EduBlog Insights

Today, in a matter of minutes, students can identify these and thousands of other potential resources on the Internet - and, as any teacher will attest, they are not always adept at sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Now the Educational Testing Service, the nonprofit group behind the SAT, Graduate Record Examination and other college tests, has developed a new test that it says can assess students’ ability to make good critical evaluations of the vast amount of material available to them.

The Information and Communications Technology literacy assessment, which will be introduced at about two dozen colleges and universities later this month, is intended to measure students’ ability to manage exercises like sorting e-mail messages or manipulating tables and charts, and to assess how well they organize and interpret information from many sources and in myriad forms. About 10,000 undergraduates at schools from the University of California, Los Angeles to Bronx Community College are expected to take the test during the first offering period, which ends March 31.

Still, just what is meant by ‘information ‘or even ‘technological’ literacy remains a hotly debated topic in academic circles, and there is no widespread agreement on whether such skills can be taught, much less measured in a test. What seems certain, however, is that a lucrative market is emerging for testing companies that are willing to fill the perceived need.

The initial technology test is aimed at midlevel college students, but the Educational Testing Service says it has also received inquiries from high schools and businesses. And while the new assessment is not a high-stakes requirement for academic advancement like the SAT, it seems inevitable that most students will one day need to prove themselves along these lines.

Everybody keeps talking about accountability and point out how the public wants this but I think it’s time that we used multiple ways to assess. Also we need to be focusing on reshaping our curriculum to meet the needs of the infomation age.  Rather than the dreaded weeklong testing sessions that occur in schools each year, we need to move tests  into the background as but one source of data combined with many others to assess learning. Assessment should have an instructional purpose, not just an evaluative or administrative one. I am really concerned that tests are taking over as our focus on learning. We need to focus on improving the quality of student work. I’m fearful of how the testing of technology can be translated to a standardized test.

How about if we made writing the focus of learning?  We’d be much better off than using testing. Writing can be a tool for learning in all disciplines. Actually the National Center for Education Statistics in the U.S. Department of cf Ecucation says it all here:

Effective writing skills are important in all stages of life from early education to future employment. In the business world, as well as in school, students must convey complex ideas and information in a clear, succinct manner. Inadequate writing skills, therefore, could inhibit achievement across the curriculum and in future careers, while proficient writing skills help students convey ideas, deliver instructions, analyze information, and motivate others.

Hmmm, how about if we took the time spent on getting kids ready for tests and instead focused on writing as a means to improve learning in our schools?  

I also keep thinking about all the learning possibilities that the Read/Write Web provides and we are at the beginning stages of so many teachers beginning to rethink teaching, technology to help students make learning connections. Testing of technology by a standardized test could just shut the door on all this. We’re at a critical  junction. Let’s not reduce technology to a “test-prep” mode.