The stuff describe the Technology, Assessment and role of ICT in Assessment

1. Technologyis the use of scientificknowledge forpractical purposesorapplications,whetherinindustryorinour
everydaylives.So,basically,wheneverwe use ourscientificknowledgetoachieve some specificpurpose,we're using
technology.Well, there isslightlymore toitthanthat. Technologyusuallyinvolvesaspecificpieceof equipment,but
that equipmentcanbe incrediblysimple ordazzlinglycomplex.Itcanbe anythingfromthe discoveryof the wheel,all
the way upto computersand MP3 players.
Assessment
“We define assessmentasfollows:Assessmentisthe processof gatheringanddiscussinginformationfrommultipleand
diverse sourcesinordertodevelopadeepunderstandingof whatstudentsknow,understand,andcando withtheir
knowledge asaresultof theireducational experiences;the processculminateswhenassessmentresultsare usedto
improve subsequentlearning.”
Types ofAssessment
Assessmentcanbe classifiedintovarioustypesorapproachesbasedonthe purpose forwhichit isdesigned.Itcanbe
classifiedasfollows:
Formative Assessment:Formative assessmentprovidesfeedbackandinformationduringthe instructionalprocess,
while learningistakingplace,andwhile learningisoccurring.
Summative Assessment:Summative assessmenttakesplace afterthe learninghasbeencompletedandprovides
informationandfeedbackthatsumsup the teachingandlearningprocess.
Diagnostic Assessment:Diagnosticassessmentcanhelpyouidentifyyourstudents’currentknowledge of asubject,
theirskill setsandcapabilities,andtoclarifymisconceptionsbefore teachingtakesplace.Knowingstudents’strengths
and weaknessescanhelpyoubetterplanwhattoteach and how to teachit.
AuthenticAssessment:The termauthenticassessment describesthe multipleformsof assessmentthatreflectstudent
learning,achievement,motivation,andattitudesoninstructionallyrelevantclassroomactivities.ItEmphasizeswhat
studentsknow,ratherthanwhattheydo not know or requiresstudentstodevelopresponsesinsteadof selectingthem
frompredeterminedoptions.An authenticassessment usuallyincludesataskfor studentstoperformanda rubric by
whichtheirperformance onthe taskwill be evaluated.
Performance Assessment: Performance assessmentisone whichrequiresstudentstodemonstrate thattheyhave
masteredspecificskillsandcompetenciesbyperformingorproducingsomething.
ROLE OF ICT IN ASSESSMENT
Technologyhasa vital role toplayin effective andefficientassessmentof learning. Moderntechnologyofferseducators
a varietyof newtoolsthat can be usedinthe classroom.Technologycanhelpteachersassesstheirstudents'learningas
well astheirperformance inthe classroom.Use of ICT inassessmentinvolvesthe use of digital de vicestoassistinthe
construction,delivery,storage orreportingof studentassessmenttasks,responses,gradesorfeedback.
ICT basedassessmentcanbe undertakenwithmanydevices,suchastraditional desktopcomputersorlaptops,with
portable communicationdevicessuchassmart mobile phones,withdigital devicessuchasiPadsorthroughthe use of
electronicgamingdevices.ICTbasedassessmentcanuse amultitude of formats,includingtextdocumentsorportable
documentformats,multimediaformats suchassound,videoorimages;itcan involve complex simulationsorgames;it
can alsobe undertakenbystudentsingroupsorindividuallyanditcan occur withlarge numbersof studentsina
synchronousorasynchronousmanner.
Teacherscan use computers to constructtheirassessmenttasks,todeliverthese taskstorelevantstudentsandto
record andprovide feedbackandgradestothese students.Computerscanalsobe usedto analyze students'responses,
bothto provide feedbacktothe studentonthe qualityandrelevance of theirresponse,aswell astoprovide feedback
to the teacheron whetherthe taskcan differentiatebetweenstudentswithdifferentabilities.ICTbasedassessment
can be usedtotest manydifferentcapabilitiesandskillsthatare developedbystudents.Thereare onlyafewtasksthat
mightnot be suitable forcompletingandrecordingelectronically,butthe numberof suchtasksis rapidlydiminishingas
technologybecomesmore sophisticatedandwidespread.Inmanydisciplineslaboratoryequipmentcanbe manipulated
remotelyandstudentscanundertake real time physical performancesthatare able tobe recordedand usedfor
assessmentpurposes.We are quicklyapproachingthe stage where ourimaginationswillbe the limitingfactorin
designinge-assessmenttasks.
