision-Making process. The three steps are assessment, analysis and evaluation. Assessment is the process of collecting data. “There are many tools for assessment teachers can use.” The authors stated. “For example, tests, performances, curriculum based measures and rubrics. In order for the data collected in assessment to have meaning teachers must understand step two, analysis. Analysis is the process of organizing the data into a significant and interpretable form.” According to the authors, “computer technologies can assist us with analysis by providing tools for graphic or numerical display of information, but a good evaluation must ultimately be done by a human.” Evaluation is the process of making decision making with the use of good judgment. Evaluation can be described as formative or summative depending how the data, collected through assessment, is being used. According to the authors, “Formative evaluations are given when student performance data is used to make on-going decisions to improve student learning. Formative assessments are evaluations of individual student progress that are used to support learning. They inform teacher decisions about instruction.” Summative evaluations, on the other hand, are made to make definitive decisions about individuals.
There are many ways technology tools support the Assessment Decision-making process. The authors created a taxonomy that categorizes the tools based on their primary functional attributes. The seven main tool categorizes are as follows: Producing and creating measures, graphing, grading and reporting, measuring specific skills and competencies-criterion referenced assessment, determining grade level performance and making normative comparisons, ongoing progress monitoring, situated performance assessment and data warehousing and aggregation. One of the main tool categories, Production and creation, the authors said, “will allow teachers to create tests and other measures. An example is a simple word processing program. Teachers can make multiple-choice tests, true false, matching, timed tests, etc.” Another tool, “Graphing, grading and reporting,” the authors stated, “are basic yet functional assessment tools. Examples of this would be Excel programs. Excel is capable of charting and graphing information. PowerPoint and Word programs also have built in graphing programs. Teachers can also make grade books, keep track of assignments and assign grades at specific reporting periods.” Measuring Specific Skills and Competencies-Criterion Referenced Assessment tools can be found in many educational programs that have built in assessment features. An example, the authors gave, would be a “Start to Finish books that are developed specifically for intermediate through high school students who read below grade level. Another example is a textbook publisher.” Another category, “Determining Grade Level Performance and Making Normative Comparisons are for teachers who want to know how a particular student performs at grade level in math, reading, or other academic areas. One example would be the Woodcock Johnson Revised III test.” Ongoing Progress Monitoring involves CBE’s and CBM’s tools, such as the online or digital programs: Intervention Central, DIBELS, Aimsweb. “Situated Performance Assessment is where students are asked to perform a specified task using technology rather than take a more traditional paper/pencil test.” The authors explained. “Teachers give feedback during the task and evaluate students work based upon previous established criteria given in a rubric. Some of those tools include, Interactive task and simulations and e-portfolios. The Interactive tasks and simulations promote the using of higher order thinking.” Some examples of this would be a geographic information system which is an overlay of a series of maps. Another example is web-based inquiry projects that ask students to come up with their own course appropriate project that would allow students to display inquiry skills. E-portfolios, as described by the authors use digital technology to collect and organize portfolio projects in many different types of media, for instance, audio, video, graphics, etc.) Lastly, the authors explained Data Warehousing and Aggregation, which is when multiple assessments or multiple databases are combined to provide a collection of achievement scores. Data Warehouse programs have been created to help schools organize their data and measures.
In conclusion there are many different functions of assessment and tools that can be used to have students display their knowledge on specific subjects. The authors believe, how information is gathered, organized and presented can have a huge impact on the quality of any following decisions. Assessment technologies provide many more options for the creation and use of assessment measures.
Synthesis:
This article was very interesting. It has made me aware of the many different ways a teacher can assess her students on various subjects. I think the e-portfolios are great ideas along with the web-based project inquiry project. I love projects that allow me to be creative in my work. I firmly believe that students should be allowed to display their knowledge on any subject in any form, whether with or without technology. If bringing technology into the classroom for assessment, analysis and evaluation purposes helps a children to display their knowledge, then I am all for it.

The I-Generation

The I-Generation – From Toddlers to Teenagers: A Conversation with Jane M. Healy By Carol Tell

Summary: Author and Educator Jane M. Healy has been involved in educational technology –working with children and computers- for about 20 years. She is intrigued with the learning process and having machines and humans work together. Healy believes that computers can actually shift classroom management to a more student-centered/constructivist approach.  She feels if teachers understand the computer, are fluent with it and use it properly, technology can really excite kids and contribute to collaborative learning. Healy also believes that using computers will make a difference not only in the way kids learn, but also in the way their brains approach information processing.  Healy states, “Understanding the student and the learning process is key. It is not about whether students are motivated and having fun, it’s about whether they understand what they are doing and can apply it in a broader context.”  She cautiously warns we need to keep in mind that although we know a computer will affect the brain, there is very little research to prove the effects

 The article continues with Healy changing the pace by speaking about computers and the proper age to start using them. She states, “What is good for a 15 year old is not good for a 5 year old, however the barrage of advertisements seemed to have missed that.” She personally believes that children under the age of 7 do not need to be using computers. She states, “The early years are crucial for developing children’s language, their social skills, motivation, auditory- attention span and skills in problem solving, reading and personal learning.  If we add a computer into the mix then we are asking for trouble.”   I agree with her that the computers today will not be the same in 10 or even 5 years, therefore to give a 4 year old a computer now may actually be teaching him a set of completely maladaptive skills.  As a critic she feels computers are doing more harm than good and we are wasting incredible amounts of developmental time because the seductive technologies are drawing children away from the activities that normally occupy a developing brain.  She also believes computers can affect a student’s health such as vision, body mechanics and problems with repetitive strain injuries (carpal tunnel syndrome) and posture issues.

