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Re-forming Summative Assessments

Re-forming Summative Assessments: Blurring the line between learning and testing

What if we could make that timeless question ‘Will this be on the test’ irrelevant? In today’s mainstream educational system we clearly differentiate between assessment and learning. Even when it comes to assessment meant to inform learning (formative assessment) we tend to distinguish between learning and showing that we learned new content and skills. What if we could bring the two much closer… so close that you can’t distinguish one from the other? In this show we will explore research and development efforts and products that move us closer to this seamless learning environment. We will examine what impact this has on products in development today and how this might change the way you think about your offering in the future.

We will explore the following questions:

  • What does a learning environment look like where learning and assessment are seamlessly integrated?
  • What are the benefits and issues with this approach?
  • Does this require technology or are there strategies that transcend the use of technology?
  • How does this integration fit in a world of high stakes assessment?
  • How can a content developer take advantage of this strategy to improve their existing and new products?

Guests at the table:

  1. Elizabeth Greninger, Ph.D.,  Managing Associate and Teacher Quality Specialist at edCount, LLC
  2. Stuart Kahl, Founding Principal and former CEO of Measured Progress
  3. Shawn Morgan, District Data Coordinator at CNY Regional Information Center

Education Research to Guide Product Development

More Than Just A Good Idea:
Education Research to Guide Product Development

Ed Table Talk will be broadcased Tuesday, November 18th, 2014

Ideas abound for new teaching methodologies, and curriculum, and each claims to
be innovative and effective. Governments throughout the world fund a wealth of
research into educational strategies and instructional design every year, yet we find
that these communities often don’t communicate well with each other. It is not
unusual for popular educational solutions to lack research into their effectiveness
and how best they can be applied. Equally unusual, many educational research
programs, in which curriculum is developed, never see the commercial light of day,
or broad distribution.

We will examine what educational research brings to improving products today and
in the future and how publishers can take advantage of research findings to improve
their offerings.

Host Michael Jay and our leading education thinkers will contemplate the following:

  1. How closely tied is today’s research programs to educational practice?
  2. Where are there challenges for the research community in working with commercial vendors?
  3. How are requirements at funding agencies changing to bring these communities closer together?
  4. How are our universities and research institutions working to accommodate the commercialization of products from their research?
  5. How can publishers reach out to the research community to improve their offerings and gain greater credibility with the educational community?

Guests at the table:

1. Jeremy Roschelle– Director, Center for Technology in Learning, SRI International

2. Chad Dorsey– President and CEO, Concord Consortium 

3. Tammy Sumner – Executive Director, Digital Learning Sciences


Standards, Standards, Everywhere

July  2014 — Standards, Standards, Everywhere: 

The Technical Side of Education Standards

When someone mentions standards in education most people assume they are referring to curriculum or instructional standard. Get ready to delve into the world of technical standards that serve as the foundation of our digital offerings. We’ll take a look at a wide variety of such standards and examine how they impact your product implementation, platform support, and business development.

For those of you who shy away from the technical, this is an opportunity to unwrap some of the jargon you hear but have been too embarrassed to ask about… xml, HTML5, APIP, Dublin Core, RDFa all sound familiar but you have no idea what they mean? Stop just nodding knowingly and learn what you need to know to engage in discussion about how to apply these standards to make the best products.

For those propeller heads out there, we have a seat at the Table for you as well. Get up to date on the latest happenings on several different standards and join the online discussion. It’s a veritable technical feast!

Knowledge is key to driving business and structuring your solutions so you can address the needs of your customers. Join host Michael Jay and guests as they explore the structure behind standards and answer questions such as:

  1. How are instructional standards continuing to evolve?
  2. What are the impacts instructional standards have on teaching and learning?
  3. What standards are used by publishers and development shops?
  4. What impact do standards have on my business?

Ed Table Talk welcomes individuals at any level of expertise. Experts and beginners alike can embrace the value of understanding more about standards, and the common misconceptions. It’s going to get technical, as Michael Jay and guests explore the deeper side to standards.

Guests at The Table:

  • Bethann Canada, Director of Educational Information Management for the Virginia Dept. of Education
  • Jim Goodell, Senior Analyst at Quality Information Partners, Inc.
  • Matt Howard, Manager of Digital Experiences Strategy at Zaner-Bloser

Listen to the show down below:


Privacy, Anonymity, and Instruction

May 2014 — Privacy, Anonymity, and Instruction

Privacy today looks very different than it did 20 years ago… and the drive toward more personalized instruction from students, parents, and educators challenges privacy even further. Is it possible to build barriers to thwart data thieves and support general anonymity while providing educators with access to assessment and more nuanced qualitative information?  The ability to balancing these demands is essential if we are to realize the benefits that personalized learning can offer.

Communities are trying to address the challenge of providing the infrastructure to support quality education, while still adhering to socially acceptable policies around data security and anonymity. With instruction, it’s not simply about assessment but providing substantial feedback that allows students to become masters of their own learning. In order to be effective, educators and educational environments need to know who the learner is, balance the trade offs between complete anonymity and provide access to information that informs instruction.

Join Michael Jay and guests as they take a bite out of the hard questions like:

  1. How is technology outside of education progressing and how can we leverage it to improve our systems?
  2. How can we educate decision makers about the trade offs around privacy/anonymity and also set expectations with parents and the larger community?

Guests at the Table:

  1. Tim Discipio, Founder, ePals
  2. Jeff Patterson, Founder and CEO, Gaggle, Inc.
  3. Francesca Venning, Learning Technology Consultant, Venning and Associates

 

Resource

May’s rumor from You Can’t Handle the Truth can be found, here.

Listen: http://youtu.be/hHds38C7yqQ


Making Assessment Actionable

January 2014 — Don’t just tell us they’re doing poorly, help us do something about it!

With the advent of NCLB, rise of the Common Core, and a focus on quantifying learning, assessment is doing hand-to-hand combat with learning for the educational steering wheel. Schools are under a lot of pressure, students feel stressed to earn high grades, and teachers are faced with increased accountability for student learning. Michael Jay and guests will delve into how data can and is utilized by teachers, students, administrators and learning systems for learning and teaching.

Education Table Talk tackled the big questions like how do we change community expectations about what makes for good evidence in learning? And how do we improve educational legislation to employ a systemic model to educational improvement?

Ed Table Talk provided information on upcoming conferences, guests’ Donor’s Choose projects, highlights from MCH’s Early Childhood Marketing Leadership Council meeting, and “You Can’t Handle the Truth!”

Guests at the Table:

Brian Rick
Research and Assessment Director, Bellingham Public School District
Kathy Dyer
Senior Curriculum Specialist, Northwest Evaluation Association
Helene Duvin
Director, Education and Assessment Solutions, Pacific Metrics

Listen:

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