Quality Assessment through ICT

1. Quality Assessment through ICT Karen Yager & Michael Beilharz Knox Grammar School – yagerk@knox.nsw.edu.au

2. “It is about learning to learn, about becoming independent thinkers and learners. It is about problem solving, team-work, knowledge of the world, adaptability, and comfort in a global system of technologies, conflict and complexity. It is about the joy of learning and the pleasure of productivity of using one’s learning in all facets of work and life pursuits” (2006, Fullan, Hill and Crevola, Breakthrough).

3. Australian Curriculum Goals • Goal 1: • Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence: promote personalised learning that aims to fulfill the diverse capabilities of each young Australian. • Goal 2: • All young Australians become: • successful learners • confident and creative individuals • active and informed citizens

4. ICT & Assessment FLUENCY - generating many ideas FLEXIBILITY - shifting perspective easily ORIGINALITY - conceiving something new PURPOSE- vision AUDIENCE - context ELABORATION - building on other ideas EVALUATION – metacognition; critical reflection

5. The Research • “Technology can become an obstacle to learning, especially when a student is first exposed to a new and/or novel technology. The student may become too focused on the technology and neglect the need for developing creative ideas” (Mohler). • “Technology is best seen as another tool in the repertoire available to learners and teachers for expression and communication” (Andrews et al., 2006) • http://cunningham.acer.edu.au/dbtw-wpd/textbase/NSWIT/NSW_Digest_1_09.html#Availability

6. Life-long learning UNESCO report identified three characteristics oflifelong learners: • learning to do: acquiring and applying skills, such as: problem solving and communication • learning to be:promoting creativity and personal fulfillment • learning to know:flexibility and critical thinking

7. Quality Assessment “The quality of teaching and learning provision are by far the most salient influences on students’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes of schooling – regardless of their gender or backgrounds” (Rowe, 2003). “Assessment should be first and foremost for the learner’s sake, designed and implemented to provide useful feedback to the learner on worthy tasks to make improved performance and ultimate mastery more likely” (Wiggins, 2006).

8. Assessment for Deep understanding The aim of assessment is primarily to educate and improve student performance, not merely to audit it” (Wiggins, 1998).

9. Learning first; technology as a tool! • What do the students need to learn? • Why does it matter? • What do they already know? • What do I want the students to do or produce to demonstrate their learning and understanding? • How will they get there? • How can technology be a powerful tool? • How well do I expect them to do it?

10. Assessment Tasks • Selects and uses appropriate forms of communication to present information to an audience • Students develop, select and use a range of strategies, including the selection and use of appropriate technology, to explore and develop solutions in solving problems • Plans, implements and evaluates the effectiveness of the medium of production or form

11. Deep understanding • Personalisation and differentiation • Moving towards student directed and open ended • Problem solving • Investigation • Collaborating and sharing • Teaching others • Evaluating and reflecting

13. Digi-texts History: Stage 4 • Concept: Heritage • Key Ideas: • The power of stories to convey the importance of heritage. • Tasks: • Digital Faction (Premier, Word, Audacity) • Critical evaluation: Word document/Peer feedback using insert comment):

14. ‘Stories are the lifeblood of a nation’ Garth Boomer. Digital Texts • A digital timeline • A narrative • Cross KLAs task • A reflection • A life-story • Local hero • A podcast • Multiple endings • Alternative perspectives • A soundscape • A digital poem • A news report • A travel tale: Google Earth

15. The Sites • http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/audiovideo/sites/about/pages/howto.shtml • http://www.digi-tales.org/ • http://www.photobus.co.uk/index.php?id=2 • http://www.changinglives.com.au/2008/04/abrar-autumn-and-i.html • http://www.dipity.com/ - Digital timeline

16. Preparation for Assessment Task • Mind maps to plan for a narrative: Inspiration or Kidspiration (http://www.inspiration.com/); Webspiration: http://www.mywebspiration.com/ ; Freemind: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download • Composing the same narrative with different complications and resolutions. In power point or word a hyperlink could be used for each change. (Choose your own adventure). • Co-authoring using One Note • Sharing ideas through a wiki, blog or ning • 12-word novels • Twitter texts • Novels in 3 Lines: http://twitter.com/novelsin3lines: Invented by Fénéon, these miniaturized, epigrammatic texts are highly compressed, self-contained stories.

