Technology Tools for Assessment and Evaluation

The article starts out by talking about the NETS-T standards. These standards are in place so that teacher education programs can ensure that we are reaching and developing these skills and competences necessary to successfully be able to integrate technology into the k-12 classroom. The article then goes on to explain how technology, assessment, and evaluation are related. We must first recognize the differences between assessing, analyzing, and evaluating. To assess is to collect data,, to analyze is to organize the data, and to evaluate is to make a decision based on the data. Then we have to differentiate between formative and summative evaluations. Formative evaluations are used to inform instruction or learning strategies and should be used to make ongoing decisions to improve learning. Summative evaluations are used to make definite decision about individuals and come after learning has occurred such as an end-of-unit test. Finally, differentiating between methods of assessment and assessment technologies is important. “The processes used for the selection and development of measures, the administration of a measure and the process for interpreting and evaluating data are the methodology of assessment. Assessment technologies are those tools- hardware and software- that are used to support and enhance our methods.” Once we have figured out what are specific assessment need is, we can identify technology tools tat may assist us.

I thought that the article did a good job of putting CBM into perspective for me. I hadn’t heard about a lot of the technology tools that the article mentioned that can be used for assessment, but I am familiar with a few from other classes. I liked how this article also tied a lot of my classes together for me. I think it is important to remember that technology is just an aid or a tool and that ultimately we have to make the decisions. We cannot rely to heavily on these tools.