A Response to the Ideas Presented in “Technology that Moves Assessment and Student Achievement Forward”

The article, “Technology that Moves Assessment and Student Achievement Forward,” by Allan Olson from MultiMedia and Internet Schools journal (2004) emphasizes the many advances in technology relating to schools.  Olson states that the primary reason why schools should use technology is to help students improve their test scores and improve their overall knowledge.  Olson further states that technology in schools is an “invisible supporter” that is helping educators everywhere teach.  Lastly, Olson wants the reader to know that because of technology, teachers can get data results regarding student achievement quickly and more accurately than ever before.

I would first like to comment on how technology improves test scores.  Olson mentioned a form of testing known as Computerized Adaptive Testing.  Olson explains that “in an adaptive test, the difficulty of the test adjusts to the student’s performance” (p. 28).  This means that, if a student answers the question correctly, the following question increases in difficulty.  Moreover, just the opposite is true.  If a student answers the question incorrectly, the next question is simplified.  This test, administered and taken on the computers, is a wonderful idea.  By testing students this way, a teacher can easily track the student’s academic performance. How does this happen?  Well, the results are given immediately after the test is finished, and teachers can see exactly what questions were missed and what questions were mastered.  In addition, I also like the adaptive component of this test.  I like the fact that the questions depend entirely on the student’s cognitive knowledge.  This way of testing can build self-esteem.  It builds self-esteem because students have a chance of getting questions correct, instead of missing all of the questions because they continuously increase in difficulty.  Also, the adaptive component individualizes testing for students.  Since each test depends on student performance, no test is the same.  I also think this is a great way of eliminating cheating. Even though two students may be sitting right next to each other testing, they might not be on the same question because of the individualized component.  I hope that, wherever I choose to teach in the future, I will have the option of using computerized adaptive testing because of the many benefits it provides. 

Not only does technology improve testing, but technology also improves data analysis.  Olson mentions that many school districts “have used electronic spread-sheets, analysis software, or other technology to develop pivotal data analysis graphs or charts that provide a full look at each individual student” (p. 26).  Just as Olson said, I agree completely that technology is a wonderful way to collect data and analyze it.  For example, Excel is a wonderful program in which educators can make pie graphs or charts of their students’ testing results.  By visually looking at an attractive graph, teachers can see the strengths and weaknesses of the class.  I also like how teachers can keep track of students’ individual grades using online grade books.  Technology definitely has made data analysis less cumbersome for teachers, and as a result, data analysis is more useful and used by teachers everywhere.

The last thing I would like to talk about is how technology has made it possible for teachers to be more organized.  Olson mentions that “because of technology-primarily computers, software, and the Internet-we have been able to accomplish our work to improve education more quickly, and we have more opportunities open to us than ever before.  Without technology, we were getting the work done; with it, we can pull several data points together instantly, instead of pulling out several folders and reports to compile” (p. 27).  I have talked to a variety of teachers at the elementary school level, and they have informed me that their filing cabinets are less cluttered and less stuffed because they can store a lot of their information on a computer disk.  Teachers have also informed me that they feel like they are more organized because, instead of searching a thousand locations for their teaching materials, most of their materials are in one central location- their computer.  I really think that computers are a wonderful organizational tool. I do not think that the filing cabinet will ever be completely replaced, but technology does complement it rather well.