Rana Walton

7/5/15
EDU225
Mr. Martin
Technology to Support Assessments
Assessment in this spirit does not concern assignment of grades or evaluation of whether
instruction was effective (Technology Quotes, n.d.). It is assessment designed squarely to feed
into the learning process and make the learning stronger. Assessments helps both the educator
and their students. They are not just test to see which student is better, the assessments are given
to see what the student has master and what the student may need help in. Utilizing software to
support assessments is important for the simple fact that educators have results in their hands
quicker and can help fix any mishaps in the lesson plans ASAP.
Technology to Facilitate Ongoing Efforts to Assess Student Learning
Educators can utilize technology to facilitate the ongoing efforts to assess student
learning in the classroom in many ways. With all the limits of the classroom now-a-days,
technology can provide another set of ways to assess what children are understanding and
learning. It allows for continuing evaluation of the classroom lessons. Educators receive results
immediately by using technology towards their advantage. Educators who receive repeated
feedback creates a way of teaching that is very different from the traditional classroom. It makes
the teaching process a lot easier for most educators. Educators using technology to help with

assessments will constantly adjusting the lesson plans. This is a model for what assessment looks
like when it occurs continuously during instruction. The educator will improve their skills and
students will improve in the learning process. Three software tools that have been proven to
work in the classroom are Lino, Poll Everywhere and ClassMarker.
(Lino)
Lino is a virtual corkboard of sticky-notes so students can provide questions or comments
on their learning. These can be used like exit tickets or during the course of a lesson (Dyer,
2014). As educators, they can see what their students are brainstorming and coming up
with their own student-contributed information. Educators can be assigned due dates on
each sticky note. Educators could use this specific software to assess student learning by
posting a topic before it is taught and seeing the questions that students posted on the page.
Educators then can rewrite the lesson plan before they teach it or even may spend a little
more time on a certain area that most students may have concerns with.

(Poll Everywhere)
Poll Everywhere is a web tool that educators can use to create a feedback poll or ask
questions. Students respond in various ways and teachers see the results in real-time (Dyer,
2014). For educators to gain immediate results, Poll Everwhere is a great web tool to use to gain
quicker results of students. Now that more and more classrooms are slowing drifting away from
paper and pens, this web tool is connected to the computer or tablets. Educators can use this
specific software to assess in student learning by conducting a class survey. For example, the
educator can ask if the topic that was taught that week clear and did everyone understand it.
Students and input their votes and results will be giving to the educators within minutes. From
there the educators can go over any areas that was difficult for students. The students will get a
better understanding of the material and educators can fix the teaching right away, for the next

group of students. Every student learns differently, and educators have better access to the
students learning when the topics are fixed to their learnings.
(ClassMarker)
ClassMarker is a web tool that allow educators to create and design their own quizzes and
test. The students connect to the app using their tablets and when they are finished it then graded
saving educators a lot of time throughout the day. Students can see their grades right away. Both
educator and students receive their results, and can see where they messed up (Dyer, 2014).
Educators can use this specific software to assess in student learning by having the availability to
view students grades and even the test to see the problem areas. Educators can collect this data
and change the learning for this particular lesson.
(Formative and Summative Assessments)
Formative and Summative Assessments both give educators the results of their students
learning, but both of the assessments serve a different propose at different time periods.
Educators use formative assessments to watch their students learning by provide ongoing
feedback that can be used by educators to improve their teaching and by students to improve
their learning (Eberly Center for Teaching Excellent, n.d.). Now, Summative Assessment is use
by educators to evaluate students learning at the end of a lesson unit by comparing it against
some standard or benchmark (Eberly Center for Teaching Excellent, n.d.). how technology
be used to facilitate both. Use your eBook and reference sources through intext citations when appropriate. Mention the previous software tools from the
above section of your paper and explain how teachers could utilize those
tools for either formative or summative assessment.)
(Pros and Cons of using Technology to Facilitate Assessment)

Using technology to facilitate Assessment has it is pros and cons. Technology can either
lead towards greatness or lead towards failure when assessing students. The upside of using
technology for assessing students is the immediate results educators can have. It can also
enhance student engagement by allowing diverse assessment methods to be applied, supporting
active learning, allowing more frequent formative assessment, it will also improve students
grades. Using a broader range of assessment methods can also allow a wider range of skills to be
assessed (Engaged in Assessments, 2015).
The downside of using technology for assessments may be students who may have
learning disabilities. For example, students with special educational needs must also be taken
into account from the outset and, if necessary, alternative methods of assessment provided
(Engaged in Assessments, 2015). Technology based assessments may cause the lack of face-toface interactions with student and teacher and the lack of time to instruct students how to use the
web tool to access the quiz or test. Assessments are a great way educators can evaluate their
students learning. There will always be an upside and a downside to things, nothing will ever be
perfect. The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do (Technology
Quotes, n.d.)-B.F.Skinner
(Should a teacher only use technology to assess student learning?
Why or why not?)
Educators should not resort to only one means of assessments. Students having different
learning styles and not every student learns the same. By educators only conducting technology
based assessments or pen and paper based assessments shows the lack of engagement of the
educators behalf. This will leave students behind in their learning success. Educators should
expand their horizons and get creative in the classrooms.

What is the importance of assessment technology in connection

with the ISTE standards?
According to the ISTE standards, the importance of assessments technology is that
technology evaluation provides a feedback loop to inform course corrections that allows
educators to measure the results immediately. While organized assessments of students help track
the systems progress toward meeting the ISTE Standards benchmarks. Therefore, ongoing
evaluation and assessments provide a complete picture of the students success and help
educators pinpoint areas of weakness that need to be address (Assessments and evaluation,
2015).
Assessments is a great tool to keep up with students learning process. Educators can have
immediate results and can change the learning of certain areas students may have struggled in.
Although, using technology to assist in assessments may have advantages and disadvantages for
educators and students does not mean educators such not use technology to assess their students.
Educators can improve students learning and also improve their teaching styles. Either way
assessments are used to enhance the classroom instructions in many ways.

References
Assessments and evaluation. (2015). Retrieved from ISTE:
http://www.iste.org/standards/essential-conditions/assessment-and-evaluation
Dyer, K. (2014, January 21). Teach.Learn.Grow. Retrieved from NWEA:
https://www.nwea.org/blog/2014/33-digital-tools-advancing-formative-assessmentclassroom/#sthash.uzyVWjLW.dpuf
Eberly Center for Teaching Excellent. (n.d.). Retrieved from CMU:
https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html
Engaged in Assessments. (2015). Retrieved from University of Reading:
https://www.reading.ac.uk/engageinassessment/using-technology/eia-pros-and-cons-ofusing-technology.aspx
Standards for Teachers. (2015). Retrieved from ISTE: http://www.iste.org/standards/ISTEstandards/standards-for-teachers
Technology Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved from Brainy quotes:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_technology.html#TQTxXSVISaKqSCE
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