As schools become increasingly equipped with devices and wireless access, a growing proportion of the assessments are now administered online or through devices such as computers or tablets.
Education has been a priority for many centuries. In recent years, the world has seen an unprecedented increase in technology that has transformed education sector at many levels. For instance, digital transformation of educational institutes where wireless technology is creating efficiencies for daily routine instruction, consider augment reality which is creating real life scenarios to boost students learnings, have a look at the long list of online learning tools where the creative exchange between a teacher and a student in real time is boosting collaboration and overall performance of class projects. Similarly, the transformational effects of technology can be seen in digital assessments where data driven analysis is providing spot on strategies to bridge the missing learning gaps of students. In other words, digital assessments are generating data that can help in understanding student’s knowledge and then utilising the data to support instructional decisions. In addition, digital assessments also show an accurate view of the student’s knowledge at that moment in time.
When assessment is discussed as a topic, some of the common assessment types include formative and summative assessments. These two types are used extensively in today’s classroom to measure student’s learning and performance. Formative assessments take place typically after a chapter, unit or course. The use of tests, quizzes or assignments help educators to gauge students’ understanding on the subject matter. These assessments also serve as a mean to give feedback to the students before the final or summative assessments, so the students can bring their current skills and knowledge up to speed. Summative assessments, on the other hand, are usually planned at the end of each school year or the end of their studies. This is a final “hurdle” that students must complete and pass before they can progress to the next level.
As schools become increasingly equipped with devices and wireless access, a growing proportion of the assessments are now administered online or through devices such as computers or tablets. The use of technology allows students to take an assessment outside of the classroom, at their own pace and time. It also ensures that results are administered as feedback which are almost instantly available to students, without the long wait. The use of data analytics allows educators to see many relevant details such as how long it took students to answer questions or how many times a student failed to answer a question correctly before getting the right answer. With the deployment of technology in assessments, educators can tailor their teaching to the needs of the students, resulting in a more personalized way of learning for the student there by boosting their learning and understanding of the subject matter.
While there is little doubt about the advantages to use technology in assessments, question arises if digital assessments can improve the learning experiences for students. Do the digital assessments make the experience more interesting and engaging to learn for the students? Or will it become a distraction in class?
In the next few blogs, we will discuss how digital assessment backed by data not only helps to create an engaging class, but also improves students’ learning.
This entry was originally published on Edukinect blog. Written by Saima Rashid & Cheng Bee Lim–August, 2018
