Running head: INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

Instructional Fundamentals Meet Technology Tools

J. Diane Farris, Mark Flancbaum, and Kendra Wilt
University of Colorado Denver

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

Instructional Fundamentals Meet Technology Tools

An educators basic objective is to facilitate student learning toward success with standards in all
content areas. The goals remain for students to contribute, to achieve, and to thrive in the
classroom so they are equipped to be productive in the real world. Teachers continue to improve
lesson plans by focusing on target learning objectives, while considering the variety of cultures,
learning styles and special needs that may exist in their classrooms. An essential component for
students, provided by teachers, is continual, timely, and informative feedback. Richer more
effective feedback for students considers the multi-facets of student learning styles. This paper
will touch on technology standards, the instructor, and finally the student. But sandwiched in the
middle like all good Oreo cookies is the creamy filling. This papers creamy filling is the myriad
of formative assessment tools that are available with technology.

The Technology Standards

School districts across the United States
have technology standards that teachers
are responsible to know and implement.
The International Society for Technology
in Education (ISTE) is consistent with
desired outcomes for effective classroom

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

instruction. Content standards are not diminished, but they are to be augmented and infused with
technology. With each technology innovation will come more change and new learning curves.
We are in the Informational Age. Gone are the days of small school events published in the local
papers, or stapled to telephone poles.
Educators who have both feet glued
to paper are in front of a rolling
technology surge and they better
learn to swim. Funding from science
communities has provided the
framework that states all students
should be technologically literate.
Ultimately students should be able to use, manage, evaluate and understand technology. The
term technological literacy can be the study of technology, as well as, design, innovation, and
engineering.

The Educator
Is your SMARTboard just a new projector screen? Are you using your document camera to its
full potential? What about iPads? iPods? Anybody? Every educator has access to some level
of technology in the United States. As technology changes,
so too will the norms in education. An unwritten rule states:
implement technology for planning purposes, for effective
instruction, to engage students, to progress monitor with
timely feedback, and for summative testing. Districts are
currently bringing technology programs and applications to their staff for collaborative work.

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

Professional notes can now be typed live about Johnny so

that all logged in can view and change the notes as needed.
They are then saved as a body of evidence, retrievable on
demand. It is true that every school within a district, or
districts themselves do not have the same technology,
however, underused technology will not benefit anyone. Appendix A is a sample poll regarding
technology and its use from two school districts in the Denver, Colorado area. You will note
extreme comfort levels for technology and its use, and hear the desire for both more technology
and more training. There is room for all teachers to grow in knowledge and use of technology;
teachers need to be students of technology.

The shift begins with each educator adopting the available tools at their fingertips. Technology
needs to be viewed as an integral and necessary part of the educational infrastructure. New
technology must be explored. Teachers should take advantage of
trainings where possible, watch tutorials, attend webinars, and
collaborate with peers for ideas. Learning communities now have
cloud computing, a network of information where teachers can
talk to one another, upload lesson plans, find creative applications
of technology use, and so much more. Educators are urged to contribute ideas, create interactive
lessons and share resources for any content. 21st Century technology brings professional
learning right to your home! The resources are too vast to visit them in a lifetime. For
instructors who are not tech savvy, at the very minimum they will need to discover and
experiment with the various tools, find additional support from colleagues, and take advantage of
tutorials and classes. Anyone in education would be hard pressed to explain why technology is

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

not being incorporated into the instructional day. It is imperative for educators to understand
these next two statements: Forge ahead; technology is your friend, not your replacement. Do not
be afraid of the unknown.

Feedback and Its Importance

Understanding the learners needs is the first step
before choosing what feedback tools will be the most
effective. Once the learners needs are identified, the
instructor can choose an effective tool to administer
the feedback. Some tools that we will cover in this article are Google Drive, student response
systems, document cameras, class badges, software for feedback, and district tools. Each of
these tools has the potential to assist the teacher in providing meaningful feedback.

