Tag Archive for: #ErasmusPlus

Multiplier event in Spain

During the month of may, the multiplier event of the ASSESS project for English teachers  :female-teacher::skin-tone-2: was held in Spain, at the University of Huelva and at the training and innovation centre of Inercia Digital. The results of the project have been presented and teachers have been invited to test the results. They are useful to assess English as Foreing Language in levels A1 and A2. The results of the project are:

1. Common curriculum
2. Database for Online Exam Creator
3. Rate Scales. Handbook for assessing speaking and writing
4. Online Exam Creator
5. Guidebook for Teachers

If you are an English teacher in Primary Education we invite you to test our platfrom “Online Exam Creator” where you have access to more than 200 exams, worksheets, flashcards, images and rubrics :card_index_dividers:. Moreover, you can create your own exam from scratch.

ASSESS – BLOG / JANUARY 2022

Learning, Teaching and Training Activities for teachers: an asset for educational system

The arrival of information and communication technologies to the educational field, accelerated by the pandemic, has led to the need of development of digital competences of teachers, which is one of the educational challenges teacher training has to face now. One of the main aims of the Learning, Teaching and Training Activities that ran from 14th to 16th December in Athens, was sharing good practices and strategies among participants using digital tools. A range of teaching and learning activities and methodologies was suggested in order to provide engaging learning environments: creation and use of flashcards in the classroom, workshops about online tools and resources for EFL teachers, creative teaching and learning strategies using props and through theatre, etc.

Throughout these three-day training, teachers also had the opportunity to reflect together on the assessment process of different language skills (common problems and challenges) and received training on assessment strategies. The emphasis was led in particular on assessing writing and speaking skills with the guidance of easy-to-use rubrics helping out young learners do great at communicative skills, giving them really efficient specific feedback.

The consortium partners also took the opportunity to introduce the main output of the project: the Online Exam Creator, a digital platform that aims to support EFL teachers in their professional practice. After the presentation of the OEC, a workshop was conducted and participants could interact with the platform creating customized exams with the Exam Creator and creating teaching packs based on the material provided in the resource bank. 

To conclude, the Learning, Teaching and Training Activities that took place in Greece, in the scope of ASSESS project, opened new paths of inspiration and fostered good practices among participants. Professional development and lifelong learning of teachers will always be an asset for the success and quality of learning.

Assessment of learning and Assessment for learning

Assessment is an integral part of instruction, as it allows to determine whether or not the educational goals or standards are being met and it provides data for instructional planning and decision making. 

There are two main types of assessment, each occurring at different points in the teaching and learning process: assessment of learning and assessment for learning. The current trend in education is the presence of both assessment systems in order to provide valid and reliable information about pupils’ achievement.

Assessment of learning involves looking at assessment information at the end of key segments in a teaching and learning cycle or at the end of the teaching and learning process to rank students’ achievement levels against a standard. It is summative and it involves standardized tests.

Assessment for learning embeds assessment processes throughout the teaching and learning process in order to readjust strategies and methodologies to enhance and guide learning. It is formative and it can include test data as well as other quantitative and even qualitative or descriptive data. Basically, in the assessment for learning, the test data is just one data element among others and the assessment process is constant rather than a single point in time.

To support teachers in the evaluation process, the six partners of Project ASSESS continue to work on the Online Exam Creator Platform in order to improve its potential and make it a valuable resource for EFL teachers. Exams covering the different linguistic skills, audio files, rubrics, worksheets, images, flashcards will be soon available to be used as formative or summative assessment and our Online Exam Creator will allow to create exams easily and quickly according to the learners’ level.

As part of the project activities, our partner from Greece, with experience in the training in the field of language education, is organizing a five-day training course whose main aim is to present the platform to EFL teachers from the partner countries but also, addressing the common problems and challenges in the assessment in EFL, in particular as regards speaking and writing assessment. The training will take place in Athens in the beginning of September.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Online Testing

What Are the Advantages of Online Exam Testing?

