Jan Nedermeijer
From: WEdTechTeacher. Teachers who integrate technology into student activities and projects often ask us this question – “How do I grade it?”
Fundamentally, assessing multimedia activities and projects is no different than evaluating traditional assignments, such as written essays. The primary distinctions between them are the unique features and divergent possibilities associated with their respective medium. For instance, a blog has a unique set of possibilities (such as hypertext, embedded video, interactive imagery, etc) vastly different than those of a notebook (paper and pen notes and drawings within a contained document).
The first thing to realize is that you cannot separate the user from the device. iPads, Chromebooks, and tech tools themselves don’t demonstrate great learning; it’s about what students do with the technology that matters. The technology itself is simply neutral. Consider: would a teacher grade the pen a student used to write an essay? Of course not! They grade what the student writes. It’s what students create with the tool that is at the heart of learning and assessment.
Formative vs. Summative Assessment
Performance is most often analyzed through formative and summative assessment. Formative assessment is ongoing and provides information needed to adjust teaching and learning for a more effective outcome. It not only helps to monitor student progress throughout an activity, but can also gauge student understanding and readiness to proceed to further tasks. Alternately, summative assessment focuses on a particular point in time, such as a test at the end of a unit or grading term. Regardless, whether the immediate assessment is formative or summative, a teacher needs to be able to distinguish between the capabilities of the tool and the students’ performance using it. To illustrate, anyone can easily produce a visually stunning and captivating video presentation using iMovie as it has built-in easy-to-use professional effects. Therefore, to assess a movie presentation effectively, the teacher needs evidence of the thinking that went into the creation of the movie. Rather than grade the end product, educators must focus on the process — research, writing, image selection, etc. This allows teachers to focus on learning throughout the whole project rather than the flashy, finished product.
Rubrics to Measure Student Learning
Rubrics for Assessment- General
- Creating a Rubric – Tutorial
- Assessment Alternatives – Articles from John Hopkins
- Using Rubrics from Cornell University
- Kathy Schrock’s Guides to Assessment & Rubrics
They present many more example of rubrics.