The Power of Formative Assessment / Week 8 / ED 7726 / Blog Response

Formative Assessments / Blog Response

In our “test-crazed” society, I’m afraid we’re focusing on the wrong types of assessments. With the implementation of the Common Core and SBA testing, a great deal of importance is placed on data and as a result, summative assessment is often emphasized. In fact, student learning benefits much more from frequent, ongoing, embedded formative assessment. What I’ve taken away from this week’s learning is the powerful role formative assessments play in maximizing learning. Watching this week’s slideshow and completing the activities on formative assessment provided many ideas of ways in which I can utilize technology to assess and increase student learning.

Kathy Dyer, in her article,  "Digital Tools for Implementing Formative Assessment - Post One"

offers several ideas for strategies that can easily be incorporated in the classroom. I am looking forward to trying out Socrative and have begun using Google Forms more.  Both sites have also been recommended by several of my classmates in their posts. I also want to try out the self-graded quizzes in Google Docs which are described by Richard Byrne on his website, Free Technology For Teachers.

From the slideshow, I was reminded of the value of formative assessments. Black and William noted the importance of self-assessment and the need for teachers to provide specific feedback to the student (p. 6-7). Giving students formative feedback is especially relevant to me right now as my students are in the middle of writing their final essays for the school year. I have them working on Google Docs, and I attempt to review and make concrete suggestions to each student as they are writing. I know that the more I comment while they are writing, the better the final product will be. When I first started teaching I spent hours grading and commenting on final drafts, only to watch the kids look at their grade and then stuff the paper into their bookbag (or even into the trash.) I now spend my time providing much more feedback during writing and much less feedback on the final draft. When I am able to work with a student, the results are much better.

In addition to commenting on my learning, I also wanted to share some often overlooked formative assessment tools which come with the SmartBoard. I think that many teachers have SmartBoards in their classrooms today, yet often they are provided with little training. There are lots of interactive assessment strategies that can be found on the SmartBoard, yet sometimes we aren’t aware of them. I know that I’m still learning about all the SmartBoard has to offer. In my Google Presentation, I described three of my favorite tools.

First, I discussed the Random Word Chooser which allows me to select a student at random to answer or ask a question, make his/her presentation, or perform a task. I love the “no hands up” approach which this strategy allows. All the students must be alert, resulting in a love/hate relationship with the strategy. They actually enjoy the suspense of waiting for  the board to light up with the “winning” student, while at the same time some mourn the fact that they cannot remain “invisible.”

I also discussed the Keyword Match which allows students to pair words or concepts with definitions. I use this on a weekly basis for vocabulary and the kids enjoy it. Rolling the dice is another activity which allows me to assess students’ understanding. I can put character’s names or events in a book on each side of the die. A student “rolls” the die and whatever it lands on becomes a quick quiz question.  The SmartBoard has many other tools for organizing, categorizing and identifying concepts. We have had a few SmartBoard workshops in our building which provide lots of ideas, but I think it’s time for another one. We learn so much from one another.

It is clear that formative assessment is critical to learning. It should be continuous in a classroom so that instruction can be adjusted when necessary. Incorporating technology into the assessment process provides many options for varied assessments and has the potential to make learning engaging and fun for students and teachers. What could be better?

Citations:

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139–148

Byrne, R. (2010, September 30). Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create Self-Graded Quizzes in Google Docs. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/09/how-to-create-self-graded-quizzes-in.html#.VWdXJ89VhBf  

Dyer, K. (2013, July 15). Digital Technology Tools for Implementing Formative Assessment – Post One. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from https://www.nwea.org/blog/2013/digital-technology-tools-for-implementing-formative-assessment-post-one/  

Image credits:

Cartoon

Formative Feedback

Formative Assessment Word Cloud

Assessing With Technology and Assessing Digital Literacy / Week 7 / ED 7726

Assessment

The focus this week was twofold - assessing with technology and assessment of digital literacy. Having each member of the class post links to relevant websites along with a summary and evaluation provides an excellent resource for all of us.

Assessing a student’s digital literacy is critical, yet it is often ignored. As adults, we frequently assume that students are digitally literate since they “digital natives” in a sense. Most of the students have grown up with technology; they can’t remember a time when people didn’t have computers and cell phones.

They may be digital natives, but what do they really know?

