In this final session of our three-part webinar series, Enhancing Remote Learning, we look to unpack a problem vexing educators in this time of remote learning: assessing students equitably and empathetically.
In “Enriching Remote Assessments”, three educators from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines discuss various remote assessment tools and strategies for students at every level of technology access. The webinar was moderated by Dr Carmela C. Oracion, Director of the Ateneo Center for Education Development, the Philippines.
Our panellists discussed how we could design assessments for students across all levels of access to technology and learning progress. Dr Beverly T. Mangulabnan, Education Program Supervisor at the Schools Division of Nueva Ecija in the Philippines, shared how her school division made use of a wide spectrum of teaching and assessment modalities that met students at their level of access to remote schooling. The division prepared assessments for high-, medium- and low-level technologies, from synchronous online classrooms to asynchronous paper- and video-based assessments. They also used two-way radio to assess learners living in mountainous areas, ensuring as many students could be reached and assessed at their level of technological access.
Mr Ryan Rizal D. Balandra, AS and A-Level Biology Facilitator and IGCSE Biology Facilitator at NationalHigh Jakarta School, Indonesia, demonstrated how two of his favourite online tools, Mentimeter and Poll Everywhere, could be used to create engaging and bite-sized assessments for students with access to synchronous online learning.
Remote learning has also shifted the priorities of many educators away from assessment for grading, to assessing for learning outcomes instead. Ms Thulasi Vikneswaran, Lead of the Development Unit at LeapEd Services Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia, emphasised how rethinking teaching and learning is to rethink assessment, and her team’s project Bright Ideas served as a guide for educators to create bite-sized consistent assessments to check for understanding and student progress at every step of the way.
Similarly, Mr Ryan’s consistent use of Mentimeter and Poll Everywhere in his lessons allowed him to quickly assess his students’ understanding and check for transference of learning outcomes. In this manner, he was able to gain quick feedback about specific subject components, and craft assessments that met students at their level of understanding.
…assessments should pivot towards being bite-sized, consistent, and have a balanced mix of both summative and formative evaluations
Finally, the panellists touched on the subject of student integrity in remote assessments, and how educators could address this common dilemma. Dr Mangulabnan discussed the need to work closely with families and impart to them the importance of learning outcomes over grades. Students are also far more likely to learn and do their best in a supportive family environment. Ms Thulasi brought up the salient point that cheating most often occurs during one-off high-stakes examinations, and that assessments should pivot towards being bite-sized, consistent, and have a balanced mix of both summative and formative evaluations.
To conclude the webinar series, Mr Vignesh Naidu, Director, Operations at The HEAD Foundation, joined Dr Oracion in a riveting discussion of the challenges that educators face in remote learning, informed by the poll results across the series offering valuable food for thought on the future of post-pandemic learning.
To learn more about assessing for learning, and different assessment types across the various remote learning modalities, watch the full webinar recording.
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