Google Research

"Is Google Making Us Stupid?" That's the question author Nicholas Carr poses in a recent article in Atlantic Monthly. The question is really whether students who do their research on the Internet read at a more shallow level than those who use more traditional resources like books and libraries.

Digital Research is Fast
Carr cites a study by the British Library and the Joint Information Systems Committee that looked at how students' use of digital resources is evolving. It finds that Internet researchers skim, skipping quickly from page to page. Of those visiting an online journal, 60 percent view three pages or less and 65 percent visit the site only once.

Checking Understanding
Educators need to be aware that students can become overloaded with information and yet understand little of it. According to the report, "The information literacy of young people has not improved with the widening access to technology. ... Young people sometimes have a poor understanding of their information needs and thus find it difficult to develop effective search strategies. Faced with a long list of search hits, young people find it hard to assess the relevance of the materials presented and often print off pages with no more than a perfunctory glance."

Teachers still need to use assessments, questions and other strategies to confirm that their students grasp critical concepts.

Testing Computer Literacy

We talked about "the nation's report card" in an earlier post. Well, the governing board for the National Assessment of Educational Progress has announced that starting in 2012, its test of the nation's school performance will include a measure of proficiency with technology.

21st Century Skills

Work is underway now on a way to measure how well students understand and can use technology in the classroom. Businesses have been clamoring for greater attention to technological literacy, but as yet there is no state or national standard to measure against.

Online Classes Develop Proficiency

Students learn by doing, and those who participate in online learning have an advantage when it comes to familiarity with 21st century technology and the skills it engenders, such as seeking relevant information and using multiple sources.

Educational Technology and Assessments

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has released a new report on using technology to improve assessments and better monitor learning. The report, "Technology-Based Assessments Improve Teaching and Learning," argues that assessments that simply measure what the student knows today are less useful than those used to tailor lessons and improve outcomes.

Technology Makes It Personal

Technology enables teachers to personalize assessments. Rather than using a test in a formal, high-stakes context, the report advocates informal, targeted testing aimed at identifying where students need help. Other innovations the group promotes are performance assessments, which use successful completion of a project to measure student knowledge; blended assessments, which cover more than one subject area; and portfolio assessments, which call for the student to create a collection of "atrifacts" that demonstrate a range of knowledge.

IQity Makes It Possible

Using the IQity Learning Management Suite, teachers can easily customize assessments for individual students and to achieve specific objectives. Ask for an online demonstration to see how IQity can work in your classroom.