Last, Healy mentions that educators are far to willing to accept this quick-fix mentality that comes out of political expediency.  She says, “The whole idea of putting computers into schools and everything will be fine can become a huge problem because if we mess up, it’s going to be hard to extricate ourselves.  We are trying to develop whole, and well-round human beings.  Therefore, if we replace all school activities, such as art, books, etc, with computers, we are jeopardizing the student’s competency to becoming contributing human beings”.  She continues with saying,  “Our children and our children’s children may see direct and powerful interfaces between computer hardware and the human brain.”  She believes that when we introduce a child to a computer we need to have a thoughtful dialogue with them.  The dialogue would ask questions such as, what can computers do that we as human’s can’t do, and what can we do that the computer can’t?  She believes that these are two essential questions that should be built into the curriculum.

Synthesis:  Healy’s explanations about the use of computers made me think about the technology we are using in schools.  I feel it is important to remember that as teachers we are the ones in charge of how we are using, and directing students to use technology.  I don’t believe that it is a good idea for young children to learn solely from a computer.  There are many things that computers can’t teach!  Hands on activities and physical activities are just as important as computer technology.  I totally agree with Healy when she warns that high-tech products, no matter how advanced, do not have the same educational weight as good teachers, small classes, and a challenging curriculum.  Education is a long process and teachers need to continue to teach and learn to use technology as an effective tool for learning.  I believe computers are  wonderful and can enhance learning but we should not solely be dependent on technology.

Oregon Trail CD-ROM

Bill Bigelow writes in his article, "On The Road to Cultural Bias: A Critique of the Organ Trail CD-Rom" that the game is culturally bias and insensitive. The Oregon Trail is a computer game that allows students to become members of a family traveling with a wagon train that is crossing the plains in the 1840'a or 1850's.  The players objective is to safely reach the Oregon Territory.  The games intent is to teach students about the details of life for the Oregon travelers.  It involves a simulation of "real" trail life, from supplies needed, types of wagons, hunting and what they ate to historic landmarks.  It is also has the potential to be a teaching resource for teachers. But Bigelow states, "But as much as the game teaches, it mis-teachers more.  In fundamental respects, The Oregon Trail is sexist, racist, culturally insensitive, and contemptuous of the earth.  It imparts bad values and wrong history."  To back up what he believes he uses the example at the beginning of the game.  In the opening sequences, the game requires students to select a profession, the kind of wagon, and the city from which to depart.  Here class is recognized as an issue, for instance, bankers begin with more money than saddle makers. Gender and race are not a choice. He claims that players are only taking on the role of a male-gendered, white pioneer.  His article presents the ways in which the game fails to account for the experiences not only of women but of African-Americans and Native Americans.  For example, the only role the game shows women taking on is that of maintaining a semblance of community under great stress, tending to the ill and where to get firewood or buffalo chips. This is historically inaccurate because women played an important role in the wagon train.  The game also hints at African Americans as being enslaved, but it never explicitly says so.  The game is also historically inaccurate about the roles and attitudes of Native Americans. Bigelow states, "the games superficial sympathy for Native groups masks a profound insensitivity to Indian cultures."  The Oregon Trail never suggests to its simulated pioneers that they should seek permission of Indian nations to travel through their territory, nor does it inform the players that because of the disruptions wrought by the daily intrusions of the westward migration, Plain Indians regular demanded tribute from the travelers.  Therefore, the game makes it seem that the Indians and travelers got along. Overall, Bigelow states, "The simulation begins from no moral or ethical standpoint beyond individual material success; it contains no vision of social or ecological justice and hence, promotes a full litany of sexist, racist and imperialist perspectives as well as exploitive perspectives of the earth."  Although his critique is rather harsh, Bigelow does provide a list of questions that teachers should consider when looking to use CD-Rom's in the classrooms.  He also provides examples for teachers to use to foster a critical computer literacy.  For example, students can engage in role playing where they face a number of Oregon Trail problems.  The students can choose to portray women, men, Indians, African Americans, etc.  As students learn about the social and ecological cost of the Oregon Trail, students can then write critical letters to each of the pioneers they portrayed.  Students can also write and illustrate children's books.  This way students learn the correct information, but in a different way.  

 

When I was a kid I remember playing Oregon Trail and loving it.  I especially liked the beginning part when I got to pick the materials to bring on my trip. I also enjoyed the hunting.  I didn't see the game as a learning experience, I saw it as a fun game to play. I never noticed all of the things that Bigelow pointed out as historically inaccurate.  I can remember asking friends how far they got, if anyone died, or how much buffalo or dear they killed. We never discussed the history of the Oregon Trail or the social or ecological concepts involved.  If we did, I don't remember doing so.  Reading this article has opened my eyes to what the game really teaches kids and it saddens me.  However, because it is fun to play I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if we teach kids about the Oregon Trail first and then have the students pick out the issues or parts of the game that is wrong and misleading.  Could they?  Or would they be like me and think it is just a fun game to play?