As we know, the 21st century is complex; education will encourage individuals to develop talents and proficiencies to surmount the crisis they would encounter. Even if we have a balanced curriculum, pitfalls exist. Most classrooms need to adopt and organize teaching-learning sessions integrating technology in this technology era.
The constructivist method in teaching-learning processes enables instructors to assess pupils using modern information and communication technologies (ICTs). ICT has been a significant component of classroom activities during the last few decades. Teachers collect information from the internet and other ICT resources for teaching and learning. Children are also using computers and other electronic devices for self-learning and expanding their knowledge beyond the current curriculum.
In this environment, you must be trained and prepared to use ICT to assess student performance. There are several ICT technologies available to assist teachers in assessing student performance. With the advent of ICT, the nature of teaching, learning, and assessment has changed. Television, computers, iPods, learning management systems (LMS), virtual reality, social networking sites, online education, online digital repositories, and other ICTs are examples. ICT offers a variety of applications in education that help students develop the skills and competencies they need to thrive in the job and live a fulfilling life.
Children can participate in customized testing circumstances while using ICT-enabled exams. In such cases, learning proceeds at the same rate as the individual taking exams.
The ICT-integrated assessment gives pupils rapid feedback.
Children's confidence is increased by technology-enabled evaluation since they receive rapid feedback on their learning.
The evaluation may be set up so that children receive quick feedback and can therefore repair their mistakes and go forward.
The frequency of assessment could be increased, which would benefit children and keep them engaged in their studies.
It piques learners' attention and motivates them as they try various technology-assisted assessments.
Technology-assisted testing/assessment procedures are inexpensive and straightforward to use.
As you know, evaluation is an essential component of teaching-learning. It allows you to assess children's instructional activities and to learn achievement. Traditional assessment methods include paper and pencil tests, unit and term-end examinations, and oral questioning procedures. However, the rise of ICT has had an impact on evaluation methodologies. A simple example would be keeping track of children's grades on an excel spreadsheet. Previously, children's grades were recorded on paper sheets, but today, application software such as Microsoft Excel is utilized. ICT in assessment has two dimensions: technology as a tool and technology as an aiding medium. Let us look at two accessible instances.
A student utilizing a video camera to record the teaching session is an example of using technology as a tool while analyzing the recorded video is an example of using technology to aid with evaluation. Before proceeding, please review the illustration, which will assist you in differentiating the various sorts of examinations. As teachers, we are concerned about using ICT in many sorts of evaluation.
Teachers are critical in determining the technologies used to assess students' success. Technology may be used for evaluation and assessment because assessment is a component of the evaluation. Paper and pencil examinations were popular in the past, but today, various technological instruments have been recognized and developed to make testing more accessible and enjoyable for youngsters.
So, whether it is evaluation or assessment, the teacher's inventiveness and expertise in leveraging technology are essential. At this level, instructors might benefit significantly from a framework known as Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). The framework summarises each teacher's unique and combined expertise in technology, pedagogy, and content. TPACK is a teacher knowledge foundation for technology integration. Within the context of TPACK, teacher knowledge is characterized as a complex interaction and intersection of three bodies of knowledge: content, pedagogy, and technology.
TPACK is one of the foundations for selecting and integrating technology in evaluating children's performance. Thus, your responsibility in technology-based evaluation is to test using numerous technologies. Using the TPACK framework, which includes judgements on technology-based evaluation, would be simple. Let us look at how the TPACK idea is used in the assessment.
Despite their differences, the phrases online and e-examination have the same meaning and are used interchangeably. Online examinations are conducted in an internet setting, whereas exams can be conducted using any digital resources. For example, an LMS platform such as MOODLE requires an online connection, and the evaluation takes place in an internet environment. At the same time, the LMS platform and eXe software (a website for developing online material) work both offline and online. As a result, the evaluation in eXe is more of an electronic evaluation.
As the name implies, online tests take place in an internet setting and are typically administered via computers. While e-exams may be administered using any digital device, the ubiquitous usage of intent technologies has opened up new options for engaging assessment via digital apps. Similarly, online and e-exams are becoming increasingly popular in the educational industry. The following aspects should be included in online and e-exams
Instructions for the Examination − The time, marks allocated for each section/question, class, style of replying, question type, and so on must be clearly stated.
Registration − Students taking online or e-exams must first register or make an account, where questions to test their knowledge will be provided. Either the test will be provided online, which students may assess by entering their login password, or the examiner will set the questions, which students can only attempt.
Valid Time Duration of the Examination − The examination will be valid for a fixed period, after which it will become inaccessible. This is because the test format is designed so pupils will not have extra time to attempt questions, as in a traditional examination.
Time Reminder − As students proceed through the questions, the system will create alerts regarding the remaining time, questions neglected, half-tried, and so on. These prompts serve as reminders to students to finish their exams on time.
Answer Submission − Students can submit answers as a complete or as a single question at a time. In both circumstances, warning signals would be generated before submitting the response: if the answer is complete, whether they want to amend answers, and so on. This allows pupils to double-check their replies.
Answer Submission − Students can submit answers as a complete or as a single question at a time. In both circumstances, warning signals would be generated before submitting the response: if the answer is complete, whether they want to amend answers, and so on. This allows pupils to double-check their replies.
Continuous and comprehensive assessment (CCE) is a school technique where pupils are regularly examined on multiple factors during academic sessions. Learning performance, engagement in co-curricular activities, involvement in other school events, and so on are all regularly examined. As a result, the evaluation is broad and ongoing. A student's many data points are meticulously documented. Portfolios track the student's learning performance, activities, information on involvement in co-curricular activities, and other pertinent data during the session. Such a record is quite valuable in analyzing the student's achievement throughout his or her education. Portfolios have been replaced with e-portfolios as we emphasize the culture of digital teaching-learning.
Children participate in various tasks while learning, graded to determine their performance. In general, achievement assessments are used to evaluate pupils. A rubric is a set of criteria used to evaluate pupils' performance. A rubric is a set of consistent criteria for student work that includes descriptors of the degree of achievement. As a result, a rubric will comprise a few established criteria and descriptions of different degrees of achievement for those criteria. The rubric is more descriptive in that the skills to be evaluated are specified as levels, and the students' level for that particular talent is identified. Despite being descriptive, the degree of performance is used to evaluate an individual's performance. Thus, the primary goal of the rubric is to evaluate the performance.
Assessment is the act of determining something's current status/condition, whereas evaluation is the process of measuring something in order to appraise and value it. Assessment is a phase in the assessment process. Assessment and evaluation are both essential components of the teaching-learning process. These assist you in determining how far you can transact education and support children's learning. The use of ICT in the teaching-learning and assessment processes is not an isolated activity, but it is much appreciated when ICT becomes an integrated component of the process. They also emphasized that ICT should be an intrinsic element of the teaching-learning process and evaluation.