I agree with the premise of the article "Web 2.0 Use May Not Be Formative Assessment". We as educators need to remember that simply using a technological tool does not mean that learning occurred; feedback is a vital step in the process of formative assessment.
Using
blogs in a reader’s workshop model could be a very effective formative
assessment. This year, students in 7th
grade are using traditional composition notebooks for their reader’s notebooks,
and they are being used more as a summative assessment. I envision something different. I think the reader’s notebook should be used
as a formative assessment, where the teacher can give feedback over the course of
several weeks. At the end of the unit or
set of teaching points, the students can reflect over their work and choose one
of their blog entries to edit, revise, and develop – using the feedback that
the teacher (and perhaps even classmates) provided.
Blogs
would definitely facilitate this process.
They make the feedback process easier, the students get to experience “publishing”
their work for an audience, and the never-ending stack of notebooks to carry
home and grade is eliminated. Blogs also
can be used throughout the entire formative assessment process; they can be
used for student responses, teacher monitoring and diagnosing of responses, and
teacher feedback to responses.
1 comment:
That is a great idea. A perfect example of taking the "traditional" classroom practice and bringing in technology. A lot of times teachers will replace something traditional that they are doing with a piece of technology that does the exact same thing. That should not be the case. The addition of technology should only be implemented if it is able to add something beneficial to the traditional method. I think your example of switching to blogs instead of paper composition notebooks adds a few new beneficial dimensions. 1. The monitoring, progressing, and learning would be ongoing. 2. Three would be more opportunities for feedback and potentially additional feedback from peers. 3. Blogs are typically more convenient for teachers and students to use, read, and assess.
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