However,  I now realize that being able to post on Instagram or create a Vine does not necessarily qualify a person as “digitally literate.” Students must be able to navigate the web effectively and safely. Evaluating the validity of sources is also a critical skill. The link to the  TRAILS-9 website, which Christel posted, is an excellent and quick way to assess whether or not students can develop a topic, identify potential sources, develop search strategies, evaluate sources and recognize how to use information responsibly and ethically. The assessment is quick, practical, specific, and provides necessary information.

How can we utilize technology for assessment?

            Blogging is another digital tool which is excellent for assessment. Monica Hayes included a link for The Reading Workshop . The blogging rubric presented on the site can be used and easily adjusted to assess student understanding and/or digital literacy. Laurie Brandl also mentioned the use of blogging as a means to assess students. Blogging is an excellent medium for students to self-assess and provides opportunities for positive interaction between students. One common thread is that successful assessment is embedded into the classroom. The video posted by Laurie,  Assessment is a Technology, makes this very clear. Students benefit from teacher feedback, as well as self-reflection and peer reflection. After reading this week’s posts, I am definitely going to include more self-assessment in my classes. I’m interested to try using social media tools such as Vine or Instagram for reflection, as suggested in the video. I agree that whenever students have to think about their processed and evaluate their own work, the learning is enhanced.

I am sure that the more I learn about using technology for assessment, the more I will use it. Carl Pastor discussed using technology increasingly for “hands on” assessments. Students are no longer just consumers of information, but their assessments should show that they are also producers and creators of information. Josh Lambert also mentioned the importance of aligning the learning goals with the assessment. He noted that technology can be embedded to asses what a student can do (quantitative) and how deeply a student thinks on a topic (qualitative). Cari McKee recommended Socrative and Lino which I hope to try out soon. In my reading for this week, I saw those sites endorsed in multiple articles.The  article by Clarke-Midura & Dede, which was posted by Mimi Knibbs, makes the point that point that many teachers are not using technology to its full potential for assessments. I plead guilty as charged! However, I look forward to trying some of the easily available tools. Embedding technology into lessons will increase student engagement and will facilitate both formative and summative assessments.

Image Credits:

Baby

Blogging

Assessment Wordle

Multitasking and the Effect on Learning / Infographic and Reflection

Multitasking and the Effect on Learning

Analysis and Reflection of Infographic

The Information:

Multitasking is a pertinent topic for me as a high school teacher. Almost every student has a cell phone, and multitasking with technology is pervasive. I wanted to see if student learning was affected by multitasking.

I found numerous articles on multitasking, and as I started reading them, I became curious to see what my own students would say about their multitasking behaviors. I decided to create a survey to find out. Even though I only surveyed one class, my seniors, I included the results in my infographic. (Due to SBA testing, computer labs and laptop carts were unavailable for other classes.) I asked several other classes the questions, and by a show of hands, the results were similar. Although the sample size may be too small to be scientifically valid, I believe the results are indicative of the behaviors of many high school students. The bottom line is that almost all students multitask while doing schoolwork. Many think that their understanding and task efficiency are unaffected by their multitasking. However, the question remained, is their learning affected.

The majority of research suggests that learning is affected by multitasking, mostly negatively. The article,"You'll Never Learn" by Annie Paul was especially helpful. She included the results of a study by Larry Rosen of the University of California. Rosen studied the behavior of 263 middle, high school, and university students. Rosen found that the average time on the primary task before switching was less than 6 minutes. He did find, however,  that students who were accustomed to high media use were more likely to stay on task. This finding coincides with a study described in The Wall Street Journal. Two high school students from Oregon studied the multitasking behaviors of 400 high school students. The study took two years to complete and won second place at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May 2014. The young women found that while 85% of students did not perform as well when multitasking, 15% actually performed better. The individuals who performed better were considered “high media multitaskers.” The authors of the study hypothesize, “What our research is suggesting is that maybe our brains as adolescents and digital natives have adapted to this media influence” (Reddy).

While it is unclear if the ability to multitask will prove beneficial in the future, the research shows that for the most people it is is detrimental to learning. David Meyer, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan notes, “Under most conditions, the brain simply cannot do two complex tasks at the same time. It can happen only when the two tasks are both very simple and when they don’t compete with each other for the same mental resources” (Paul). He goes on to say, “Young people think they can perform two challenging tasks at once, but they are deluded” (Paul). Many students believe they are working efficiently when they are multitasking, but for most of them that is simply not true. Meyers also found that the brain stores information differently when distracted. Brain scans show different memory patterns which may make it harder to apply new knowledge (Paul).

