Der Blog, der Technologie erlebbar macht.

Der Blog, der Technologie erlebbar macht.

Assessments or Possibility to check their own learning

Our youth on the way into their future

The discussion about missing experts in IT and other industries which requires a STEM education just does not stop. If you participate in the discussion about the attractiveness of professions to our youth, you will start reflecting about abilities, competencies and skills and their importance as a result of the learning process.

Depending on if you are

  • educator
  • parent
  • learner
  • administrator
  • political stakeholder,

the goals and requirements look completely different. If you think about this topic in detail, it becomes clear very fast that it is a very complex topic.

Everyone of us knows exams and tests as a measure for performance evaluation, in written form or in form of project work. Everyone of us has his or her own experience, as pupil, student or educator: we all have our opinion and views about it. At the end a diploma, a university degree, a certification or accreditation should be the result of an education or training. They open doors for their holders and are sort of an entry ticket for a community, a circle of expert or an entire ecosystem.

A different view

As an educator I often witness a phenomenon that knowledge disappears as soon as the knowledge became part of the individual knowledge base. To make this knowledge visible for the person, tests can be used in a self controlling or self reflective way.

The first point of the “Tips for new teaching staff” from an Australian University starts with

—- Assessment should help students to learn —-

This underlines that a “check your own knowledge” function is aiming at exactly this goal.

 

daniel_300

“In my CCNA courses I use the assessments in the following way: they are compulsory to be done at home supporting their learning process. I do not check the results or assess their performance with them, there is no connection to their grades. They can do the chapter tests as many times as they want, make a competition out of it or work in groups.

The learners should get the possibility to check their own learning – with this taking part of the responsibility for their learning success. This builds trust in their own competencies and motivates them to continue learning.

Another huge advantage is that they can get to know the type of questions and tasks asked in a standardized industry certification.

An additional motivation is the voucher they can get for the Cisco Certification Exam when they reach 75% at the end assessment.”

Thanks to Daniel Jossen for sharing his experience on how he is using assessments in his teaching
Networking Academy Alumni and Instructor in the Switzerland

Standardized tests are part of our life, increasingly so as they help to make education across different countries comparable. They are an instrument favored by politicians and businesses.

At the same time the educational settings and rules of the game are changing dramatically. New forms of teaching and learning appear on the market: tandem learning platforms, MOOCs and other learning platforms are freely accessible and learning partnerships step into a traditional teacher role.

Wie schätzen Sie diese Entwicklungen ein?

How do you see these developments?
How do you use assessments in the Cisco Networking Academy Courses?

Looking forward to your feedback …

 

LINKS

A school that does not require the person to have a degree or any other kind of school certificate is Ecole 42. The founder Nicolas Sadirac says “that a school should not deliver a diploma but a profession”. [in French]

Education Scotland has a great collection about principles of assessment and the role of Role of ICT in learning

Tips for new teaching staff” from an Australian University

Getting deeper into the question What does Research say about Assessment?

Stanford University Professor Linda Darling-Hammond discusses what the United States can learn from high-achieving countries on teaching, learning, and assessment — from Finland to Singapore.

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