d.
Assessing Learning
As
with any form of teaching, when the work is done it is essential
that accurate and valid forms of assessment take place. When you
are using ICT in teaching, several dangers arise that are not
otherwise so obvious. They stem from the easy availability and
the ease of manipulation of information and ideas, and it is best
to be clear about them in this first case study.
- You
need to be confident that the information received and used
by pupils has been arrived at 'deliberately' - that is as a
function of their acquisition of subject-based skills rather
than by some accident of the World Wide Web.
- You
need to be confident that the work is the student's own, not
a copied version of a comrade's work. Also, that new ideas presented
to them through the technology have been assimilated in a way
that is appropriate.
- You
need to be happy that both you and your students appreciate
the differences between presentation and content, and that the
student is not merely using the technology to make better-looking
work of the same standard as before, but increasing their skills
and aptitude for improvement.
- The
key measure of success is the student's understanding of the
IT Key Skill objectives, and how these may be used in relation
to other subjects. There is a danger that introducing the student
to too many new skills in too short a time, might overwhelm
the student. An equal danger is concentration on the actual
skill of doing the task, without looking at the underpinning
knowledge and understanding.
- Individual
and shared progress and achievement - often the technology will
have been used by pairs and groups, as well as by individuals.
Here you need to have a method of ensuring that credit goes
to the right pupil of pair/group for the work done or learning
achieved.
- ICT
use and opportunities to assess learning. Throughout the time
you are using ICT to develop pupils' learning it is crucial
to keep an eye on where ICT allows you to intervene with an
assessment, or whether the ICT has provided you with an assessment
opportunity that you had not foreseen. The expert e-mail exchange
is an obvious example of this, but so is observing a pupil make
intelligent decisions about the worth of a World Wide Web site
or a part of the CD-ROM.
For
discussion with your mentor:
- How
many of the points made above have you seen in the course of
your work developing the case study, and are there any others
you expect to come across?
 Part
3: Evaluating the Use of ICT in Teaching and Learning
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