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 from ideas that they have generated
and that, although you may have guided them physically trough
the hyperlinks, they have some understanding of the choices
they were able to make on the World Wide Web.
- You
need to be confident that the ideas are the pupil's own, or
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 the pupils appreciate the
differences between presentation and content, and that the pupil
is using the technology to increase their independence in carrying
out the task than before they used the technology.
- The
key measure of success is of course in the pupil's understanding
of the literacy and communication related elements in the key
objectives of the case study. There is a danger that providing
multiple sensory stimuli to the pupil to get him or her to produce
an account of an activity for others to follow will act as a
non-literary form of short-circuit to understanding. Here the
crucial point is to establish that understanding has come through
using more appropriate means of producing text documents.
- 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. Observing a pupil make
intelligent decisions about the relevant symbols/graphics to
represent an item or activity in their written document is an
obvious example of this.
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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