It is important that instructors look carefully at each learning goal students need to achieve when
considering feedback for each student. How are we performing as instructors to help each
student reach their goals? Effective feedback must be goal referenced. A student takes action to
achieve the goal, and then the instructor provides goal related feedback about their actions. We
know effective feedback is effective- why are instructors not using it more? We dont have
time! This might be a typical response, but there are numerous ways to provide students with
the type of informative feedback that they need to improve their work. There are some great
examples from the ASCD website on how to give good instructional feedback instead of just
advice.

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

Here is an example of feedback vs. advice:

Advice: Can you use more professional references in your report?
Feedback: Help the student understand why you are suggesting the advice by stating,
Next time can you use more professional references in your report so the reader knows you
have supportive evidence and not just opinions?
Here is an example of feedback vs. evaluation/grades:
Evaluation/Grades: Great work on this paper! (this is praise, not instructional feedback)
Feedback: Great work! The paper is much more informative. I like your use of the
vocabulary we studied as well.

According to Hatties (2010) analysis of 130 different effects on student achievement, two
different forms of feedback placed in the top ten for increasing student achievement: formative
evaluation and feedback (Hattie 2010). In the same study, Hattie ranked twelve common effects
on student achievement. Note in Graphic 1 below, that feedback has the second highest effect to
increase student learning. Feedback is crucial to student achievement.

Graphic 1

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

Feedback falls into the broad category of assessment. In this section we will explore both
summative and formative assessments. Summative assessment is feedback given at the end
of the course, unit, or lesson. In summative assessments, the opportunity for improvement has
already passed. Students cannot improve upon the learning and teachers cannot improve upon
the instruction. Differentiate this from formative assessment where the teacher and the learner
receive feedback in the moment. Both the teacher and student are able to use that feedback to
improve instruction or learning. We contend that there is a place for both summative and
formative feedback in the assessment puzzle.

Summative Feedback
Summative assessment is the type of assessment with which the average person is familiar. Most
people grew up in an educational system that taught a concept and then tested it at the end to see
how well the concept was understood. Today states, districts, and schools have several forms of
summative assessments.

High stakes assessments are one form of summative

assessments. These standardized tests are designed
to give feedback to all stakeholders as to how well
students, teachers, schools, districts, and states are
achieving. This spring, 2014, across the state of
Colorado educators implemented online testing at the elementary level in fourth grade for the
domain of social studies, specifically Colorado History. Fifth grade tested in the domain of
science. The technology in the test itself uses several features including: drag and drop,

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

simulated visuals, and audio for students that have teacher read directions as one of their testing
accommodations.

Interim and benchmark tests are often given by districts to assess student achievement. These
tests fall somewhere on the scale between summative and formative assessment. They are
summative in nature because the student and teacher are not given immediate feedback so they
can improve teaching and learning. They are formative because they typically occur prior to
high stakes testing. They give teachers a chance to analyze data and use it to adjust instruction
before the end of the school year.

End of unit assessments are a third type of summative assessment. Sometimes they are
mandated by the school district, and sometimes teachers choose to give the end of unit
assessments to assess student learning. Typically these assessments are not used as learning
experiences. Instead they are used to evaluate student performance. It is important to know
how students are performing. Summative assessments can provide a snapshot of student
learning. They can help teachers, schools, districts, and states determine what is effective and
what is not. These assessments can also drive change toward more effective teaching and
learning. That being said, we would like to explore in more depth the idea of formative
feedback. We believe this type of feedback has the power to truly transform student learning.

Feedback for Parents

Technology is moving in ripples out and into all areas
of education. Those ripples are becoming waves; these
waves are steady and rising higher, bringing with them
surges of data from core content domains for all students. Additionally waves reach outwards to

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

parents and communities. This segues to a brief stopping point from the school to the home
where we look at one of the bridges between schools and families of every imaginable culture....
feedback. Families want to know and they ask right away when they see their childs
teacher...how is my son or daughter doing? Are they behaving? What can I do to help? And some
may say, my English is not good, but I try to helping him. Providing feedback for parents is a
wonderful way to keep the lines of communication
open. The more informative our feedback is to
parents, the better they will be able to assist their
child. If the parents know and understand the details
about their childs progress, it is likely they can
supplement at home when necessary. Parent
involvement is extremely helpful to the students
success. So what is the best way to inform and give feedback to parents? If families have
technology, then portals are extremely effective for them to see their son or daughters progress.
They may be able to view comments by the instructor and respond to the comments. This
furthers communication and takes away barriers that might hinder student learning. A portal is an
online tool that districts provide for families and students to stay informed about their child.
After creating a secure login, private information including bell schedules, attendance,
assignments, and notifications can be viewed.

