On-line learning week 4

I know that I have skipped week three - but I feel that I need more time to reflect on that topic in order to post effectively. Therefore I am going to move on to week 4 to talk about formative assessments. I'm not exactly sure what the author's point was to the article about using web2.0 tools for formative assessments. A formative assessment can only be successful if the teacher uses it properly. This has so much more to do with the teacher than the tool they are using. A blog can easily be as effective as a written journal if the teacher takes the time to comment and provide feedback. I have known many teachers who just mark down that the students turned in their notebook - how is this effective formative assessment? A good teacher will make use of the tools provided to give substantial feedback and allow their students to grow and improve. A teacher can use discussion posts, google-docs or blogs to evaluate and comment on writing. They can use clickers or google forms to get a quick sense on what the class understands (or doesn't) to determine whether or not they need to reteach or which concepts they need to review. Pixton could be used to evaluate understanding as well. Each of these tools can be revised by the students based on teacher feedback in order to improve.