Assessing

Identifying Opportunities for Assessment

When planning for the progression of student ICT capability is it important that you identify any opportunity where you will be able to assess progress. With ICT being integrated throughout the curriculum on a regular basis by children, particularly when they do their activities and tasks, many opportunities for assessment exists.

For example, the use of MS Word as a word processor to complete assignments and activities is the most common of all software used. As a teacher, you should pounce at the opportunity determine what they are capable of and to decide how you can plan to help them progress. You will automatically be assessing informally as you teach and be making systematic judgements.

Here are some ideas on how you might go about it (Higgins, Packard, & Race, 1999, pp. 76-77):

1. The most proficient way to assess is what you see and hear students do with ICT; 2. Identify a specific focus in your short term planning. It may be an ICT related skill or a skill used in another subject where students need to use

ICT. Short term planning will also allow you to assess the learning outcomes you recorded for the activities; 3. Identify a learning outcome in terms of what the students will actually do. This makes deciding on assessment criteria easier. When you identify what they have to do, you will also have identified goals for the activity. If they attain these goals, then you know they possess the relevant skills and understanding; 4. Identify different ways in which students can demonstrate their achievement of the learning outcomes. It may be something they write, draw, say or even teach to another student; 5. Cover different areas through your long-term planning. Your planning should indicate what ICT techniques and higher order skills will be taught and assessed;

6. Ask students questions and get students to ask each other questions. These should focus on assessing higher order skills and begin with ‘what else’, ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘when’; 7. Only record some of this. This means to simply record one step at a time; 8. Assess some things from finished work. There may be some things to assess such as the product of an activity; 9. Involve the students. Self-assessments and peer assessments can be a useful tool for determining attainment of skills; 10.Formal assessment needs definite goals. If this is the case, then you need to identify exactly what the skills and responses you are looking for. If you are assessing ICT capability through a specific task, look at which skills and understanding that task will require; 11.Keep it simple! An important aim of assessment is to help you as a teacher. If it doesn’t, don’t do it.

Assessing Early Years ICT Capability

It will be important for you to use the criteria in the EYLF goals and to reference your observations in terms of the main areas of learning. The curriculum links to the use of ICT in early childhood education can be seen in the planning. As a general guide, they would fall within the following areas:

• Personal, social and emotional development; • Communication, language and literacy; • Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy; • Knowledge and understanding of the world; • Physical development; • Creative development.

The best way to record your observations is by using the Individual profile sheet (see Record Keeping).

Guidance on observation and assessment of ICT capability

The best way to measure the achievement of children in ICT capability is through your own personal observation. This can be coupled with well-thought out questions and listening and talking. Any assessment of ICT capability needs to be seen in this context.

When assessing it is not necessary to assess discrete skills as this will show through observation of whole tasks. For example, if they can use a paint program then you know that they can use a mouse well enough. As children interact with their peers, they will be able to demonstrate their ICT capability. You can make brief notes along with your observations to help you build a firm picture of their capabilities in ICT.

The following is an example of observations recorded in a reflective diary.

30 September 2017 Many of the ICT resources have helped to capture, and hold X’s attention for increasing periods of time. He is not interacting very well with others in the class and is not keen to wait for his turn, which makes some of the other children less keen to include him in their play, particularly in the role play area. 3 November 2017 X is now constantly pointing to technology. 17 November 2017

Table 2. Example of quality observations made in a reflective diary (Siraj-Blatchford, 2006) The recent setting up of the interactive whiteboard (IWB) has helped X to develop some degree of patience, as he is now able to wait his turn to use it, when working in a group. This has been invaluable in boosting him with his peers. X is very good at recognising and adding numbers. When working with the whiteboard with number, for example, the size makes it possible for others to see how clever he is, which I am sure is helping with both his self-esteem and his standing, amongst his peers. It has also given him another avenue which to devote his seemingly endless energy. Looking back over my notes, it is also possible to see that X is collaborating more with his peers and is less demanding of my attention.