Formative and Summative Assessment

The conversation around formative and summative assessments in the online learning is really interesting in that it differs very little from that of the traditional F2F discussion.

I think it would be almost shameful not to discuss assessments in the bigger context of the current educational environment.  How many current teachers really understand the intricacies of these two means of assessment and are able to properly use them in the appropriate contexts?  Online learning, because of its transparent nature, sheds a huge light on any pedagogical deficiencies a teacher might have.

I, like most other teachers, are very comfortable with the traditional summative assessment model.  At certain points in the school year we stop and administer a "test".  The timelines are artificial in nature.  Elementary schools have a basic vocabulary and math test every Friday.  The vocabulary words were studied through out the week and disturbed via a paper list on Mondays.  Students then complete a variety of discounted tasks, such as "definitions, write each word 5 times, and (my favorite) alphabetical order".  With secondary, it's the "unit test".  We have a test when the unit is done.  Midterms consist of the units covered in the first part of the course and so on.  Formative assessment are "easy" in the traditional classroom.  It's what the teacher perceives as student comprehension.

Obviously, the aforementioned are not best practices.

Assessment in the online classroom starts with a close examination of what assessments are and the goals for administering them.  One of my greatest learnings from this course, is that Discussion boards can be used as formative assessments.  I think the online teacher has to develop the conditions in which assessments are a part of the inner workings of the course and are integrated within the instructional design of the curriculum.