In the 3,200-student East Haven schools in Connecticut, elementary teachers did their initial student reading assessments a bit differently this school year.
Instead of using paper and pencil to jot down observations about each of their students and then collecting and analyzing those notes by hand, each teacher used an iPad to collect the information and send it to a centralized database through software from the New York City-based ed-tech company Wireless Generation.
鈥淥ne of our primary goals was to be able to develop a system that would bring a lot of the data into one place,鈥� says Taylor Auger, a technology-integration teacher in the district who helped incorporate use of the iPads into classrooms. 鈥淧reviously, the data was processed by hand, and it wasn鈥檛 really being put to use effectively. I鈥檓 all for data, but that data has to drive instruction.鈥�
Moving assessments onto mobile devices may open the door to quicker feedback for students and teachers as well as richer data, but without proper management of the devices and a strong infrastructure to support them, integrating the devices can be a challenge.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to have the technology,鈥� says Erica Forti, the district鈥檚 assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, 鈥渂ut once it鈥檚 purchased, there is a management piece involved.鈥�
Leaders in the East Haven district decided to buy 210 iPads when the lease for desktop computers in the elementary schools鈥� computer labs was up. Instead of replacing those computers, they decided to explore mobile technology.
鈥淲e liked the idea of having mobile computing devices, since most of the technology was fixed,鈥� or stationary, says Forti. 鈥淚t opened up the doors for different types of teaching and learning.鈥�
In addition, having the data collected on the iPads allowed the information to be easily shared with parents during conferences, Forti says.
Maintaining that one-teacher-to-one-student assessment ratio through the mobile devices is also important for students, especially in the earlier grades, says Krista Curran, the general manager of assessment and intervention products for Wireless Generation.
鈥淚n the early grades, the [mobile] assessments are used by teachers with their students so it鈥檚 less obtrusive, in order to make that interaction friendly to the student,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he end goal is to provide that immediate access to data that informs instruction.鈥�
(Wireless Generation鈥檚 founder and chief executive officer, Larry Berger, is a trustee of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit corporation that publishes Education Week Digital Directions.)
Making iPads Work
After the East Haven elementary students were initially assessed on their reading levels, the iPads were distributed onto seven carts鈥攐ne for each elementary school in the district鈥攖o be used for instruction.
From a teacher鈥檚 standpoint, the iPads are an easy device to use, says Auger. 鈥淭hey can pick it up, turn it on, and use it how they wish,鈥� he says.
鈥淏ut the ability to do that,鈥� he cautions, 鈥渞equires a lot of background work from the rest of the technology team that if you do not have, it will not work.鈥�
The district also underwent an upgrade to a fiber-optic wireless network during the 2010-11 school year, which was critical to the success of the iPad implementation, says Auger.
After the initial reading assessments, he says, some teachers have continued to use the iPads for assessment by having students take screenshots of their scores on various educational apps and email the images to the teachers to be stored in the students鈥� electronic portfolios.
鈥淥ne of the greatest things about the iPad is its versatility,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t can really be what you want it to be.鈥�
Similarly, the 2,000-student Lowndes County school system in Hayneville, Ala., rolled out 1,100 iPads to teachers in the district last fall with the help of Information Transport Solutions, or ITS, a technology-services company in Wetumpka, Ala.
69传媒 in the district undergo a pre- and post-test every 45 days in core subjects that helps pinpoint where students may need more support, says Lucy Long, the director of professional learning for ITS.
鈥淲e use the data from the post-test to really structure how we approach the next 45 days,鈥� she says. In between those assessments, teachers use the iPads to create their own assessments, which are pushed out to the students and then returned to the teacher for data collection, says John Loiselle, an integration technology specialist for ITS.
In addition to using mobile devices to gather observational data, teachers can use the devices to get a glimpse into the thought processes of students, says Reshan Richards, the director of educational technology at Montclair Kimberley Academy, a private school serving grades preK-12 in Montclair, N.J.
