Understanding, Practice, Engagement, and a New Model of Assessment
Mobile devices allow for much more accessible, real-time formative assessment in schools. Teachers are finding that they can immediately assess how well their students are learning, and then adjust their teaching based on this feedback. With so many mobile devices already present in most classrooms, using them for assessment can also save on the cost of purchasing other types of assessment systems.
As Tech Specialist Lindy George notes, “District mobile devices…allow us to monitor student understanding of concepts to better inform instruction, and for formative assessment they have replaced the purchase of any type of ‘clicker’ system.”
While mobile devices are ideal for quickly checking student levels of understanding, there are other benefits to be gained from using them for assessment. We list the most popular ways to use them for assessment here.
- Texting for Understanding – Not Distraction: Mobile devices can streamline the management of smaller group assignments and individual instructional needs. For example, students who are shy about speaking aloud in class can text the teacher with their questions.
- Practice for Upcoming CCSS Assessments: Mobile devices equipped with an application like the MimioMobile™ app allow teachers to employ different types of question options, which students can answer via their device. In addition to the usual multiple-choice and true/false questions, teachers can also ask students to submit short-answer and essay responses. This will help them develop skills for the new Common Core Assessments in 2014/15, which will include these types of open-ended response questions.
- Increasing Engagement: Mobile devices make it easy to incorporate fun, dynamic quizzes, polls, and contests in lessons, which help to encourage student engagement, collaboration, debate, and discussion.
- Testing Out of the Box: The ability to “flip” formative assessment is another great use of mobile devices. Teachers can flip the usual classroom model by conducting quizzes via mobile devices as part of homework, and then use these results to determine planning for the following day/week of instruction. This model allows teachers to see where there are instructional gaps before they prepare the lessons, thus making their instructional reach and efficiency even greater.
Have you discovered additional ways to use mobile devices for assessment in the classroom? We’d love to hear from you! Post your ideas and comments.
Interested in getting more information on how mobile devices are being used in schools? Check out Mimio's Guide to Mobile Devices in the Classroom. Download Now! >>
