May 2005 — Features
Print this article | Email this articleClick here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal
Technology for All
Assessing Diverse Learners
My mix of special-needs and gifted students may not constitute a typical classroom, but even so-called “typical” students will challenge a teacher with various learning styles. To meet this challenge, I try to assess my students in as many different ways as I can; not just through a written report or presentation.
Children perform well when they can learn and express themselves in a number of different ways. As a result, the “show what you know” paradigm has become a cornerstone of my teaching. Drawing on the multiple intelligences, students help determine what they must do to demonstrate their knowledge and mastery of a skill, and then choose among the criteria of which activities are best suited for them. For example, during a unit on desert plants and animals, they have four categories from which to choose at least one activity each:
- They may use words — writing paragraphs about the similarities and differences between two animals;
- They may use pictures and numbers - graphing the temperature over a week’s time;
- They may use music and their bodies - writing a song about the ecosystem and using motions to help us learn; or
- They may use their friends and self to perform a play.
I often use a rubric to evaluate each activity, particularly those that are technology-based. Through the Intel Teach to the Future program, I began refining rubrics as an assessment tool. This helped me learn to look at the content of an assignment separate from the process, and then judge the quality of each. For instance, the rubric for a PowerPoint presentation would include evaluations of the content itself (e.g., the number of facts included), the slide layout (e.g., the readability of the text and use of graphics), the length of the project, transitions between slides, and the use of proper writing conventions. I now work with my students to define the rubrics; those involved in developing the rubric tend to be more successful.
Technology is not an isolated tool or experience for my students. As I plan and deliver instruction, I use every opportunity and tool available to make learning more meaningful. Because of the in-depth training I’ve received and the allocation of materials I have, my choices for delivery of instruction and assessment of skills for my students continue to expand.
San Jose, Calif.-based freelance education writer Sandra Duncan co-wrote article with Ms. Bowerman.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