The article Data sharing through Parent Portals: An Exploration of Parent Motivation, Data use,
And the Promise of Prolonged Parent Involvement (Starkie 2013) completed valuable research
on parents using portals to be involved in their childs learning. The research asked parents why
they used the portals and then rated their effectiveness. The responses indicated that parents

10

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

were motivated to use the portal out of their personal concern for their childs academic
performance, and to monitor grades. The study also unveiled that the parents felt it was their
responsibility to access the data in the portal after being granted access. Most parents also agreed
that although the portal did not completely replace traditional means of communicating with
teacher, it was most preferred. In fact, the portal increased parent communication with teachers,
especially through the portal email access.

Formative Feedback: The Possibilities

The widely known studies on 90/90/90 schools shed light on the importance of formative
feedback. 90/90/90 is broadly defined as successful academic performance in schools with
significant numbers of poor and minority students. Reeves describes five common
characteristics in 90/90/90 schools. One of these characteristics is, frequent assessment of
student progress and multiple opportunities for improvement (Reeves 2003). This characteristic
is another way to say formative feedback. Formative feedback happens in the moment so
students have immediate feedback, and
improvement can begin right away.
Immediate feedback is more effective.
Formative feedback is powerful because
it is feedback that becomes a learning experience. Students learn from the feedback and then
they are able to quickly improve upon the skill or objective. There are many technological tools
available for providing formative feedback to students. We will explore several of these tools in
the following section.

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

11

What Technological Tools are Available for Formative

Feedback?
Technology is providing new and exciting ways for teachers to provide formative feedback to
students. In the past, teachers were limited to spoken and written feedback. Technology is
broadening the mediums through which students are able to receive feedback.

Google Apps for Education

Google Apps for Education or Google Drive is a powerful tool for students and teachers. It is
also an excellent way to gather and provide formative feedback. Google Drive allows students
and teachers to produce content in the form of word processing documents, slideshows,
spreadsheets, and forms. One way that Google Drive empowers teachers to provide formative
feedback is through its collaborative commenting
feature. Teachers can work simultaneously with a student
on the content they are producing. Students do not need
to wait until they are finished with a piece to receive feedback. With Google Drives
capabilities, teachers and students can provide feedback by directly collaborating on a document,
or providing attached comments about a certain part. They can immediately receive and use the
feedback in their work.
A second commenting tool that Google Drive offers is a third party app called Kaizena. Kaizena
allows teachers to record voice comments within a Google Document. This type of feedback is a
more personalized way to provide feedback to students. Many students find this mode of
feedback intriguing, and therefore pay closer attention to it.

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

12

Google Forms is a tool that teachers can use to receive feedback from students and
parents. Google Forms allows teachers to create original surveys. The surveys can be embedded
into a website or simply sent out as a link. Responses from the surveys are collected in a Google
Sheet for analysis. This simple tool allows teachers to receive feedback and adjust instruction
based on that feedback.

Student Response Systems

Student Response systems are another excellent way for students to receive formative feedback
on their learning. There are several forms of student response systems. One type is clickers.
Students literally click their answer on a handheld remote, and the
screen lights up immediately to show if their response was correct or
incorrect. Clicker questions are typically multiple-choice questions.
Well designed multiple choice questions paired with clickers is a
powerful way to provide students immediate feedback on their
understanding.

