Category: Assignment 1 – Blog Posts

After doing some more research on different assessment types I had found that there are four additional assessments rather than just the summative and formative types. The six different assessments used in educational settings are:

1. Diagnostic Assessments
2. Formative Assessments
3. Summative Assessments
4. Ipsative Assessments
5. Norm-References Assessments
6. Criterion-referenced Assessments

Below I will go into further detail regarding the different aspects and benefits associated with each Educational Assessment.

Diagnostic Assessments:

 This form of assessment allows for teachers to evaluate a student’s current progress and understanding of subject material prior to a lesson. This allows for the teacher to plan out their lesson plan accordingly to focus on aspects that a student may need more work on as indicated by the results of either a short quiz or student reflections in the form of created mind-maps.

Formative Assessments

This type of assessment allows for teachers to gauge a student’s understanding over the course of a lesson plan and allows them to adjust their teaching strategies to better fit the student’s needs. Essentially it allows for you to keep track of how your students are learning by checking their understanding periodically with the use of Class discussions, group projects, short quizzes, etc.

Summative Assessments

These assessments measure student progress after the completion of a subject through the use of a cumulative test (midterms/finals). This form of assessment is usually paired with a more “teach to the test” method of instruction and doesn’t always lead to the student retaining the information being taught. It does hold value in keeping grading objective across the board and removes any bias in measuring a student’s progress in the course.

Ipsative Assessments

This form of assessment allows students to compare their initial results with a second try or attempt, motivating them to set goals and improve their understanding of a topic. A good example of this are professors who allow for multiple attempts at an online quiz allowing for students to recognize their mistakes and learn from them.

Norm-referenced Assessments

This type of assessment compares a student to their peers with marking criteria based off national standards allowing for the measurement of student achievement and analysis of educational trends on a large scale. An example of this would be the SAT and other admissions tests.

Criterion-referenced Assessments

These assessments are based on standards and criteria that are already established and made available to a student prior to the assignment deadline/hand-in. Each student in this case is graded to provide insight into their current strengths and highlights areas which need improvement. An example of this would be when you are going for you driver licensing test.  

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References:

6 Types of Assessment (and How to Use Them) (2021). Retrieved from: https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/types-of-assessment/

Augmented Reality (AR) has seen major growth in the past years due to its potential as a more interactive and engaging form of learning for students. Unlike Virtual Reality AR doesn’t require any expensive hardware as its made readily available over any device that’s capable of accessing the internet making it a more cost-effective and accessible technology to utilise in a classroom setting. It also provides a platform for a more effective learning process as students are able to actively interact with the learning resource rather than get lost in reading pages of theory that would explain the concept at hand.

AR also holds merit outside of a classroom setting in a more practical environment with applications in healthcare that enable physicians to diagnose patients more effectively. One such technology is Accuvein, this is a handheld device that is able to scan the vein network of a patient leading to more effective diagnoses being made. AR also allows for the viewing of 3D models that are able to be freely manipulated, this can be used in both an educational environment (using a 3D model of a heart to educate students on its different circulatory pathways) to a more practical setting (using 3D models of tumors that allow surgeons to better plan out their procedures prior to surgery).

I’ve included a video below that also showcases some of the more exciting innovations that we will see in the future with Augmented Reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxzcD04rwc8\

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References:

Augmented Reality in Education (2020). Retrieved from: https://easternpeak.com/blog/augmented-reality-in-education-the-hottest-edtech-trend-and-how-to-apply-it-to-your-business/

9 Powerful Real-World Applications of Augmented Reality (AR) Today (2018). Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/07/30/9-powerful-real-world-applications-of-augmented-reality-ar-today/?sh=654dae092fe9

Game-based learning is definitely an effective method of delivering instruction to students especially for younger students who may have trouble in focusing  as it promotes active learning rather than a more traditional form of instruction through lectures. Active-learning leads to better long-term recall as it keeps a student better engaged with the learning process. Previous teachers of mine back in high-school used Kahoot before tests as a way to test our knowledge in a way that was more fun than a traditional quiz by setting up a competition between students in manner similar to jeopardy with everyone competing to get the most correct answers and win the game. This was either done in pairs which promoted collaboration between students or individually to gauge each students understanding of the material taught. Below I’ve included an instructional video that details how to use Kahoot in a classroom setting. I’ve also included another video from a TEDx talk led by Andre Thomas that outlines how game-based learning leads to improved learning outcomes in the classroom.

