Quality Assessment through ICT

Karen Yager & Michael BeilharzKnox Grammar School – yagerk@knox.nsw.edu.au

“It is about learning to learn, about becoming independent thinkers and

learners. It is about problem solving, team-work, knowledge of the world, adaptability,

and comfort in a global system of technologies, conflict and complexity. It is about the joy of learning and the pleasure of productivity of using one’s learning in all

facets of work and life pursuits” (2006, Fullan, Hill and Crevola, Breakthrough).

Goal 1:• Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence:

promote personalised learning that aims to fulfill the diverse capabilities of each young Australian.

Goal 2:• All young Australians become:successful learnersconfident and creative individualsactive and informed citizens

Australian Curriculum Goals

ICT & AssessmentFLUENCY - generating many ideasFLEXIBILITY - shifting perspective easilyORIGINALITY - conceiving something newPURPOSE- vision AUDIENCE - contextELABORATION - building on other ideasEVALUATION – metacognition; critical reflection

The Research “Technology can become an obstacle to

learning, especially when a student is first exposed to a new and/or novel technology. The student may become too focused on the technology and neglect the need for developing creative ideas” (Mohler).

“Technology is best seen as another tool in the repertoire available to learners and teachers for expression and communication” (Andrews et al., 2006)

http://cunningham.acer.edu.au/dbtw-wpd/textbase/NSWIT/NSW_Digest_1_09.html#Availability

Life-long learningUNESCO report identified three characteristics of lifelong learners:

learning to do: acquiring and applying skills, such as: problem solving and communication

learning to be: promoting creativity and personal fulfillment

learning to know: flexibility and critical thinking

“The quality of teaching and learning provision are by far the most salient influences on students’

cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes of schooling – regardless of their gender or

backgrounds” (Rowe, 2003).

“Assessment should be first and foremost for the learner’s sake, designed and implemented to

provide useful feedback to the learner on worthy tasks to make improved performance and

ultimate mastery more likely” (Wiggins, 2006).

Quality Assessment

Assessment for Deep understanding

The aim of assessment is primarily to educate and

improve student performance, not merely to

audit it” (Wiggins, 1998).

What do the students need to learn? Why does it matter? What do they already know? What do I want the students to do or produce

to demonstrate their learning and understanding?

How will they get there? How can technology be a powerful tool? How well do I expect them to do it?

Learning first; technology as a tool!

Assessment Tasks Selects and uses appropriate forms of

communication to present information to an audience

Students develop, select and use a range of strategies, including the selection and use of appropriate technology, to explore and develop solutions in solving problems

Plans, implements and evaluates the effectiveness of the medium of production or form

Deep understanding

Personalisation and differentiation

Moving towards student directed and open ended

Problem solving Investigation Collaborating and

sharing Teaching others Evaluating and

reflecting

Digi-textsHistory: Stage 4 Concept: Heritage Key Ideas:1. The power of stories to

convey the importance of heritage.

Tasks: 1. Digital Faction (Premier,

Word, Audacity)2. Critical evaluation: Word

document/Peer feedback using insert comment):

Digital TextsDigital Texts A digital timeline A narrative Cross KLAs task A reflection A life-story Local hero A podcast Multiple endings Alternative perspectives A soundscape A digital poem A news report A travel tale: Google Earth

‘Stories are the

lifeblood of a nation’

Garth Boomer.

The Sites http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/audiovideo

/sites/about/pages/howto.shtml http://www.digi-tales.org/ http://www.photobus.co.uk/index.php?i

d=2

http://www.changinglives.com.au/2008/04/abrar-autumn-and-i.html

http://www.dipity.com/ - Digital timeline

Mind maps to plan for a narrative: Inspiration or Kidspiration (http://www.inspiration.com/); Webspiration: http://www.mywebspiration.com/ ; Freemind: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download

Composing the same narrative with different complications and resolutions. In power point or word a hyperlink could be used for each change. (Choose your own adventure).