Other, perhaps more robust types of student response systems are web based. Web based or app
based systems are student response systems that use the power of a web browser or a mobile app.
These systems allow the teacher to set up a class that students can join from a variety of devices.
While one student joins from an iPhone, another could join from a browser on a desktop
computer.

Students are not limited to one piece of technology as they are with clickers. Another advantage
to these types of student response systems is that they allow more variety in responses than
traditional clickers. Teachers can set up questions that allow students to sort, use text, provide

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

13

numeric responses, and even draw to show work. Two powerful tools for web and app based
student response systems are InfuseLearning and Socrative. Student response systems provide
students with immediate feedback so they can improve right away. They also give teachers
meaningful data to quickly adjust their instruction.

Document Cameras for Feedback

An innovative tool for providing feedback is the document camera. Most people know the
document camera as a tool for projecting onto a screen for all students to see. Many teachers are
unaware that it is also a tool to provide personalized feedback to students. Document cameras
can be connected to your computer, typically through a USB port. Once connected, teachers can
record videos using the document camera. An example is to use a document camera to give
students feedback on their writing. A teacher can edit student writing under the camera so that it
records a video of the feedback. Also, the teacher can provide a verbal dialogue during the
feedback process. The video can then be sent to the student and parents. The video can be
referred to as often as the student needs to internalize the feedback.

This type of feedback can be time consuming for the teacher. Teachers need to
pick and choose their moments to use this technology. It may be used best for
just a few difficult to reach students who would be intrigued by its novelty. The
document camera could also be used for one or two important
assignments. Regardless of its use, document cameras provide unique
capabilities for providing formative feedback.

14

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

Adobe for Feedback

Adobe is well known for its handling of .pdf documents. It also has some little known tools for
formative feedback. The free Adobe Reader software allows teachers to type, underline, and
highlight on a .pdf document of student work to provide feedback. It also gives teachers the
ability to embed audio comments and files into the .pdf. The document can then be sent back to
the student with a variety of different forms of feedback. Adobes features can be a time saver,
while also providing innovative, specific, and meaningful feedback to students. It is a tool that
can be added to the teachers toolbox.

Badges
Badges are an innovative idea that is starting to gain momentum in education. The idea of
badges is that students earn a badge to signify the mastery of a skill. Skills might be content
skills in school or a softer skill like demonstrating leadership that is earned outside of
school. Students would collect
badges and be able to display
them as a representation of their
skill set.

Badges apply to formative assessment because they clearly communicate to students whether
they have mastered a concept or not. Badges also imply that a students can continue to improve
until they do earn a badge for a particular concept. Badges could become an important tool for
feedback in education.

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

15

Adapted Learning Tools for Formative Feedback

There are also tools that provide students with formative feedback without the teacher needing to
do anything. These tools are called adapted learning tools. They are basically computer
programs that adjust the level of instruction and performance based on the success or struggles of
the student. As these technologies improve, teachers will be able to rely heavily on them to
provide feedback to their students. Feldstein describes these tools as tutors. They are not
expected to know everything the instructor knows, but they help students to understand the
basics (Feldstein 2013).
There are many tools that provide students immediate feedback automatically. Programs like
ALEKS, Khan Academy, and TenMarks use student accuracy and inaccuracy to differentiate the
content given to a student. Not only can these programs let students know how they are
performing, they also give students appropriate instruction based on their misconceptions. This
instruction could be in the form of an example, a hint, a more basic problem, or a video.

Accelerated Reader is an example of a technology that provides automated feedback to students

on their comprehension. Students can take quizzes on almost any book they read. The results of
their quizzes provide them with immediate feedback on whether they understood the book or not.
Students can use that feedback to adjust their book level. It can also help teachers to recognize
who is struggling with comprehension and may need an intervention.

