Better Assessments With Technology

Assessments are important because they tell teachers what their students have learned, and what they need to learn, in order to guide instruction. Technology can help teachers perform better and more frequent assessments by making the process easier and more accurate.

Video Assessments

I previously discussed some of the benefits of using videos in the classroom. There are several good online tools available that transform an ordinary video into interactive lessons that include frequent formative assessments.

Here is an example video lesson that I made using Playposit (www.playposit.com), for a cybersecurity unit I am planning for my computer science students. (You may need to login with a Google or Microsoft account to view the lesson.) Notice that the video pauses at designated places and asks you questions that assess your comprehension of the material.



With Playposit, I can setup a classroom and have easy access to the answers that my students submitted while viewing the lessons. Playposit supports videos from YouTube, Vimeo, TeacherTube, and more.

Creating Rubrics

Rubrics formally outline the expectations and goals for assignments so that teachers and students can assess whether specific learning objectives have been met. Teachers have several online tools available to help them create rubrics for almost any type of assignment.

Essaytagger's Common Core Rubric Creation Tool focuses on creating rubrics that meet the Common Core State Standards for ELA, Social Studies, and Science.

Teachnology provides an easy-to-use rubric creator that does not require registration to use.

Rubistar is another good rubric creation application with an emphasis on project-based learning. There are dozens of pre-made rubrics that you can customize to fit your curriculum and learning objectives. I often let students create multimedia presentations to demonstrate their learning at the end of a unit.

Here is an example of a basic rubric created with Rubistar for a multimedia presentation assignment. 

Surveys and Polls

Online polls and surveys can be used to assess what students already know and what they want to learn. I like Google Forms because it allows for pictures and videos to be embedded into the form. Quizzes can be graded automatically (for multiple choice quizzes,) and results of the form are compiled in a spreadsheet so I can easily access my students' results.

Below is an example of an assessment created in Google Forms to check the learning of my computer science students. Give it a try!

Sample Learning Objective: After teacher lecture and viewing educational videos at their own pace, students will be able to answer questions about basic cybersecurity concepts with 100% accuracy. 

Frequent assessments are a must in my classroom. As I compiled resources for this post I was reminded of how much technology can help us be more effective teachers. Tools like the ones I described above makes assessing students easier so that it can be done more often.

Concept mapping with Coggle

Concept maps and mind maps are a way to organize questions, ideas, information, and multimedia into a visual map that makes it easy to convey information and important concepts. There are several online services that you can use to create concept maps and mind maps. In this post I will give you an example of one way to use concept maps collaborative in the classroom. 

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander is a young adult novel that I like to share with students in my English classes. The book, notable for being written entirely in verse, tells the story of twin brothers who are going through major changes in their lives. Basketball and jazz music have significant roles in the story, and I want to introduce students to some background knowledge before we read the book. 

For this cooperative learning assignment, I partner students in groups of three or four and ask them to work together on a concept map. Students will use Coggle.it, an online service that enables real time collaboration on concept maps and mind maps. 

Each student in the group will be responsible for their own branch of the concept map. Each branch begins with a question or concept that the student will research, and then answer within the shared concept map on Coggle. 

Here is the start of a concept map for one group of three students. 

Objective: After contributing to a collaborative concept map on Coggle, students will be able to explain important characters and concepts relevant to The Crossover.

Students are instructed to expand the concept map as follows:

• Define the term or answer the question in your own words
• Link to at least one relevant video that helps further our understanding
• Use at least one relevant image

This is an example of content that a student would contribute to his portion of the concept map. 

In this example, students will gain knowledge that leads to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the book as we proceed to read it. The teacher can extend this lesson by having groups present their finished concept maps to the class. (Be sure to preview the information and links first!)

Here is the finished concept map. Blue text indicates links to additional content.

After reading the novel, the concept maps can be revisited for post-reading reflection. The original groups can reconvene, and the branches of the map can be rotated among members of the group so that each student is expanding on the contributions of their peers. As the teacher, I can add additional questions to the concept map for students to consider. 

Multimedia Design Principles

The pre-reading activity above is an example of how concept maps can be used to apply the pre-training principle. Students learn better when the names and characteristics of concepts in advance of seeing new multimedia messages. Completed concept maps can be shared and browsed at a student's own pace, an example of applying the segmenting principle that says that learners learn better when messages are digested at the learner's own pace. 

Augmented Reality for Education with Aurasma

Aurasma is a technology company that lets you create augmented reality (AR) artifacts that display additional content when viewed through their application.

Auras are created through Aurasma studio, which is free to use on their website. First you select the trigger image, then you upload images, videos, or 3D animations that overlay when viewed with the Aurasma app. The Aurasma app is available for both iOS or Android.

I've created several examples for this blog that you can view with Aurasma. To view the examples, you need to install the Aurasma app and then follow my account.

1. Go to the 'Discover Auras' search box in Aurasma app
2. Type in the account name: mrbarranco
3. Press 'follow'. My public Auras will now be available to your device.

Examples 1 & 2:

In my English class, to generate interest in a book we are reading, I like to share trailers of the movie versions. Movies can also be used for contrast and compare assignments after the book has been read. In the first two examples, I used Aurasma to add AR effects to posters that play the movie trailer when viewed with Aurasma.

Sample Objective: After viewing the AR-enhanced film advertisements, students will compare and contrast the videos with elements of the novel.

Click to enlarge image

Click to enlarge image

Example #3:

Teachers can also use this technology to provide additional instructions or examples to students. In this example, I made the entire worksheet a trigger image. Students are being asked to annotate a passage from the novel. When you use Aurasma to view the worksheet, you can see examples of annotations.

Sample objective: After reading a passage from Chapter 1 of Of Mice And Men, students will annotate the text with thoughts and ideas they have while reading. 

Click to enlarge image

Example #4:

In the next example, using the blank police report form, students are asked to write a police report about an incident that takes place in the novel. 

Sample objective: After reading Of Mice And Men, students will create a police report based off an incident that occurred in the novel. 

Click to enlarge image

Viewing the blank template with Aurasma lets students see an example of a completed police report.

Notice how I included the Aurasma "A" logo on the document itself to indicate that it contains AR content to be viewed with the Aurasma app.

This software opens up a range of possibilities. Teachers can encourage students to use Aurasma to get additional help on their assignment by overlaying videos or images that enhance learning. The segmenting principle of multimedia design says that learners perform better when they are able to learn at their own pace. Using Aurasma, students can access the augmented content when they are ready for it.