William Cope
Helen Repp
Gbadebo Temitope Ekunola
Joanne EndorfUbiquitous Learning and Instructional Technologies MOOC’s Updates
Repositioning Assessment and Instruction - Bill Cope
See also this article on the potentials of big data.
Comment: How might it be possible to overcome some of the limitations of legacy assessment systems?
Make an Update: Take one aspect of big data in education. How does it work? What are its effects?
It would be possible to overcome some of the limitations of legacy assessment systems by introducing changes. In today's society, many changes are taking place in all fields, so there should be changes in assessment as well. Teachers should be willing to introduce changes in teaching, both in teaching and assessment. By introducing the possibility for students to carry out teaching activities and communicate with other students and leave feedback via the e-learning platform, we are creating a new learning environment that will create more interesting ways of learning.
Tegacy IT modernization may help your company gain a competitive advantage by providing numerous benefits to both IT and business, including:
– Reduced Complexity and Dependency – The mainframe has been in use for over four decades, resulting in millions of lines of COBOL code that are becoming difficult to manage. Only well-trained resources can use procedural programming, which is based on instructions. Furthermore, institutions all over the world now teach new age languages, leaving few retired or soon-to-retire resources for languages like ADSO and IDEAL.
The lack of resources and reliance on legacy expertise is not only costly, but it also slows the organization down.
– Legacy application modernization leads to open, agile, web-based systems that aid in the resolution of the legacy crisis. In addition, any developer who has been trained in a new language may easily maintain it.
– New era apps are less complex and extremely flexible than legacy applications, which are localized and monolithic. Cloud-based applications provide greater mobility and may be accessed and maintained from any location.
Very nice issue to think about!!
I believe that for a successful legacy upgrade it takes much more than choosing the right apps. It depends on good process mapping and strategic planning, as commented by @shuyang Li, a workforce development strategy. It's like fixing a bike while it runs, because the organization's routine can't stop!
A new process architecture, training and recycling of professionals, as well as agile team and project management practices will be required! If we look at this transformation in educational institutions, it becomes even more complex and challenging when we consider all those who will interact with the new technologies. The task is not simple and I believe it is a medium- to long-term transformation.
Fascinating points, Dania! Your insights into the challenges and benefits of legacy IT modernization are spot-on. The shift from monolithic systems to cloud-based applications not only enhances agility but also ensures that businesses can stay ahead in the fast-paced digital world. I'm particularly intrigued by the idea of legacy modernization being a strategic move to alleviate the 'legacy crisis'. It's also interesting to consider the human resource aspect—transitioning from COBOL to modern languages isn't just a technical upgrade but also a workforce development strategy. Your mention of new era apps offering greater mobility touches on an essential facet of today’s IT landscape: the need for accessible and scalable solutions. Perhaps, in addition to what you've shared, we could also explore the security implications of this transition. What are your thoughts on ensuring that modernized applications retain robust security measures during and after the shift?
We still remember what we did for assessment in the Old School, and maybe it still going on. The classic kind of expectation is that students will have remembered lessons individually. Learning is seen as memory work. So the classic modern form of assessment is the standardized test. Standardization means everyone gets the same test, which will determine graduation. When the Not-So-New School, we have lots of quizzes in Learning Management Systems and it's still the same old thing about right and wrong answers. The New School offers a different assessment systems. In Scholar, there can't be instruction without assessment, there can't be assessment without instruction. The one is embedded in the other, there is not a distinction. Student submit their assignment to peers to review. And peers will be give grade and evaluation. So what we've got is a kind of a recursive process here. When, classical assessment processes are linear. The teacher hasn't had much time to look at it and given it same grade. So, in Scholar there's those kind of cycles of recursiveness. But hopefully the peers to give constructive feedback to each other.
I also agree with @Ika Ariesta, there still homework to overcoming obstacles. But it's a good idea to start adopting implementation a recursive feedback model for learning assessment
Thank you for your insightful reflection on the evolution of assessment, Riko. Your contrast between the Old School and New School methods highlights a critical shift in educational paradigms—from rote memorization to a more integrated approach where instruction and assessment are intertwined. The idea of assessment being part of the learning process, rather than a separate, anxiety-inducing event, could indeed foster a deeper understanding and retention of knowledge. The recursive feedback model in Scholar sounds promising as it encourages active engagement and peer-to-peer learning, which can be incredibly powerful. However, I wonder how we can ensure consistency and fairness in peer assessments, as these can sometimes be subjective. Do you think there should be a standardized rubric or training for students to effectively evaluate each other’s work?
