Page 177 - Microsoft Word - The Future of Learning April 2017.docx

One of the key elements of formative assessment is the provision of effective feedback and questioning of the learner. Most formal testing situations do not consider the assessment of the competencies or how effectively the learners apply the Learning Process, innovation, ingenuity, creativity, communicating ideas and concepts in a variety of media, the understanding of nuance, or the learner’s capability to communicate orally and listen effectively—all of which underpin rich learning relationships. Authentic assessment seeks to ‘measure’ these and many more aspects of learning by videoing both qualitative and quantitative data about the learner’s learning journey so that it is evident to learners, educators, parents/caregivers, what the next steps in the learning could be. The use of video is an essential tool for collecting authentic qualitative and quantitative data.
Authentic assessment assists learners in constructing frameworks of understanding of subjects and topics on offer, but also of assessing the underlying concepts, competencies, and the learning processes the learner has used to develop a deep understanding of the desired learning intention. The use of multimedia by educators, learners and their peers in assessing the learning that is taking place provides all the stakeholders with a far richer and deeper view of that learning. This approach allows each stakeholder to be better informed on the depth of understanding and the ability of the learner being able to express that understanding as well as critique their own learning processes.
As the owner and the beneficiary of the learning, the learner will be the major contributor of assessment resources and will then share those with educators and other stakeholders, including their peers and parents/caregivers. Each of the stakeholders can then make commentary on the learner’s competencies, learning progress, team involvement, presentation and oral capability, creativity and ability to apply the learning process.
To carry out an authentic assessment program we need to apply far more efficient and innovative assessment techniques using rich media, such as video to build each learner profile. Creating a profile that accurately reflects the knowledge, understanding and the application of practical skills, cognitive skills, attitudes, values and ethics, along with motivation and emotions, of the learner is a complex task and one the learner needs to take increasing agency over. The learner profile can then be applied by the learner to identify their next learning steps.
... involves the education community as a whole, establishing a system of expert data- driven instruction that will result in daily continuous improvement for all students in all classrooms.195 Michael Fullan, Peter Hill and Carmel Crevola
The application of data cannot, however, be to the detriment of the engagement of the learners in authentic learning and assessment tasks, as is all too often the case. There should be synchronicity in this relationship, but too often the use of ‘data-driven instruction’ is interpreted as simplistic, low-level testing of knowledge. This is not the case and we now need to be looking at assessing the learner’s understanding and their ability to apply that understanding to other contexts to get a full picture of their learning capability.
Effective Feedback
Being competent, able to apply the Learning Process and having a growth mind-set are all important aspects in creating the capacity of the learner to take increasing agency over their learning. A growth mind-set implies that growth at different rates in different areas can be expected and that there will be upper limits. These upper limits will vary for every learner and results will be dependent on the contexts the learner is experiencing.
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195 Fullan, M., Hill, P. & Crevola, C. (2006). Breakthrough. California, USA: Corwin Press.