Educational Technology at IU13

Assessment continues to be a hot topic in today's education circles.  As educators, we spend a great deal of time learning the pedagogy behind classroom instructional practices, but do we spend enough time thinking about and creating formative assessments?  Formative assessments are used to alter teacher practices in order to understand what learning in occurring in our classrooms.  Teach 21 from the West Virginia Department of Education cites, "The formative assessment process guides teachers in making decisions about future instruction."  There are many analog and digital formative assessments that can be used to help guide instruction on a day to day basis.  Formative assessments are rarely graded as they are more of a check for understanding as teaching and learning transpires. There is a time and a place for both analogue and digital formative assessments.  Each have their place and specific value depending on the classroom scenario, topic, and investigation.