presentation atoxforduni

www.teachertrainingvideos.com

From blogs to e-portfolios: new ways of

assessing students

Russell Stannardwww.teachertrainingvideos.com

Presentation at the University of Oxford Exeter College

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/


A bit about me How assessment has changed and why What this means What can technology do to help ( lots of

examples of what I have done) Conclusions

I have created a on-line version of this presentation where all the videos work. It also includes a link to a free book from the British Council

Today’s talk


Work Part time lecturer at the University of Warwick NILE associate trainerWriting Have regular columns in the ELT Professional and the

Teacher TrainerAwards Founder of teacher training videos.com Winner of -Times Higher Outstanding Initiative in ICT-British Council ELTons Technology award-University of Westminster ‘Excellence in teaching & learning’

Russell Stannard

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/


Free step by step videos to show teachers how to use technology

Used by 350,000 teachers a year Has a newsletter with 19,000 subscribers An example video from the site ( video will

download before playing)

Provides

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/mailvuraw.mp4


Ok now let’s talk about assessment and

technologyBased on Chapter in recent British Council Book

Innovations in learning technologies for ELT


Assessment

Past Now

For the teacher/school/student/employers

Discrete language items Some writing/reading Reflected ideas about

language learning, about assessment etc

Learner is devoid from the process

Narrow definition of what assessment is.

More stakeholders than ever. Parents, students, teachers, external examiners, employers, institutions, government etc

Much wider view of what language learning is

Learners have more say in the process ( autonomy)

Totally different understanding of what assessment is and can do.


It is about communication ( Hymes 1972) It has a top down process as well as a bottom

up process Knowledge of grammar does not mean the

ability to use a languageMy memories of foreign language learning include long lists of vocabulary words and multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and discrete item tests.(Choa, 1999) Language learning needs to be grounded in

needs/reality/through tasks

What do we know about language learning


It can be a factor for motivation Needs to reflect what is taught Can have ‘Washback’ (Podromou 1995) It is part of the learning process ( feedback) Can be formative, summative

Most teachers no longer view assessment as something that only occurs after the fact. Rather they recognise the benefits of conducting assessment before, during, and following teaching and learning. (Stoynoff, 2012: 527)

It can even be a source for learning (Tomlinson 1995)

What do we know about assessment


Reading texts are often more interesting and related to the student’s lives/interests

Skills are integrated Writing is often better contextualised Listening might be global, specific, include

different accents, do different things More and more speaking exams ( in pairs,

groups etc) Real skills….giving presentations,

discussing, etc

Concrete examples of change.


How do we include a greater range of skills in our assessments?

Particularly how can we get the students to do more speaking work?

One possible answer is through technology?

Challenge


Watch this demonstration of a technology and think about how this could be used for assessing your students formally/informally.

Discuss with a partnerWhat might you ask them to do?How often?How would feedback be provided?Other factors to consider

Vocaroo ( downloads before playing)

Example

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/vocarooraw.mp4


So We need to reflect our new knowledge of

language learning in the assessments we create ( formal and informal)

We need to be aware of the wider implications of any assessments we set

We may even want to involve students in the process of assessment ( autonomy/motivation etc)


Students make regular recordings in pairs/groups/individually

They peer assess/self evaluate their work They can keep all their recordings in a blog (downloads before playing) They can choose a certain number of

recordings that they ask the teacher to provide feedback on.

Vocaroo

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/eportfolio.mp4


Present.Me allows students to upload PowerPoint presentations and then add their voice

It includes a webcam The tool is free and very easy to use. The recordings can be shared or embedded. Example of how the tool works I have worked with this tool to develop students

fluency/speaking. Here is an example of a student recording What feedback could we provide to him?

Present.Me

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/presentmeraw.mp4

https://present.me/view/47956-wallwisher-activity-feedback-reflection


Similar in some ways ot Present.Me Can we used to get students speaking in

pairs/groups/individuals Allows students to upload video, pictures,

presentations etc Then add their voice to them Then share them over the internet or embed. How it works ( downloads before playing) Have done extensive work with the tool for

speaking activities. Student 1 Student 2

MybrainShark

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/mybrainsharkraw.mp4

http://my.brainshark.com/security-and-privacy-29852347

http://my.brainshark.com/wallwisher-784547763


Influenced by work of David Kluge and Peter Schneider (on line references)

Set up clear activities Make them regular Have some sort of peer/self evaluation of the

recordings ( pair students) Offer teacher intervention periodically Students choose the recordings for formal

evaluation Work with my student Lu Lian showed that

regular recordings resulted in improved fluency

My experience with speaking assessments


Use blogs as a key assessment tool Students can..WriteLeave commentsAdd up digital content they have createdBuild an audience for their blogsBe creative in the designUse social networks to share

Writing


Easy for other stakeholders to view Wide range of resources ( writing, reading,

videos, audio, discussions) Easy to update and change Continue after the course Washback ( Podromou 1995) Evidence of digital literacy ( Tomlinson

1995) 21st Century Skills

Advantages

http://www.aacu.org/leap/students/employerstopten.cfm




Restrict to one type of media ( for example only write once a week)

Use as repository for other content ( audio recordings, video etc)

Use in a much wider context to assess a whole range of skills ( reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary , pronunciation etc)

(Cummins, P and Davesne, C 2009) Example ( downloads before playing) How to set up a blog ( downloads before

playing)

Blogging

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/blogassessment.mp4

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/settingupblog.mp4


ICT can broaden the types of assessments we set up

They can engage students Provide them with 21st Century Skills Can provide information to a range of

stakeholders Can cover the skills/competences students

need to provide evidence of language ability.

Are not that difficult to set up

Conclusions


Click on the book ( FREE)

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/C607%20Information%20and%20Communication_WEB%20ONLY_FINAL.pdf


Kluge, D. Boosting Speaking Fluency through Partner Taping ITESLJ-available at

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kluge-PartnerTaping.html Shneider P. Using Partner taping ITESLJ-available

athttp://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kluge-PartnerTaping.html

On-line references

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kluge-PartnerTaping.html

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kluge-PartnerTaping.html



Choa, C-C (1999) ‘Theory and Research: New Emphases of Assessment in the Language Learning Classroom’, in Egbert, J and Hanson-Smith, E (eds) (1999) CALL Environments Research, Practice and Critical Issues. Alexandria, Va.: TESOL.

Cummins, P and Davesne, C (2009) Using Electronic Portfolios for Second Language Ass

Hymes, DH (1972) ‘On communicative competence’, in Pride, JB and Holmes, J (eds) (1972) Sociolinguistics, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972.essment. Modern Language

Journal 93: 848–867 Lam, R and Lee, I (2010) Balancing the dual functions of portfolio assessment. English Language Teaching Journal 64/1: 54–64 Prodromou, L (1995) The backwash effect: from testing to teaching. English

Language Teaching Journal 49/1: 13–25. Stoynoff, S (2012) Looking backward and forward at classroom-based language assessment. English Language Teaching Journal 66/4: 523–532. Tomlinson, B (1995) Testing to learn: a personal view of language testing. English Language Teaching Journal 59/1: 39–46.

References



How to use Vocaroo How to use Present.Me How to use Blogger How to use myBrainShark

Learning the technologies I presented

http://teachertrainingvideos.com/vocaroo1/index.html

http://teachertrainingvideos.com/presentme/index.html

http://teachertrainingvideos.com/newBlogger/index.html

http://teachertrainingvideos.com/brain/index.html



Sign up to my newsletter ( sent out twice a month)

Follow me on Twitter

Keeping in contact with Russell

http://tinyurl.com/qh9d476

https://twitter.com/russell1955