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Reference:

Why Game-Based Learning? (2021). Retrieved from: https://thelearningcounsel.com/article/why-game-based-learning

This post analyses the learning platform Khan Academy following the SECTIONS Model, below is an infographic that outlines the model and what I used to base my analysis off of.

Students –  Khan Academy is an open online educational platform that reaches students of all ages who have the means of accessing the internet through a device (smartphone, pc, etc.). The platform offers online educational materials from elementary all the way through to post-secondary learning in subject areas concerning math, sciences, computing, history, and economics to name a few.

Ease of Use – Khan Academy is very user-friendly and the delivery of educational materials has been streamlined to offer a seamless ‘pain-free’ experience. You are able to easily search for concepts and other subjects through a simple keyword search and are even able to access videos through other social media platforms such as YouTube.

Costs – There are no associated costs with Khan Academy as the organization is a non-profit that provides an ad-free learning experience through receiving individual contributions from other organizations and private citizens (similar to how Wikipedia is funded).

Teaching Functions – Khan academy is an excellent supplementary source of education as well as a direct source of education depending on your needs. It is one of the most accessible mediums for education with its resources being available in more than 36 languages. It also offers an educators dashboard that contains resources for teachers that they are able to implement in their own respective classrooms through access to assignment outlines and other tools for educators.

Interaction – Khan Academy has the functionality for learners to ask questions about specific topics covered in a video similar to how YouTube has a comment section under each respective video. These posted questions can then be answered by other learners in a forum style of interaction.

Organizational Issues –  Khan Academy also offers the delivery of online tutoring through signing up for digital classrooms led by designated ‘coaches’ who are relative experts in that field of study. You are also able to connect with other learners through the option of commenting on videos and through online classroom interactions

Security and Privacy – Khan Academy is a safe platform to use as you have the ability to access materials anonymously as there is no pay-wall present. They also offer other privacy measures such as restricted child accounts for added security for younger students under the age of 13 as well as providing a comprehensive privacy policy that protects your personal information.

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Khan Academy: About (2021). Retrieved from:https://www.khanacademy.org/about

Screen casting videos are a great resource that I have personally used to help supplement my learning outside of the classroom. In my experience classes concerning mathematics or chemistry tend to have students keeping up with the professor on writing notes before they move on from a topic. I found myself keeping up with the notes but not fully grasping the information being taught as I was too concerned about writing everything down before the next slide appeared. In chemistry specifically I found a great screen casting resource on YouTube in the channel “The Organic Chemistry Tutor”  where I was able to find topics covered during lecture and go-over them at my own pace to ensure I grasped the material and understood what was being taught. The ability to pause and re-watch segments of the video that covered topics I found to be difficult helped in making sure I did not fall behind in the class.

Embedded in this post is a screen casted video from “The Organic Chemistry Tutor” that showcases how valuable this medium of educational material is. The narrator makes use of the signaling principle and helps the learner visualize the material being taught by using color co-ordination to keep everything more organized and digestible.

Below is an infographic that details the five major recognized applications of screen casting and how screen casting is beneficial to each category’s target audience.

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References:

The Organic Chemistry Tutor (2021). Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_ketdzJtY8&list=PL0o_zxa4K1BXP7TUO7656wg0uF1xYnwgm

Five Big Applications of Screencasting (2017). Retrieved from:https://atomisystems.com/screencasting/screencasting-applications/