Technology Impacting Assessment

How Technology Impacts Assessment Based on Bower (2019)

According to Bower‚ technology should not be directly correlated with improved learning and assessment outcomes․. Instead‚ it should be seen as a connector between the teacher and the learner‚ content‚ feedback‚ and the learning context․ When technology is applied to assessment‚ attention is to be focused on whether the taught learning outcomes have been achieved․

Technology can also provide more immediate and flexible types of feedback․ Teachers can get feedback on student understanding more often by using technology such as online quizzes‚ online assignments and discussion posts‚ and online learning environments‚ rather than only doing feedback at the end of a unit or course․ Accordingly‚ assessment also is not an end‚ but a means of providing feedback to students‚ allowing them to revise and improve․ Technology can support this notion of formative assessment‚ rather than limiting itself to summative assessment․

Information technology also offers students the ability to show what they know in a format other than writing a test or an essay‚ such as a video‚ a presentation‚ a blog‚ a digital portfolio‚ a podcast‚ or an interactive project․ This again connects to Bower’s assertion that different technologies have different affordances․ In terms of assessment‚ this means students may be able to show their knowledge more easily in a test with technology that is more like the one used for the task․

However‚ Bower also states that technology is not neutral and that teachers need to make choices about design for learning and how assessment is done․ If technology is not used well‚ for example‚ if it is confusing or distracting or used in ways that are not connected to the goal of learning‚ technology can make assessment worse rather than better․ A student might spend more time trying to understand the platform than they do showing their understanding․

In general, technology offers greater flexibility, continuity, and opportunities to link assessment to different learning outcomes. These advantages are especially powerful if technology is used with a real goal in mind․. Bower’s article argues that good technology-based assessment should not be about using technology for technology’s sake‚ but using technology to help students show their learning‚ receive feedback, and improve their performance․