Technology is even permeating its way into writing. Automated essay graders are being
developed and improved to help students receive automated feedback on their writing. Reddy
and Jambagi designed a project to assess the effectiveness of Automated Essay Grader. The

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

16

Automated Essay Grader detects errors in grammar, usage, semantics, coherence, and length. It
also scores the essay based on these errors. According to this study, there were several obstacles,
such as ineffective use of punctuation that produced incorrect scoring. Although automated
essay grading is not widely used yet, if improved, it could be a large time saver for teachers. It
could also give students more immediate feedback on their essays (Reddy and Jambagi 2013).
Another interesting tech tool for writing is called GrammarBase. GrammarBase provides
feedback for students on their writing. It analyzes writing for grammar, punctuation, style,
plagiarism, and contextual spelling. It then gives examples to correctly fix mistakes. This is an
excellent tool for formative feedback before turning in a final paper.

This is just a sampling of the many tools available to assist teachers in giving feedback to
students. We know that technology is constantly changing and new tools will continue to
arise. It is critical that we use formative assessment to improve student learning. Clayton
Christensen says it well in his book Disrupting Class (2008). He says about the effectiveness of
customized online learning that, Misunderstandings do not have to persist for weeks until the
exam has been administered and the instructor has had time to grade every students test. Rather,
we can verify mastery continually to create tight, closed feedback loops. This is the power of
formative feedback.

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

17

The Student
The buzzword digital native is frequently used to describe those people born with technology
pulsing through their veins. In their perfect world, everything should have a remote control or
even better a touch screen. These are the current students. They are unafraid and undaunted by
technology. Todays youth like all youth are invincible, embracing change and dreaming of the
next gadget. They want as much technology as possible. Even children that do not have access to
technology in their homes are adept at signing up, and signing on. They even help their parents
or extended family members navigate the Internet so
they can register themselves for school. If allowed,
these 21st Century learners are more than eager to
lead teachers out of non-responsive screens with their
savvy technology skills. Technology is their world;
their springboard to the global playing field.

Formative Assessments & Technology Tools, a New Beginning

In conclusion it is safe to say that technology will continue to evolve, and schools will continue
to need exemplary leadership. Engaging students with rigor, promoting collaboration, and
reaching for excellence is what educators are all about. A healthy classroom is alive with
students interacting with content in some fashion with the instructor, and likely throughout the
day with some type of technology. Teachers are fine tuning, fine tuning to promote optimum
performance for all students. Fine tuning is the very essence of formative assessments.

Each student, in reality, is placed in a classroom for a very short time. What will educators do to
facilitate each childs engagement across content areas? How will this task be accomplished

18

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

now, in the 21st Century? David Warlick, has written about and taught technology integration
and school curriculum for over thirty years. He is an educator, programmer, public speaker and
author. His words are what we have tried to show in our collaborative work.

(Warlick) Today, the world is a different place. Our sense of the future has
changed, our students learn differently, and the very nature of information has
transformed into something more dynamic and vibrant. Technology has advanced
at a rate that would have astounded us 50 years ago. This time of rapid change is
forcing us, for the first time in decades to rethink education and what it means to
be educated.
~idave.onlearning.us

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

19

References
Feldstein, M. (2013). What faculty should know about adaptive learning. Retrieved December
17, 2013, from http://mfeldstein.com/faculty-know-adaptive-learning/
Hattie, J. (2010). Visible learning, tomorrows schools, the mindsets that make the difference in
education. Retrieved from http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/mediaspeeches/guestlectures/pdfs/tgls-hattie.pdf
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/Seven-Keys-toEffective-Feedback.aspx
http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/data-sharing-throughparent-portals-an-exploration-of-parental-motivation-data-use-and-the-promise-ofprolonged-parent-involvement
http://www.iteea.org/Resources/PressRoom/FinlandStatusPaper.pdf
Jambagi, G. & Reddy, P. (2013). Automated essay grading. Retreived April 20, 2014, from
http://www.cs.uic.edu/~preddy/nlp1.pdf
Reeves, D.B. (2003). High performance in high poverty schools. Center for Performance

