On Tuesday we had a wonderful presentation given to us by the very inspiring Janet Chow from Burnaby school district. Although Janet was there to talk to us about EdTech resources in use in Burnaby schools, I found the most interesting piece of her presentation to be about how technology can be used for formative assessment. This echoed what a lot of other presenters have talked about in our class thus far in that technology should be a tool for students to help express their learning.
Janet talked about class blogs and even student blogs where students would post some of the inquiry questions or work from in class. Teachers and parents then have access to these blogs and can see the progress students are making.
Janet was big on assessment being meaningful and related to individual goals and success criteria. Janet also posed the most interesting question of how assessment can be used to empower students? I believe this is a wonderful question and is something that should guide your practice as an educator. If the end result is not clear to students why would they want to do it? Similarly if they are not interested in the topic, why would they do well on it? Meaningful assessment to empower my students is something I will keep in mind as I approach my practicum and continue in my education journey.
Great thoughts, Brielle! I like how to took away the importance of assessment with technology. I feel like as teachers we can often forget that technology can be used for more than just lessons. I appreciate hearing from so many educators web ave had presentations from about how assessment needs to be meaningful and understood by all students!