In my opinion, regarding to the presentation on the Assessment as Recursive Feedback video, there is likely an obstacle in having recursive feedback, especially that not everyone is trained to dare to express their opinion.
It certainly cannot be separated from the daily culture of each person. For people who grew up in a culture of being obedient to orders and not being given the option to express opinions, it will likely take longer to adapt to be having peer reviews or feedback reviews. Because after all, they rarely do it, maybe even never do it. So when they asked to express an opinion or to give a feedback, there will be too many things to consider such as concerns if their opinion is wrong, worries that their opinion will be rejected, and so on.
By having recursive feedback will not only help them to express their opinions by getting used to get involved in any discussion but also increasing their self-confidence.
I totally agree with you @Ika Ariesta!
Feedbacks, in addition to being a powerful resource for self-assessment, development and learning, collaborates with healthier and more productive environments.
I understand that organizational practices as team psychological safety, assertive and non-violent communication can be extremely helpful in the continuous use of feedback.
To my knowledge, the grading system in a lesson is intended to assess the learner as an individual. This assessment system was created to determine the extent of one's knowledge of learning materials. This looks like a measurement of the extent to which participants memorize the material given by the teacher or the material in the course.
One of the things that can be done to overcome the limitations of assessment systems is to assign project completion assignments in groups. This assignment does not just make learners memorize the material, but directly puts the knowledge gained during learning into practice. Group assignments will increase collaboration between learners. When working in groups, it is possible to transfer knowledge between participants. In this case, it is possible to provide input to each other, so that the final project has good added value. Thus, students do not read the material, but can also practice only the knowledge they have acquired. In my opinion, assessing this kind of activity is better than an assessment using a pre-post test or just a graduation exam.
Alijon, your perspective on the grading system brings an important conversation to the forefront. The traditional focus on individual assessment often overlooks the collaborative and practical skills that are essential in the modern workforce. I wholeheartedly agree that project-based group assignments can be a more effective way to measure applied learning and teamwork abilities. They mirror real-world scenarios much more closely than most tests. However, one challenge that often arises in group work is ensuring equitable participation. How might educators effectively measure individual contributions within a group setting? Moreover, while pre-post tests may have their shortcomings, they can be valuable in measuring individual knowledge gains. Perhaps a blended approach could combine the best of both methods, providing a more comprehensive assessment of both individual understanding and collaborative skills. What are your thoughts on integrating both methods to balance the assessment system?
Alijon, your perspective on the grading system brings an important conversation to the forefront. The traditional focus on individual assessment often overlooks the collaborative and practical skills that are essential in the modern workforce. I wholeheartedly agree that project-based group assignments can be a more effective way to measure applied learning and teamwork abilities. They mirror real-world scenarios much more closely than most tests. However, one challenge that often arises in group work is ensuring equitable participation. How might educators effectively measure individual contributions within a group setting? Moreover, while pre-post tests may have their shortcomings, they can be valuable in measuring individual knowledge gains. Perhaps a blended approach could combine the best of both methods, providing a more comprehensive assessment of both individual understanding and collaborative skills. What are your thoughts on integrating both methods to balance the assessment system?
Alijon, your perspective on the grading system brings an important conversation to the forefront. The traditional focus on individual assessment often overlooks the collaborative and practical skills that are essential in the modern workforce. I wholeheartedly agree that project-based group assignments can be a more effective way to measure applied learning and teamwork abilities. They mirror real-world scenarios much more closely than most tests. However, one challenge that often arises in group work is ensuring equitable participation. How might educators effectively measure individual contributions within a group setting? Moreover, while pre-post tests may have their shortcomings, they can be valuable in measuring individual knowledge gains. Perhaps a blended approach could combine the best of both methods, providing a more comprehensive assessment of both individual understanding and collaborative skills. What are your thoughts on integrating both methods to balance the assessment system?
One avenue for overcoming legacy assessment systems is the use of rubric-graded projects. Such formative assessments allow students to focus on the application of knowledge rather than just its memorization. It also provides teamwork practice and cycles of feedback, all of which are common aspects of the modern workplace.
STEM classes typically excel in this sort of assessment, and its implications have marketable skills for use in real-world career fields. For example, students might be taught a lesson on water scarcity, fluid dynamics, or the spread of illnesses. Then they might be given project guidelines with the goal of filtering a gallon of water as best they can with whatever items they'd like to incorporate. With a mix of research, imagination, and collaboration, this project would arguably provide more learning than a simple facts-based test could.
