Jamie Schultz

EDU 225
April 12, 2015

The assessment used was to see if students not only comprehended the story
How Chipmunk Got Its Stripes but also to assess the standard R1.2.1 which states,

answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate
understanding of key details in a text. The quiz provided will determine both and
will allow me to be able to use instructional time in order to help with any issues I
saw the students struggle with on the quiz. The quiz is considered a formative
assessment as it is to determine the outcome of instructional time and reading the
story and is used to improve or adapt instructional time. The quiz can be found at
https://b.socrative.com/teacher/#dashboard.
Who was the main character of the story How the Chipmunk got its
Stripes?
Answer: B
What happened after Chipmunk and Bear argued?
Answer: A
When did Bear realize Chipmunk was right?
Answer: C
Where did this story take place?
Answer: D
Why did the Bear scratch the back of Chipmunk?
Answer: B
Part 2: Blog Post
Teaching is a career that has more than just simply standing in the front of a
classroom and talking to students, it is a career that has to do with assessments
and data collecting to better educate their students. This data is very important to
the education of students and with the right type of software data can be easy to
read and assess. There are several different types of software that can be used by
teachers and each has its own set of pros and cons that can be used to assess the
pros and cons of the overall use of software for assessment.
Technology is a huge role in a teachers career and can be utilized in order to
smooth the progress of assessing students learning. Technology has provided

teachers with tools for assessments and those tools are different types of software.
A teacher can use such software to collect and analyze data in order to improve the
instructional time of their classroom. Software such as this is not just a different
method but also a simplified method that most teachers can manage without any additional

training, this is explained by the research of Feldman and Capobianco when they said, For the
most part we observed little difficulty in teachers learning to use this technology. (Feldman &
Capobianco. 2008). Some of the software that can be used are as followed; internet 4 classrooms,
socrative, and jumpstart. Each software is designed to help teachers evaluate the assessment that
they choose and or create in order to adapt their instruction, continue their instruction the way it
is, to use the data to get a student in to special education if needed, and many more.
The first software that is to be focused on is Internet 4 Classrooms, which is found online
and is a easy way for teachers to assess student learning. This software provides quizzes and
lessons in which a teacher could use in order to assess and provide for students. The quizzes and
projects are great assessment tools and the lessons provide additional help if need be. This
software site will allow a teacher to use such quizzes and activities while organizing data for
assessment purposes. It is not a number one choice for those who like to individualize or create
their own assessments but it is a good tool none the less for teachers and their assessment needs.
Moving on to the next software, which is Socrative, it is designed for teachers to
personalize and create while being user friendly all at the same time. This is a great way to create
quizzes or other activities that can be used to assess. The software also collects and organizes the
data from these quizzes in order for the teacher to use them as needed. The tool is used by
several teachers and is an easy way to organize and analyze for the needs of the students.
Software such as this one is a useful tool for teachers and makes it easy for them as well.

The final software on this list is Jumpstart, which is also found online and used by
teachers all over the world. This software is actually more for parental use at home but can often
be used by teachers. The software like the others requires an account and it provides activities
and games that can be monitored for assessment purposes. It also keeps track of how the student
is doing and this can be used for data in the classroom if need be. Although this is not like the
other software provided it is a unique and easy way to assess data.
First it is important to understand the different types of assessments, which are formative
and summative assessment. Formative assessment is several different methods that can be used
in order to assess students in process so that teachers can adapt future lesson plans within the
unit. Summative assessments are used to determine comprehension of the material at the end of
the lesson or the unit. These assessments have provided with extensive data to help the teacher
and the students and technology helps with these assessments. Test scores indicate that, at the
very least, students were doing as well as they might without all of the technology, and some
were clearly performing better. (Dwyer. 1994), was stated by Dwyer in the explanation of
technology and assessments.
Moving to what everyone wants to know, the pros and cons of using technology to
facilitate assessment. Starting with the pros, which are helps to simplify criteria, improves the
engagement of the students and helps with deeper learning, and spreads the assessment load to
staff and students. As a teacher there are more pros to technology when facilitating assessment
but the three stated above are the biggest ones for teaching. The next step is facing the cons
which are accessibility problems and finance problems as well since technology is not always
price friendly or user friendly. With every method in teaching there are pros and cons but the
important thing is to asking if the pros outweigh the cons? Eyal explains in his article,

Alternative assessment methods in a digital environment offer students a rich variety of learning
methods that enable them to exhibit higher levels of thinking. ( Eyal. 2012). Eyal is explaining
the pro he found most important that outweighs the con or cons he found.
Although technology has helped greatly with assessments, it is important to continue
using some of the methods used that does not require technology. Teachers and students are
humans with human errors and unlike computers or technology humans can see and make
emotional decisions. Fact of the matter is technology is not perfect and does not always make it
simple for those who like paper.
Overall, the technology to facilitate assessment is a topic that should not be taken lightly
as a teacher. Teachers need to assess and need to analyze data in order to make it better for the
students and technology can help that with the use of different software. The pros and cons are
the layout for making your own opinion on the matter and thus teachers can choose what they
prefer. However it is important to remember that if the choice is to not use the technology
method that the world is always changing and it is important to be familiar with that technology.

References
Feldman, A, & Capobianco, B. M. (2008). Teacher Learning of Technology Enhanced Formative
Assessment. Journal of Science Education & Technology, 17(1), 82-99.
Dwyer, D. (1994). Apple Classroom of Tomorrow: What Weve Learned. Educational
Leadership, 51(7), 4.
Eyal, L. E. (2012). Digital Assessment Literacy- The Core Role of the Teacher in a Digital
Environment. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 15(2), 37-49.