A study by Song et al, "Analysis of Youngsters Media Multitasking Behaviors and Effect on Learning", supports the findings of Rosen and Meyer. In a 2011 study of 866 university students, the authors found that multitasking had harmful effects on learning. Frequent task switching led to fewer correct answers. The negative effects of multitasking were somewhat mitigated when task motivation was high, but mostly they found that learning suffered (Song).

Since multitasking is so prevalent and since effects for most students are negative, it is important to offer students strategies to become more efficient learners. Rosen proposed the idea of encouraging to take “tech breaks.” Based on the principle of delayed gratification, students can treat themselves to a “tech break” only after working for a fixed amount of time (Paul). When I explained this strategy to my students, several of them said that they do that. It’s also important to make students aware of the negative effects of multitasking so that they can become more productive. Finally, mindfulness is gaining popularity as a means to increase focus on learning. In the article, "How Meditating Helps With Multitasking", Tina Barseghian describes David Levy’s work. Levy, a professor at the University of Washington,  proposed that schools need to “teach the tools that will teach kids to focus, avoid distraction, and judge what to pay attention to as they’re exposed to a slew of diversions. It’s a matter of training the brain” (Barseghian).

What we do know is that people multitask all the time. We know that for the majority of people, it compromises learning. Whether the brain will actually “rewire” itself over time remains to be seen. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey of technology experts asking them whether “the younger generation’s always-on connection to people and information will turn out to be a net positive or a net negative by 2020”(Pew). 42% believe that future looks “baleful.” They worry that deep thinking capabilities and face-to-face social skills will suffer. Overall, they believe the changes in behavior and cognition will lead to negative outcomes (Pew). On the other hand, 53% believe that the younger generation will benefit from the amount of information available to them. They will learn more, rather than less. They will be able to use multitasking to their benefit as they learn to search more efficiently and access collective intelligence via the internet. They see positive a positive outcome (Pew).

One thing that is clear to me after doing the research is that we really don’t know the long term effects of our technological age on the brain and learning. It seems important, however, to make students aware of the need to focus. While multitasking is likely here to stay, students need to learn how to use the information available to them to their advantage so that they can work efficiently and productively to maximize learning.

The Process:

Before starting my infographic I researched articles about multitasking. I wasn’t surprised to learn that its effects on learning are more negative than positive. I also wasn’t surprised that my own students all multitask. I was a little surprised at how quickly they are distracted.

The creation of the infographic was challenging at first. I used Piktochart, and although it wasn’t difficult, it took me a while to get the hang of it. The suggestions of my colleagues helped me to organize my information. They also gave me ideas about  information to include in the survey I gave to my students. I thought it was important to give some statistics about the prevalence of multitasking. I also wanted to show what kids thought the effect of multitasking had on their learning. That’s where my survey came in. So the first part of the infographic was a student self-analysis.

I included information from the research I did in the second part. I didn’t have as many statistics here, but I was able to include the effects of multitasking based on several studies.

Finally, I wanted to end with suggestions on how to deal with multitasking. Hence, I included some ideas for strategies that students could use to become more efficient learners.
Creating an infographic would be an excellent learning activity in my classroom. It forces students to identify the critical information on a topic and organize it in a logical way. The nature of the medium encourages creativity and allows students to showcase what they have discovered on a given topic.

Citations:

Anderson, J., & Rainie, L. (2012, February 28). Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyperconnected lives. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/02/29/millennials-will-benefit-and-suffer-due-to-their-hyperconnected-lives/

Barseghian, T. (2011, October 26). How Meditating Helps with Multitasking. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/10/26/how-meditating-helps-with-multitasking/

Paul, A. (2013, May 3). You'll Never Learn: Students Can't Resist Multitasking and It's Impairing Their Memory. Retrieved May 5, 2015, from http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/multitasking_while_studying_divided_attention_and_technological_gadgets.html

Reddi, S. (2014, October 13). Teen Researchers Defend Media Multitasking. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/teen-researchers-defend-media-multitasking-1413220118

Song, K., Nam, S., Lim, H., & Kim, J. (2013). Analysis of Youngsters' Media Multitasking Behaviors and Effect on Learning. International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Engineering, 8(4), 191-198.Retrieved May 4, 2015 from http://www.sersc.org/journals/IJMUE/vol8_no4_2013/19.pdf

Multitasking Survey