Although it might seem long and arduous, I think the best way to overcome the limitations of legacy assessments is to continuously migrate from them until they are obselete. With the introduction of technology, and current generations bringing it more into their everyday folds of life, migrations will become more streamlined, and adoption systems for tech will follow a typical pattern for access yet still allow flexibility for the different types of learners.
Education technology is growing, and looking at education as a growing and changing entity will allow us to be more fluid as we shift how teaching is done. The issue is that migration can take time and tends to copy past pedagogy.
Update response: Big data in education is a great breakthrough, but how we measure and use the data is of great importance. Are we reviewing it for test scores or conceptual understanding? Big data can tell us who is successful at scoring well on the SAT. Still, it doesn't necessarily measure critical thinking skills if we can use psychological answering strategies to figure out what works and what doesn't. That's learning how to take a test instead of learning material for future use. This article had some interesting ideas on the use of big data: https://www.upgrad.com/blog/big-data-applications-in-education/
I'm most intrigued by the application of this new tech to writing sources and how a student's development can be traced through drafting, continuous feedback, revision - the conflation of learning and assessment. I try to do something like this in class without the ability to mine the data through a system, but as someone who also assessed our writing courses for my university, I think the ability to do this long-term and keep the data stored would be invaluable.
I can also see that as the article implied a few times, we writing instructors will need to let go of some of our old ideas about review/collaboration as analogous to cheating. I'm already in this process as I encourage students to work together on a writing assignment but have yet to figure out what to do when they both hand in the exact same thing except to tell them that they need to hand in original work in their own words arrived at through crowdsourcing.
Hey @Stephanie! Nice to read about your work on writing with students! Its always a challenge to try new things when it turns to be also new to ourselves :)
I really like to use some activities that awaken people's curiosity for learning a new skill before giving a task. To develop colaborative skills - and maybe it´ll be usefull for your writing class - I usually use Libertating Structures activities. You can find a lot of great ideas here: https://www.liberatingstructures.app/en/
Update: I found this article useful in pointing towards a method to garner data in assessing writing skills development (beyond the process method many of us use now: http://www.insidepolitics.org/brookingsreports/Student%20Writing.pdf
I think limitations of legacy assessment systems can be overcome by using methods which demonstrate that the learner has acquired the knowledge and is able to put it in a multidisciplinary context and also apply it in practice. I find that for example peer mentoring (where you would teach e.g. new students) or applying new knowledge immediately in one's work increases efficiency of learning. Also, tools as recursive feedback or peer evaluation makes a learner more engaged in the topic and as the discussions threads/comments/recursive feedback continues to come in, the learning continuum is not interrupted but is activated in the minds of learners as opposed to one-time exam, after which lots of acquired knowledge is lost/forgotten.
I agree with your statement on recursive learning and how it can drive knowledge into our long-term memory by review. It makes me think that our learning should be more creatively focused on skills that can relate and stretch into other topics. I.E. comparing basketball to math equations by using a diagram of a shot to examine an arc.
Our legacy assessment systems have been judging a student primarily on their performance during a stipulated duration of time be it hand-written or handed-in online.
I am from my India, and during my school and college days, the teaching methods and assessment systems were far more conventional and outdated. Students were expected to memorize the entire textbook by the end of an academic year and replicate its content in a hand-written assessment which was referred to as The Annual Examination. The grading of a student was achieved by solely testing his ability to memorize but not to gauge his levels of understanding and application.
Now, the assessments have been modified slightly from what they have been since a century, but the rote learning methods and the limited ways to test the learner's capability is unchanged. Assessments are a sheer grading of the assignments and exams conducted over the academic year.
The future generation and the present learners are exposed to the latest technology and have access to unlimited information available online. When they have such a plethora of options in every domain around them, they would want education and learning also to be equally interesting.
Some ways to overcome some of the limitations of legacy assessment systems:
1) Assessment should not be entirely at the knowledge and comprehension level of a student. Ways to assess the learner's application of knowledge gained during the process of learning should be focussed
2) Customized learning programs and assessments based on the learner's pace and capability must be used
3) Gamifying practice exercises and assessments is a great solution to enhancing student engagement
4) Incorporating virtual reality in testing their application of knowledge to a real-time scenario is another novel method to assess
5) Keeping track of the data footprint of a learner is also a great way to assess his comprehension and the time spent constructively in researching on the subject.
References:
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED553178.pdf
https://nix-united.com/blog/6-essential-edtech-trends-for-2019/