Abstract
As educational technology continues to change the face of educational contexts in the digital age, the way in which teachers can incorporate various existing online resources and applications within their everyday classroom activities deserves closer attention. In particular, it is important to explore how interactive Web 2.0 tools might be integrated into classroom-based assessment practices. This way, the efficacy of online tools and their ability to both facilitate teacher assessment practices and empower student learning can be adequately assessed. This chapter aims to explore, showcase and discuss how Web 2.0 tools can be integrated into teachers' classroom-based language assessment to get information that can be used diagnostically to adjust teaching and learning with reference to current literature, explore challenges and focus on suggestions and avenues for further research. Furthermore, examples of web tools that could be used for formative assessment will be briefly enlisted.
TopResearchers and educators have voiced different conceptualizations regarding the relationship between formative and summative assessment. For some, formative and summative assessment are mutually exclusive (Biggs, 1998). “By definition, summative represents high stakes for grading which significantly reduces the stakes for learning. Formative assessment needs to be high stakes for learning and zero stakes for grading” (Sadler, 2009, p. 1). Summative assessment mandates strict requirements on test development and administration because it has serious decision-making implications, while formative assessment can make use of a variety of assessment practices ranging from a formal test to informal ones such as systematic observation. In Sadler’s account (1989) formative assessment entails how judgements about the quality of student outcomes such as oral and written work can be used informatively to improve their competence, achievement and attainment of course objectives. If the information gathered from an assessment practice is not used formatively as a basis of feedback for further classroom work, then it becomes a summative grade (Sadler, 1989). In addition, Taras (2008) focused on the constructive use of feedback in formative assessment, and argued that rather than an isolated assessment task, a cycle of work or an array of assignments are required for students to build up expertise. Therefore, the learner’s uptake of such information and teacher’s modifications in instruction differentiates functions of summative and formative assessment.
Key Terms in this Chapter
E-Learning: Electronic learning which entails the delivery of a learning, program by means of a computer network technology.
Online Quiz Generators: Web applications that are used for designing, importing and launching a library of assessments.
Web-Based Rubric Generators: Online rubric processors or generators that provide interactive templates which allow teacher choices or scripting in order to create more customized rubrics.
Summative Assessment: Summative assessment refers to assessments that are used at the end of a course or program and for grading and evaluating a student’s achievement.
Rubrics: An evaluation tool which consists of descriptors and guidelines used to ensure consistent application and measurement of learning objectives in the classroom.
Learner Autonomy: The ability of the learner to take responsibility for his/her own learning and monitor own learning process.
Web 2.0 Tools: An umbrella term for certain applications, such as wikis, blogs and social networking sites of the Internet and the World Wide Web for interactive sharing and participatory collaboration.
M-Learning: “Any educational provision where the sole or dominant technology is a handheld or palmtop device” ( Traxler, 2005 , p. 265).
Assessment for Learning: A process by which information from assessment is utilized by teachers to adjust their teaching strategies, and by students to modify their learning strategies.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT): ICT refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning.
Collaborative Learning: Collaborative learning is the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes as a result of group interactions.
Collaborative M-Learning: Collaborative m-learning is the use of computer-mediated communication tools in collaborative learning.
Formative Assessment: “The process of seeking and interpreting evidence for making substantively grounded decisions or judgements about the product of a learning task in order to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go, and how best to get there” ( Colby-Kelly &Turner, 2007 , p.11).