鈥淵ou can gather a lot of data quickly, and you can do a lot of quick checks of understanding in a class, but I鈥檓 more interested in the deeper, more qualitative understanding that mobile might bring,鈥� Richards says.
For instance, screencasting, which records what students are doing on the display screens of their devices, allows teachers to see students work through problems without having to stand over their shoulders the whole time, he says.
That kind of assessment on a mobile device turns testing into more than just one number, Richards says. Most schools are hesitant, however, to jump into assessing with mobile devices, he says.
鈥楻ich Feedback鈥�
But those schools and classrooms that have embraced mobile devices have seen them as a catalyst for change in teaching, learning, and assessment, says Julie Evans, the chief executive officer of the Irvine, Calif.-based Project Tomorrow, a national education nonprofit group that promotes technology use in the classroom.
鈥淭he access of having a [mobile] device in your hand changes the way that classroom environment feels,鈥� she says. 鈥�69传媒 are walking around with the devices, doing things to get them out of the structured environment of the traditional school.鈥�
And because students feel a sense of connection and ownership over their mobile devices, they feel 鈥渆nabled to be part of the assessment process,鈥� says Evans.
Christopher Dede, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, also notes the unique relationship between students and their mobile devices. 鈥淜ids think of phones as an extension of themselves in a way that they don鈥檛 think of with laptops or workstations,鈥� he says. 鈥淧art of what you have is this intellectual partnership with your cellphone where you do some of the thinking, and your cellphone does some of the thinking, and then you鈥檙e smarter.鈥�
Educators are beginning to tackle how such devices can be used for assessment, taking into consideration screen size and assessment platforms, says Dede. But it鈥檚 clear, he says, that mobile devices have potential as assessment tools in at least two ways: asking a question and getting an answer, and recording and capturing a process.
鈥淲e can give students some kind of thought question and look at the response they give and understand formatively where they are in their comprehension, and perhaps modify what comes next based on that kind of feedback,鈥� Dede says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very rich feedback for students on how they鈥檙e doing and how to get better.鈥�
Dede is also exploring how mobile devices can be used as assessment tools through 鈥渁ugmented reality,鈥� a process by which students interact with the real world, which is enhanced by information from a mobile device. For example, students in a science class could take mobile devices onto school grounds and use them to identify plants or trees, or students in a history class could use the GPS capabilities on their mobile devices to lead them to sites of historical importance.
Student-Owned Devices
Johnny Kissko, a math teacher for the 2,000-student Frenship High School in the Frenship Independent School District in Texas, is also interested in using augmented reality in his classes.
This school year, Frenship High has changed its policy to allow students to bring their own mobile devices into class at the discretion of the teacher, says Kissko.
Taking advantage of the new policy, Kissko has created worksheets for his classes that use QR, or quick-response, codes that pull up video solutions for the problems his students are working on. To read the QR codes, which are black-and-white barcode-type images, students download apps; when the apps are running, the students hold their devices over the codes to be linked to the website.
Around the country, the mobile devices are being used primarily for formative assessments rather than high-stakes standardized tests.
For example, in the 5,000-student Canby school district, south of Portland, Ore., teachers are using classroom sets of iPod touches to receive quick feedback on where students are in learning their subject matter, says Joe Morelock, the director of technology and innovation for the district.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a lot of formative assessments on them,鈥� Morelock says. Using apps such as iResponse and resources like Google Documents, teachers are able to receive feedback from students and record their own observations about students鈥� progress, he says.
Teachers have full autonomy in deciding which apps they use and how they use the mobile devices in the classroom, says Morelock. That leeway cuts down on the management load for the district鈥檚 technology team.
鈥淭he teachers are updating them, syncing them, and they鈥檙e finding a thousand different ways to use them,鈥� he says of the devices. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been really incredible, and it really has to do with the ease of using the device, and the teachers really taking the lead.鈥�
