Mobile Devices can Change Assessment Methods

Presentation:  Alexis Birner

Session C | 10:05 – 10:45 | Location: Room 1328

Abstract:

The power of mobile devices in 21st century assessment methods
This presentation proposes formative assessment methods informed by an educational pedagogy of multimodality and multiple literacies, facilitated through the use of technology, such as an iPhone, iPad or Android device.

A multiple literacies pedagogy, whereby meaning can be made and shared through visual, oral, tactile and written modes (Cope and Kalantzis, 2009), is especially relevant in the 21st century classroom and in a world with an ever increasing range of technological tools. While many of these modes of learning have existed in classroom contexts for decades, they have not always been validated in schools as ways for students to share their understanding or make meaning (Kress, 2000); rather, the written mode has been prioritized, limiting how a child expresses their true knowledge and understanding.

For some time now, many educators and theorists have been advocating for a pedagogy that recognizes and validates multiple modes of communication, and acknowledges that in order for a student to fully express their understanding, a wider range of modes of communication must be taken into consideration. As such, educators are left with the challenge of measuring and documenting learning presented in non-­‐traditional modes.
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