Christine,R.(2013) identifiedtwoconceptuallydifferentapproachestoassessingKeyCompetenciesusingICT.Onthe
one hand,Computer-BasedAssessment(CBA) approacheshave beenemployedformore thantwodecadesandnowgo
beyondsimple multiplechoice testformats.Withthisnew "GenerationRe-Invention"or"transformative"testing,
questionsare increasinglyintegratedintomore complexandauthenticproblemcontexts,sothatthe full range of Key
Competenciescanbe assessed.Additionally,due totechnological advances,awiderrange of answerformats,including
free textandspeech,canbe automaticallyscored.
On the otherhand,technology-enhancedlearningenvironmentsofferapromisingavenueforembeddedassessmentof
the more complex andbehavioral dimensionsof KeyCompetencies,basedonLearningAnalytics.Manyof the currently

2. available technology-enhancedlearningenvironments,toolsandsystemsrecreate learningsituationswhichrequire
complex thinking,problem-solvingandcollaborationstrategiesandthusallow forthe developmentof genericskills.
Some of these environmentsallowlearnersandteacherstoassessperformance,understandmistakesandlearnfrom
them.
DIGITAL ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Several digital assessmenttoolsare available forassessingstudents'performance.Some of the Web2.0 toolsavailable
todaycan serve asalternative assessmenttoolsforstudentlearning.Theycanengage studentsastheyreflect,share
and demonstrate whattheyhave learned orare learning.Some of the digital assessment toolsare consideredhere.
Online Assessment:Onlineassessment isthe processusedtomeasure certainaspectsof informationforasetpurpose
where the assessmentisdeliveredviaacomputerconnectedtoa network.Mostoftenthe assessmentissome type of
educational test.Withthe emergence of readwrite webandthe developmentinsoftware asaservice ( SaaS),itis
possible todesignandconductonline assessmentwithease.There are manyonline service providersbothfree and
paidfor designinganddevelopingonlinetestsandquizzes.
Digital ConceptMap: Digital conceptmapscan be createdbyusingoffline toolslike VUE,freemindorcanbe created
usingonline toolslike bubbl.us,orweismap.Concept mapscanbe usedformativelytomake studentthinkingvisible.
Whenstudentsconstructandsubmittheirunderstandingof keyconceptsandtheirlinkagesthroughaconceptmap,it
becomesclearwhetherthe studentsunderstandthe conceptual frameworkaround atopicof study.Conceptmapsalso
provide immediate visual datatofacultyonstudentmisconceptionsandtheirlevel of understanding
Online Forum: Forumisan asynchronouscommunicationtool.There are manystandaloneforumtoolslikevanillaor
phpbb. Forumor discussionboardisalsoan integratedfeature of all the learnermanagementsystem.Thiscanbe used
inmany waysas an assessmenttool.Learnerscouldbe askedtobrainstormona topicby postingtheirideasinaforum.
There can be questionanswerforumwhere everylearnerneedstoposttheiranswerinordertosee the otherlearners'
response tothe question.Teachercancreate manytopicspecificdiscussionforumsandthiscouldbe usedtoevaluate
learners'level of understandingandmisconceptionsif any.
Survey Tools:There are many online surveytoolslikesurveymonkey,poll daddyorlime survey.Thesetoolscanbe
usedas an assessmenttool andalsotocollectfeedbackfromlearners.Insituationswhere youmayhave abipolarsetof
opinions,itishelpful tosurface thatina non-threateningway.Anonymousonline pollscanbe usedtogather and
demonstrate the twosideswithoutrevealingindividual attitudes.A surveycanbe useful formeasuringthe entire class's
grasp of course concepts,since surveyanswersare aggregated.Because of theiranonymousandaggregatednature,
surveysmayalsobe particularlyhandyforcourse evaluation.
Wikis:A wiki isa website thatallowsuserstocollaborativelyeditandcreate content.The mostprominentexample of a
wiki isWikipedia,acollaborativelycreatedonline encyclopedia.Wikishave become verypopularenvironmentsfor
collaborative projectsinformal educationandtraining.The learners'contributioninwikicanbe assessedbythe
teachers.Thiscan alsobe a tool forself andpeerassessment.
Blogs: In general,the learningjournal isawayof documentinglearningandcollectinginformationforself-analysisand
reflection.Learningjournalshelpstudentsreflectonhow theylearnbest.Learningjournalsalsohelpstudentsreflect
on theirknowledge,skillsand behaviors astheylearn.Journalsare usedto:
• improve writingbyhelpingstudentstopractice andrefine writingknowledge,skillsand behaviors accumulatedover
time
• define personal learninggoalsasstudentscanreflectandplanfor future learningandprogress
• recordexperiencessostudentscanreflectonexperiencestodevelopcritical thinking,aquestioningattitude,and
creative andemotive responses
• provide arepresentationof understandingforstudentstoconnectthe experience tothe learning
• Online,blogsprovideaconvenienttool forjournaling.