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Reflecting on Assessing and Improving Student Achievement with Technology

As I reflect back on my learning in this course, it is hard to pick out just one stand-out activity, article, or discussion. Assessment is something we as educators do constantly and so I really think the combination of the topics we discussed - formative assessments, summative assessments, personalized learning, mastery learning, student self-assessment, and rubrics all really work hand-in-hand. While I was already aware of most of these topics, I really enjoyed learning about new digital tools to help make some of these assessments more efficient. The more efficient the assessment tool, the more effective it will be in the classroom. We as educators are assessing our students on a minute by minute basis and using the information we gather to make learning as targeted for our students as possible, so utilizing technology wherever possible helps teachers to maximize their time. I loved learning about new digital formative assessment tools like Formative, Google Quizzes, Edulastic, EdPuzzle, etc. to help teachers gather insight on student learning more efficiently and get students the immediate feedback that they need so they know what to do next. I also really liked the discussion we had about the importance of the alignment of standards, curriculum, and summative assessments since that is a process we're currently working on in our district and have been for a few years now. Using digital assessment tools like Mastery Manager, our district's common assessments are now being built digitally allowing for ease of grading and reporting. Assessment is a critical part of the educational process and the use of digital tools only serves to enhance and improve the process.

Comments

  1. You're so right, Jessica! As teachers we are constantly assessing our students and I'm all for making things a bit easier and more efficient by using technology! I also learned a lot from this course, even though it covered things we as teachers already know. I love adding new tech tools to my tool belt.
    What's your favorite new tech tool that you discovered in this course?

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  2. I enjoyed learning all about new tech tools as well, Jessica. I am looking forward to utilizing Formative, Google Quizzes, and EdPuzzle for formative assessment this school year! I love the immediate and invaluable feedback these tools provide for myself and my students. It is the results of formative assessments that drive our instruction and the creation of the personalized goals of our students!

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