  • Efficiency

Online language testing offers teachers an efficient way to deliver tests to students. Online testing has a number of tools such as videos, PDFs, podcasts, and teachers can use all these tools as part of their lesson plans when it comes to testing. By extending the lesson plan beyond traditional testing methods, educational authorities are able to include online testing resources and as a result, teachers are able to become more efficient educators, too.

  • Accessibility of Time and Place

Another advantage of online language testing is that it allows students to do the tests from any location of their choice. It also allows schools to reach out to a more extensive network of students, instead of being restricted by geographical boundaries. Additionally, some types of online tests can be recorded, archived, and shared for future reference. This allows students to access the testing material at a time of their comfort. Thus, online learning offers students the accessibility of time and place in education.

  • Improved Student Participation  

Since online tests can be taken from home or location of choice, there are fewer chances of students missing out on testing sessions.

  • Suits a Variety of Learning Styles 

Every student has a different learning behaviour pattern and a different learning style. Some students are visual learners, while some students prefer to learn through audio. Similarly, some students thrive in the classroom testing while other students are solo learners who get distracted by large groups so for them online testing is a blessing. This is why the online testing system, with its range of options and resources, can be personalized in many ways. It is the best way to create a perfect testing and learning environment suited to the needs of each student.

What Are the Disadvantages of Online Testing?

  • Inability to Focus on Screens

For many students, one of the biggest challenges of online testing is the struggle with focusing on the screen for long periods of time. As in online learning, there is also a greater chance for students to be distracted by social media or other sites. Therefore, it is imperative for the teachers to keep their online testing engaging and interactive to help students stay focused on the test.

  • Technology Issues 

Another key challenge of online testing is internet connectivity. While internet availability has grown enormously grown over the past few years, in smaller cities and towns, a consistent connection with decent speed is a problem. Without a consistent internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity in testing a learner. This is detrimental to the education process.

  • Sense of Isolation 

Without doubt students can learn a lot from being in the company of their peers. However, in online testing and in particular in language testing, there are minimal physical interactions between students and teachers. As a result, there is a sense of isolation for the students. In this situation, it is very important that the school allows for other forms of communication between the students, peers, and teachers. This may include online messages, emails and video conferencing that will allow for face-to-face interaction, thus reducing the sense of isolation.

  • Teacher Training 

Online testing requires teachers to have a basic understanding of using digital forms of learning. However, this is not the case always. Very often, teachers have a very basic understanding of technology. Sometimes, they don’t even have the necessary resources and tools to conducts online classes and design online tests. To combat this, it is important for schools to invest in training teachers with the latest technology updates so that they can facilitate teachers in online testing planning. 

  • Manage Screen Time

Many parents are nowadays concerned about the health hazards of having their children spend so much time staring at a screen. Spending so may hours in front of a screen is one of the biggest concerns and disadvantages of online testing and online learning in general. Sometimes, students can also develop bad posture and other physical problems due to staying hunched in front of a screen.

Why is Offline Marketing Still Working Wonders in the Tech Age?

Fighting for a quality education with ASSESS

The beginning of 2021 has been a bit disconcerting, the continuous incidents happening all over the world as well as the coming of the third wave of COVID-19 is making our lives different and difficult. All these changes show us that the world must be prepared for a different future, and this starts with our education. Quality education is one of the global goals for sustainable development in Unite 2030, since it is the basis for the prosperity of everyone. The project ASSESS works for getting an innovation in the way of assessing students.

The Online Exam Creator, which is our main product, is being developed by Inercia Digital along with the collaboration of Learnmera Oy. While this product is being created, the rest of partners are working creating rubrics for the assessment of all the exams that will be available in the OEC for teachers. This tool will let teachers have the opportunity to have exams, worksheets, scales, images and games for using in their lessons. 

The partners will also create a guide for teachers explaining how to use this tool, moreover, a number of 30 teachers will be trained to use this tool. If you are an English teacher from Spain, Finland, Portugal, Turkey, Greece or Germany we invite you to participate in this innovative project.