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Rethinking Testing in the Age of the iPad

Students in Kelly Neuser's kindergarten class at Deer Run Elementary School in East Haven, Conn., use iPads during a reading eercise in

Decem!er.

"Christo#her Ca#o$$iello %or Digital Directions

Schools administer assessments via mobile device

ByKatie Ash

&n the ,())*student East Haven schools in Connecticut, elementary teachers did their initial student reading

assessments a !it di%%erently this school year.

&nstead o% using #a#er and #encil to +ot don o!servations a!out each o% their students and then collecting and

analy$ing those notes !y hand, each teacher used an iPad to collect the in%ormation and send it to a centrali$ed

data!ase through so%tare %rom the Ne -ork City*!ased ed*tech com#anyWireless Generation.

/ne o% our #rimary goals as to !e a!le to develo# a system that ould !ring a lot o% the data into one #lace, says

0aylor 1uger, a technology*integration teacher in the district ho hel#ed incor#orate use o% the iPads into classrooms.

Previously, the data as #rocessed !y hand, and it asn't really !eing #ut to use e%%ectively. &'m all %or data, !ut that

data has to drive instruction.

2oving assessments onto mo!ile devices may o#en the door to 3uicker %eed!ack %or students and teachers as ell as

richer data, !ut ithout #ro#er management o% the devices and a strong in%rastructure to su##ort them, integrating

the devices can !e a challenge.

&t's great to have the technology, says Erica 4orti, the district's assistant su#erintendent %or curriculum and

instruction, !ut once it's #urchased, there is a management #iece involved.

5eaders in the East Haven district decided to !uy (6) iPads hen the lease %or deskto# com#uters in the elementary

schools' com#uter la!s as u#. &nstead o% re#lacing those com#uters, they decided to e#lore mo!ile technology.

7e liked the idea o% having mo!ile com#uting devices, since most o% the technology as %ied, or stationary, says

4orti. &t o#ened u# the doors %or di%%erent ty#es o% teaching and learning.&n addition, having the data collected on the iPads alloed the in%ormation to !e easily shared ith #arents during

con%erences, 4orti says.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/contributors/katie.ash.htmlhttp://www.edweek.org/ew/contributors/katie.ash.htmlhttp://www.wirelessgeneration.com/http://www.wirelessgeneration.com/http://www.edweek.org/ew/contributors/katie.ash.html

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2aintaining that one*teacher*to*one*student assessment ratio through the mo!ile devices is also im#ortant %or

students, es#ecially in the earlier grades, says Krista Curran, the general manager o% assessment and intervention

#roducts %or 7ireless 8eneration.

&n the early grades, the 9mo!ile: assessments are used !y teachers ith their students so it's less o!trusive, in order

to make that interaction %riendly to the student, she says. 0he end goal is to #rovide that immediate access to data

that in%orms instruction.

;7ireless 8eneration's %ounder and chie% eecutive o%%icer, 5arry

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4or instance, screencasting, hich records hat students are doing on the dis#lay screens o% their devices, allos

teachers to see students ork through #ro!lems ithout having to stand over their shoulders the hole time, he says.

0hat kind o% assessment on a mo!ile device turns testing into more than +ust one num!er, Richards says. 2ost schools

are hesitant, hoever, to +um# into assessing ith mo!ile devices, he says.

"Rich #eedback"

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1round the country, the mo!ile devices are !eing used #rimarily %or %ormative assessments rather than high*stakes

standardi$ed tests.

4or eam#le, in the ?,)))*student Can!y school district, south o% Portland, /re., teachers are using classroom sets o%

iPod touches to receive 3uick %eed!ack on here students are in learning their su!+ect matter, says @oe 2orelock, the

director o% technology and innovation %or the district.

7e're doing a lot o% %ormative assessments on them, 2orelock says. sing a##s such as iRes#onse and resources

like 8oogle Documents, teachers are a!le to receive %eed!ack %rom students and record their on o!servations a!out

students' #rogress, he says.

0eachers have %ull autonomy in deciding hich a##s they use and ho they use the mo!ile devices in the classroom,

says 2orelock. 0hat leeay cuts don on the management load %or the district's technology team.

0he teachers are u#dating them, syncing them, and they're %inding a thousand di%%erent ays to use them, he says

o% the devices. &t's !een really incredi!le, and it really has to do ith the ease o% using the device, and the teachers

really taking the lead.