Co-authoring using One Note Sharing ideas through a wiki, blog or ning 12-word novels Twitter texts Novels in 3 Lines: http://twitter.com/novelsin3lines:

Invented by Fénéon, these miniaturized, epigrammatic texts are highly compressed, self-contained stories.

Preparation for Assessment Task

Preparation Build your wild self

(primary): http://www.buildyourwildself.com/ - create a half-human half animal character and download them so that they can become the main character in a narrative or blog story.

Voki: http://www.voki.com/ - create an avatar for a blog story or students can play with the crafting of a character. The students can add setting, clothing and even record their character’s voice.

Preparation A word cloud to

brainstorm ideas using Wordle - http://www.wordle.net/

Grammar Skills: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/

Grammar Monster: http://www.grammar-monster.com/index.html

Visuword: http://www.visuwords.com/ - a beautiful online thesaurus to find more effective synonyms.

Preparation Focus on imagery

through visual images or film clips

Video clips from Youtube or films: the trailers of films or a short clip from Australian Screen or Film Australia: can be used to stimulate writing - Australian Screen: film clips: http://aso.gov.au/titles/alpha/A/ and Screen Asia – Asian films, http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/tag/Asia/

PreparationGoogle Lit Trip: Explore a novel, play or

poetry settings or take a road trip with an author!

Add images, commentary and key quotes

Create a unique Lit Trip for an original story, play or poem - http://www.googlelittrips.org/

Whitby Abbey

Preparation Inanimate Alice:

http://www.inanimatealice.com/ - tells the story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century in China

Dust Echoes: http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/dustEchoesFlash.htm - lyrical animations beautifully illustrated of Aboriginal myths.

State Library of Victoria: Mirror of the World: Books and Ideas: http://www.mirroroftheworld.com.au/ - amazing images and extracts from texts to inspire writing.

Digital Poem Digital poems with images http://www.abc.net.au/rn/p

oetica/features/pod/ or http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do: Listen to one of the poets reading his or her poems and focus on the artistry.

Instant poetry: http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm: Students can create poetry at this site.

Sonnet Central: http://www.sonnets.org/ - access to hundreds of sonnets and recordings too inspire writing.

Oral Tasks Podcasts Oral tales Interviews Speeches Advertisements Performance poetry Raps News/Weather

presentations

Oral Tasks Youtube: Henry V’s Saint

Crispin’s Day Speech & Barack Obama’s victory speech

Audacity/Garage Band/Adobe Soundbooth: Critical commentary on a soliloquy

Rhetoric: http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html

American Rhetoric: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htmVodcasts and podcasts of speeches such as Martin Luther King.

Oral Tasks Persuasion 101:

http://prezi.com/62290/: An introduction to persuasion.

Essay Map: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/essaymap/

Learning Objects Students creating objects to

teach others:- Quizzes in Captivate or

Presenter- Summaries, research, etc in

OneNote- Presentations in Smart

Notebook- Mind maps in Freemind- Short films and advertisements

in Premier- Podcasts in Audacity or

Soundbooth- Angles in GeoGebra

Geography Topic: Investigating Australia’s Physical Environments

Concept: Interaction Task: Investigate one recent

natural hazard; pose a research question you would like answered; locate, analyse and evaluate information, and present in any medium of production such as: an E-portfolio using OneNote with interviews, news footage and factual information or a Podcast using Audacity.

Inquiry-based Research Task

Inquiry-based learning Concept: Sustainability Question: Why do so many

Australians believe that they do not need to reduce their global footprint?

Online survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/

http://www.globe.gov/projects The Product: Wiki, Power Point,

Ning, short film, digital report, Captivate, podcast, OneNote, Presenter…

Metacognition Assessment as

learning is about reflecting on evidence of learning

Digital Portfolios Wikis, Nings and Blogs http://

davinci9english.wikispaces.com/

Podcasts E-Portfolios

“Teachers should not drive students in a tourist bus

through the school curriculum, encouraging

the bland recital of tourist blurbs. Students should

be obliged to savour the rich texture of life…”

Garth Boomer.