Digital Learning Technologies: How do we assess the effectiveness of new technology and learning?
Assessing the effectiveness of new technology and learning is not very different from assessing the effectiveness of traditional learning that takes place in classrooms. Both informal and formal assessments must be given to the students in order to determine how much they have learned. Teachers must develop clearly
,defined learning goals and then assess how well the learning goals were achieved throughout the course.
Virtual Learning Environments, also called Course Management Systems, provide both teachers and students with many tools they can used to assess the effectiveness of new technology and learning. For example, teachers can administer quizzes and tests online on a frequent basis, the results of which can be immediately tabulated and used to assess the effectiveness of the new technology being use in the classroom. Are the students using the new technology to learn? Are they making use of discussion boards to respond to discussion topics and assigned readings?
Discussion boards can be effective tools for teachers who need to assess whether or not learning has taken place, because whereas in a lecture hall, only the students asking questions may show signs of digesting the material, in a required discussion board thread, teachers can read comments and assess whether or not the material is being understood by the majority of students.
This is especially true of Virtual Learning Environments which require students to compose their own responses before being able to view the responses of other students; original thinking is then encouraged and required.
Another component which cannot be overlooked when assessing the effectiveness of new technology and learning is student feedback. It is important to give students the opportunity to comment upon whether or not the technology being incorporated in the classroom is helping or hindering the learning process. Students have different learning styles, and it is therefore very important for teachers to get feedback from them in order to modify course content as well as to modify the content being made available to them in Virtual Learning Environments.
Learning assessments are very important; even if the new technology being used is supposed to be effective, if it doesn’t work and the students aren’t learning, then the technology is of no use.
This is such a good question about assessing online learning environments, not just the content within them. I think that we need a greater debate in the elearning-osphere on how this may be done. Our need to compare CMS’s or LMS’s or systems of pedagogy is truly important if we are going to get online learning to be accepted in a larger way with a wider audience. Our online school at http://edcsd.org is trying to define authentic learning in an online environment. Any insights on where we should go next?