17. Preparation • Build your wild self (primary): http://www.buildyourwildself.com/ - create a half-human half animal character and download them so that they can become the main character in a narrative or blog story. • Voki:http://www.voki.com/ - create an avatar for a blog story or students can play with the crafting of a character. The students can add setting, clothing and even record their character’s voice.

18. Preparation • A word cloud to brainstorm ideas using Wordle - http://www.wordle.net/ • Grammar Skills:http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/ • Grammar Monster: http://www.grammar-monster.com/index.html • Visuword:http://www.visuwords.com/ - a beautiful online thesaurus to find more effective synonyms.

19. Preparation • Focus on imagery through visual images or film clips • Video clips from Youtube or films: the trailers of films or a short clip from Australian Screen or Film Australia: can be used to stimulate writing - Australian Screen: film clips: http://aso.gov.au/titles/alpha/A/ and Screen Asia – Asian films, http://dl.screenaustralia.gov.au/tag/Asia/

20. Whitby Abbey Preparation Google Lit Trip: • Explore a novel, play or poetry settings or take a road trip with an author! • Add images, commentary and key quotes • Create a unique Lit Trip for an original story, play or poem - http://www.googlelittrips.org/

21. Preparation • Inanimate Alice:http://www.inanimatealice.com/ - tells the story of Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century in China • Dust Echoes: http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/dustEchoesFlash.htm - lyrical animations beautifully illustrated of Aboriginal myths. • State Library of Victoria: Mirror of the World: Books and Ideas: http://www.mirroroftheworld.com.au/ - amazing images and extracts from texts to inspire writing.

22. Digital Poem • Digital poems with images • http://www.abc.net.au/rn/poetica/features/pod/ or http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do: Listen to one of the poets reading his or her poems and focus on the artistry. • Instant poetry: http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm: Students can create poetry at this site. • Sonnet Central: http://www.sonnets.org/ - access to hundreds of sonnets and recordings too inspire writing.

23. Oral Tasks • Podcasts • Oral tales • Interviews • Speeches • Advertisements • Performance poetry • Raps • News/Weather presentations

24. Oral Tasks • Youtube: Henry V’s Saint Crispin’s Day Speech & Barack Obama’s victory speech • Audacity/Garage Band/Adobe Soundbooth: Critical commentary on a soliloquy • Rhetoric: http://www.putlearningfirst.com/language/20rhet/20rhet.html • American Rhetoric:http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htmVodcasts and podcasts of speeches such as Martin Luther King.

25. Oral Tasks • Persuasion 101:http://prezi.com/62290/: An introduction to persuasion. • Essay Map: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/essaymap/

26. Learning Objects • Students creating objects to teach others: • Quizzes in Captivate or Presenter • Summaries, research, etc in OneNote • Presentations in Smart Notebook • Mind maps in Freemind • Short films and advertisements in Premier • Podcasts in Audacity or Soundbooth • Angles in GeoGebra

27. Inquiry-based Research Task • Geography Topic: Investigating Australia’s Physical Environments • Concept: Interaction • Task: Investigate one recent natural hazard; pose a research question you would like answered; locate, analyse and evaluate information, and present in any medium of production such as: an E-portfolio using OneNote with interviews, news footage and factual information or a Podcast using Audacity.

28. Inquiry-based learning • Concept: Sustainability • Question: Why do so many Australians believe that they do not need to reduce their global footprint? • Online survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/ • http://www.globe.gov/projects • The Product: Wiki, Power Point, Ning, short film, digital report, Captivate, podcast, OneNote, Presenter…

29. Metacognition • Assessment as learning is about reflecting on evidence of learning • Digital Portfolios • Wikis, Nings and Blogs • http://davinci9english.wikispaces.com/ • Podcasts • E-Portfolios

30. “Teachers should not drive students in a tourist bus through the school curriculum, encouraging the bland recital of tourist blurbs. Students should be obliged to savour the rich texture of life…” Garth Boomer.