EDUC 7726 Week 7 - Assessing Technology and Digital Literacy Skills

      As teachers begin to enter into a technological world, they will need to know how to assess students with technology and digital literacy skills.  This can be a difficult process, one that will need much developing.

      To be digitally literate, one must be able to find and create content using information technologies and the internet.  There are many overlapping components of digital literacy that must be following in order to be considered digitally literate. These components are creativity, functional skills, e-safety, effective communication, ability to find information, collaboration, cultural and social understanding, and critical thinking and evaluation. 

      There are three frameworks that are followed when relating any work to digital literacy.  These frameworks follow the ORMS model.  There is Online Collaborative Inquiry, Online Content Construction, and Online Reading Comprehension.  More information on these frameworks can be found here: ORMS Model

     For students to be digitally proficient, they must be able to effectively engage with technology.  Technology impacts every part of our lives and students need to use it to learn, communicate and collaborate.  This is why many teachers can use technology to assess students.  They can even use technology to connect their assessments to the common core standards. Common Sense Media provides charts that align Common Core to technology skills and digital competencies.  To view this chart, please click here: Common Core Chart

      According to ETS Testing, digital fluency is a term that captures critical thinking and communication in an online environment.  Technology is requiring our students (and ourselves) to become digitally savvy in critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills.

      How can we assess digital competencies?  ISTE recommends assessing students on the following categories: creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations and concepts.  

      There are many different formal assessments that can be done digitally.  For example: SAILS, TRAILS, iSkills, SBAC, 21st Century Skills, etc.  Also, many tests can now be made through Google forms creating online assessment for students that can be sent to the teacher. To give students choices, students can work collaboratively on projects, or on PLE's.  There are many different opportunities to digital assessment and the students are excited to try them.

      A link to our prezi can be found here: Assessment of Digital Literacy and Technology Skills Prezi