This statement is entirely false. Tests are a form of summative assessment, but effective teachers should be doing some kind of formative assessment throughout the lesson to see if the students are grasping the day’s learning objectives.

District performance assessments, electronic portfolios, oral presentations, and papers that the students write can all be methods of summative assessment. Tests, especially the traditional multiple choice, are easy for the teacher to grade, but they also encourage guessing. They also can be written so there is bias towards certain students, reading and comprehension levels of the students may limit the score on the test and not effectively show what the student really knows.

Formative assessments such as a class poll, administered with a classroom response system or online data collection site allow teachers to find out what the students know in an informal manner. The periodic evaluation of the class comprehension is a must, or a teacher can lose precious time and teachable moments. When I first started teaching, I measured the success of a lesson by the noise level of the class. If the students were quiet, I assumed they were paying attention. However, the first unit exam showed to me that the students weren’t getting all the information. I had to make adjustments and come up with methods to check their understanding. Now that I have several years under my belt, I try to implement many different assessment methods in my classroom. Peer review, question in a hat, fish bowl activities, role-play, and simulations are a few tools I use to check student understanding.

So to say that tests are the only objective assessment of student learning is simply not true. 

This little video helps demonstrate my point.

Technology-Infused Classroom

To me, a technology-infused classroom would look like a scene from the Jetson’s when Elroy is studying at Little Dipper School. The classroom is full of useful tools (wireless, of course), the walls are see-through glass with video monitors infused into the glass so any wall can be used as a video display unit. Instead of the desks or computers being lined up in a row, or traditional stadium seating, pods of tables, workstations if you will, will be placed around the room with comfortable chairs. Who knows………….maybe they will float and give massages to the students?

Every student will have some form of wireless device with access to many useful apps. I think that there will be more distant or online learning going on. Sites like Edmodo will be used more in the classroom, and social networking or social learning will take place. Skype or some type of video interaction with professionals or students in other countries will be used a lot more in the classroom. Business has become international and I feel that education will follow this path in the future.

I plan on adding to my classroom technology wise. I already have a 46” T.V. mounted on the wall that I can hook up to the computer or television. I have a lab of 24 P.C. desktop computers, and every student will soon have their own iPad. However, by having desktop computers, I also have the stadium/rowed seating arrangement in my classroom. I would love to change this and have the pods of tables around the room. The towers would hang from the bottom of the table, out of the way, and I would love to have flat screen monitors so there was more room to work when the students are in a group setting.

This video shows the transformation of the classroom over the years. The end of the video shows a classroom that is close to how I see the future learning environment.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuyrP_HhWEg 

The Internet is a tool that has the ability to impact learners like never before. Answers to students’ questions are at their fingertips, students can collaborate with peers, mentor a professional, and share documents and information with ease. In my opinion, learning has not seen such an impactful resource in ages, if ever.

Furthermore, visual literacy allows teaches to touch a specific learner group. Certain students benefit from this teaching tool. Modeling, mapping, and computer simulations can are examples of ways to use visual literacy in the classroom.

Graphic organizers are a strategy that I would like to use in my classroom. I have done mini-organizers for major themes of a unit, but with new web technologies, I think my students would benefit from a new trick brought to the classroom.  Sites such as Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers found here: http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo.htm

Or Education Place found  here: http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/

To me, the Internet is a tool that my students work with on a daily basis.  Though it doesn’t happen very often, the days when the Internet is down, times can me tough in the classroom. Don’t get me wrong, I have taught long enough that I have a back up plan for most technological mishaps, but the students and I have become so used to having such a vast amount of knowledge and resources so available at an instant.

 

 Last of all, I would like to share this video. Hopefully this will get the wheels turning as to how the Internet can become an effective tool in your classroom, and how social media may be the next way to reach our students.

Remember, Shift Happens!

The Importance of Varying Instructional Strategies

Responding to diverse student needs

No student learns in the same manner and technology allows the instructor to attempt to address all learning styles. Student’s culture and language skills may be considered as well when instructional strategies are being planned. The teacher needs to give feedback and urge student thinking when needed. The teacher also needs to observe the student’s progress and encourage on-task behavior of the class. Technology is changing so rapidly, I think that it will always impact the way I teach students in the 21^st century. Instead of fearing change, I welcome new ways to help my students achieve greater accomplishments than previously thought as unattainable.   

Marzano talks more about technology and instruction:

The "Wisdom of Bees" and what we can learn from them

Bees...............nature's little workers. Some people think that bees just go about their lives working away for the good of the colony. However, bees are more technologically advanced than biologists once thought.  In fact, bees use a complex mathematical formula to hunt for food called the Levy Flight Pattern where bees comb an area using jumps that vary in length. The bees must have learned this method from someone, and that brings me back to my point. Teachers often throw technology into the curriculum to keep students interested in the subject. Kind of like the way we once thought bees went about looking for food, students are to stumble through with little guidance, direction, or help. However, we know that in order to effectively use technology in the classroom, students need to have a specific reason to use the tool, a set rubric or guidelines on what to accomplish, and the help and direction of a teacher. Modeling what we want our students to accomplish is necessary in order to complete the task/assignment/project in the desired manner. 

Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27065/