Software to Support Assessment

1189 Words3 Pages

Software to Support Assessment

The advancements in technology have changed the look and feel of education. Technology has provided many benefits to teachers, students, parents and school districts. The addition of technology to classrooms has enriched student learning, enhanced the delivery of curriculum, and streamlined assessments. The development of software for every possible need including those designed to support assessments. Currently educators are encouraged and charged with developing comprehensive technology plans for their classrooms that incorporate the use of software to support assessment of students throughout the year. Educators must heed the differences between assessment of learning (summative), assessment for learning (formative), and assessment as learning, and realize where the emphasis must be placed. Under the current policy and mandate of assessing students many educators meet the task of assessments with trepidation as they create anxiety for students and a perceived increased work load for teachers. If we reflect on assessment as a means of judging performance to inform our method of instruction which in turn allows us to appraise and modify the manner in which our students learn, we can see the benefit and necessity of assessment. In many ways assessments not only show the progress of a student but provide the opportunity for growth as a teacher. At this point in the development of my comprehensive technology plan I will reflect on my future use of software and technology in the support of the assessment of my students.

The operative use of assessments in the classroom to support teachers in planning and providing targeted instruction in the content standards can be managed through the use of so...

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...g the use of software to support assessment of students throughout the year as a beneficial and time saving task.

References

Abrahamson, A. (2002). An Overview of Teaching and Learning Research with Classroom Communication Systems (CCSs). Retrieved March 22, 2012, from http://www.bedu.com/Publications/Samos.html

Draper, S., Cargill, J., & Cutts, O. (2002). Electronically enhanced classroom interaction. Austrailian Journal of Educational Technology, 13-23.

Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as learning: Using classroom assessment to maximize student learning. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Shaffer, D.M., & Collura M.J. (2009). Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Personal Response System in the Classroom. Teaching of Pyschology, 273-277.

Sharkey, N. & Murnane, R. (2003, November). The Challenges of Accountability. Learning from Student Assessment Results, pp. 77-81.

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