Why is Good Instructional Design More Important than Ever in the Modern World? Although instructional design as a discipline has been around for decades (and probably was at its height in the 1970’s and 1980’s as a profession, its application and use has diminished in the age of easy to use software and access to and use of Internet. This is partly because it is so easy to create a course of almost any type, add as many “bells and whistles” as you like and then widely distribute it to a given audience. But in paying less attention to instructional design than we should we have lost something important and it is therefore high time we recognized that it is more important than ever in the modern world. After all, instructional design is the approach which helps to keep the process of training, coaching or development of any kind (on or off line) to be well-targeted and on track to meet the needs of the individual(s) at which it is aimed. Related Resources
10 Things You Don't Know About Formative Assessment Share with Friends 3KShares Assessments come in varied forms, and they’re executed for different purposes. While summative assessments attempt to measure mastery at the end of a learning experience, the best formative assessments illuminate the strengths and needs of learners throughout the experience, enabling teachers to respond in ways that are just right and just in time. Ready to ramp up your practice? Consider these little known facts about formative assessment. 10 Things You Don’t Know About Formative Assessment 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Eager to learn more? TEAL offers this quick but solid formative assessment fact sheet, with some basic approaches.James Popham is a leading authority on formative assessment, and I’ve learned a great deal from his book, Transformative Assessment. Put more amazing content from Angela Stockman in the palm of your hand. The following two tabs change content below. About The Author angelastockman
10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds Good assessment is frequent assessment. Any assessment is designed to provide a snapshot of student understand—the more snapshots, the more complete the full picture of knowledge. On its best day, an assessment will be 100% effective, telling you exactly what a student understands. More commonly, the return will be significantly lower as the wording of questions, the student’s sense of self-efficacy, or other factors diminish their assessment performance. It sounds obvious, but a student is a human being with an entire universe of personal problems, distraction, and related challenges in recalling the information in the form the assessment demands. This makes a strong argument for frequent assessment, as it can be too easy to over-react and “remediate” students who may be banging against the limits of the assessment’s design rather than their own understanding. Simple Assessments The word “simple” here is misleading. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Draw what you do understand. 10.
Educational Leadership:Informative Assessment:Feedback That Fits December 2007/January 2008 | Volume 65 | Number 4 Informative Assessment Pages 54-59 Susan M. Brookhart From the student's point of view, the ideal "script" for formative assessment reads something like, "Here is how close you are to the knowledge or skills you are trying to develop, and here's what you need to do next." Student Understanding and Control The power of formative assessment lies in its double-barreled approach, addressing both cognitive and motivational factors. Precisely because students' feelings of self-efficacy are involved, however, even well-intentioned feedback can be very destructive if the student reads the script in an unintended way ("See, I knew I was stupid!"). Recently, researchers have tried to tease out what makes some feedback effective, some ineffective, and some downright harmful (Butler & Winne, 1995; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). Good feedback contains information a student can use. Effective Ways to Deliver Feedback How Much Feedback?
5 Ways to Help Your Students Become Better Questioners The humble question is an indispensable tool: the spade that helps us dig for truth, or the flashlight that illuminates surrounding darkness. Questioning helps us learn, explore the unknown, and adapt to change. That makes it a most precious “app” today, in a world where everything is changing and so much is unknown. And yet, we don’t seem to value questioning as much as we should. For the most part, in our workplaces as well as our classrooms, it is the answers we reward -- while the questions are barely tolerated. To change that is easier said than done. How to Encourage Questioning 1. Asking a question can be a scary step into the void. 2. This is a tough one. 3. Part of the appeal of “questions-only” exercises is that there’s an element of play involved, as in: Can you turn that answer/statement into a question? 4. 5. If the long-term goal is to create lifelong questioners, then the challenge is to make questioning a habit -- a part of the way one thinks.
The Best Assessment Apps for Teachers and Education Teachers must assess and observe student progress every day – no matter what the subject. Mobile apps make this easier than ever, enabling teachers to harness the incredible power of real time observation and instant results. We selected some of the best assessment apps to assist you in observing and assessing student learning. Most of them are free – so try them out today! Image courtesy of Education Plus. 1. Price: Free Resource Type: App Available at: App Store and Google Play We can see why NearPod was awarded the Edtech Digest Award in 2012. Teachers -> Are you using the “Nearpod” app to allow students to interact from iPads to your Smartboards? 2. Price: £1.49 (App Store); £0.65 (Google Play) Available at: App Store and Google Play It can be hard to rely on memory to assess how much students have learned – particularly for large groups. 3. Resource Type(s): App Available at: App Store Looking for an alternative to clumsy classroom clickers? 4. Resource Type(s): App and associated website