Assessment. Retrieved April 20, 2014 from

http://www.gvsu.edu/cms3/assets/8D75A61E-920B-A470-

F74EFFF5D49C6AC0/forms/boardmembers/resources/high_performance_in_high_

poverty_schools.pdf
Starkie, Barbara. (2013). Data sharing through parent portals: nn exploration of parental
motivation, data use, and the promise of prolonged parent involvement. Fine Newsletter,
Volume V, Issue 2.Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2014,
from http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/data-sharingthrough-parent-portals-an-exploration-of-parental-motivation-data-use-and-the-promiseof-prolonged-parent-involvement

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

20

Appendix A
Technology Use Questionnaire
On a scale of 1-feeling good to 10 not so good, what is your comfort level with
technology? What would help you move towards feeling good?
4
6 -- more access to newest technology
8 --I need TIME to create materials. For example, Id love to input some our vocab lessons and
written responses into schoology. But no time to do it. Im also a parentmy time at home is
for my own children and family (and I cant feel guilty about that J)
Percentage of Time you use technology to assist in your planning. For my own planning I use
technology 4% to get ideas and lessons.
0 -- too much, too overwhelming
9
6
8
4 -- need TIME to explore
3 -- someone to show me how to use it, and then follow-up with me; once is not enough
7 -- show me one great thing, let me use it for awhile instead of throwing 100 different things at
me
Average: Just under 5
Percentage of Time you use technology to assist in your planning?
20%
50%
10%
40%
90%
75%
60%
(We use Google Drive for collaborative planning, and data teams. Every teacher has a laptop
and most use it to plan)
Average: 49%
Percentage of Time you use technology instructionally?
0% I use nothing with students
3%
70% during direct instruction and 10% during student practice/application
50%
90% (Promethean Board is almost always on and being used in some capacity, even if not at a
high level)
80% Direct Instruction, 25% for student practice
Average: 48%

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

21

Appendix A
Technology Use Questionnaire continued
Reasons Technology not used:
Already have a curriculum, no access to the new technology. LD does not get
Smartboards.
Limited access Ive asked administrators for an iPad but do not have one for personal
use at my school sites
Not appropriate
23-minute instructional blocks
Not enough computers for the kiddos, not enough time to develop student-centered
technology activities.
Not working or often does not work - Frustration
Not enough access
Seems like its not worth the time and effort
Student engagement increases, but so does the challenge of management
Im not comfortable with the technology
Worried about inappropriate use by students
Reasons Technology is frustrating:
Lack of training and access
When I see it excessively used for games/plan in school
Not newest or most efficient, must purchase on my own
n/a
District gives a little sample roll out and then there is little to no follow up with examples,
ideas for implementation (unless it is on your own time)
When it doesnt work
Extra time necessary for planning and implementation
Not enough
Quality of programs is sometimes lacking
Can turn into busy work
New technologies for students gets in the way of actually producing good content

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

22

Appendix A
Technology Use Questionnaire continued
What Technology would you like to know more about to help you plan and teach?
Smartboard lessons would be great
iPad apps for speech-language
SMARTboards, movie making, assistive technology resources
None
I am excited to have the summer to begin to explore Schoology and create items to be
used to support our skill work in literacy. With next years 1 computer for every 2
student ratio, I see the possibilities of using them more frequently in the classroom.
Google Drive
Clickers
Math programs that differentiate for students
Typing programs
Movie making software

INSTRUCTION MEETS TECHNOLOGY

23

Appendix B
Video Presentation Questions
We chose an informative talk show atmosphere for our video presentation. Kendra was the host.
Viewer questions about classroom feedback prompted the segment you will see. We chose our
presentation with this format to demonstrate that using technology is readily available and not so
scary. We chose, Zoom, The Cloud Meeting Company, after being introduced to it by Mr. Brent
Wilson, INTE 6570 Instructor. We wanted to show how technology could be effective as
feedback, to mirror the theme of our paper.
(Kendra will introduce herself, summarize why the panel is assembled, introduce Mark and
Diane and then begin the interview process.)
1. How can we make feedback more meaningful and relevant to students?
2. How does effective teacher feedback better inform and prepare students to go from
assignment to assessment?
3. How can schools better support Educator Professional Development so that using
technology in every classroom is a reality?
Link to presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBJMvet2i0w