them do it, and see if they can. Having a survey asking students if
they know how to do something is not the same.
In the past, I have created benchmark assessments for grades 2, 5, and
8. I have not yet implemented this at my current school (second year
here). These assessments had three parts: oral, written, and
practical. The oral part was done in the classroom with questions such
as copyright, uses of technology, etc. It was formally evaluated with a
rubric ensuring all students were participating in the discussion. The
second part was a written test. The second grade one took about 15
minutes, the fifth grade one about 30 minutes, and the 8th grade one
about 45 minutes. It was terminology and short answer.
The practical part was given to small groups (no more than 10 students)
and asked them to do a variety of tasks including word processing,
drawing, create a multi-media presentation, find and evaluate
information on the Internet, create a spreadsheet, use a brainstorming
application (like Inspiration). The 2nd grade was 1 hour; the 5th grade
was 90 minutes, and the 8th grade had two hours to complete it. They
were allowed to use any help they could find on the computer.
The final check list evaluation was given to the parents, went in their
cum folder, and was sent to the High School for 8th graders.=20
It has been four years since I have given it, so I would need to add
some Web 2.0 tools to see how well students can use these tools. =20
It was very eye-opening when I first gave this in the late 1990s. Some
kids flew threw the material and others weren't even able to do simple
word processing. Apparently, they always had help from someone to do
the things they didn't know, never actually learning how to do it on
their own.
Since then, I emphasize the need for students to figure things out on
their own. If they are stuck, what tools do they have on the computer
that can help them? How is the program similar to others they have
used, so they might use what they know about the other program to learn
the new one?
I hope this helps.
Renee Ramig
Seven Hills School
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators
[mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Peter Gow
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 11:20 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: QUERY: Student tech competency
We've been talking quite a bit about laptops and digital natives at our
place, but I'm vaguely aware of considerable variance in student
technological savvy and usage, especially but not confined to the Web
2.0
competencies that are presumed to be universal among our kids.=20
I'm wondering if anyone has undertaken any kind of very current baseline
survey to gather information on what kids actually do know and what kids
actually do use (and use regularly and well) from among the juicy menu
of
2.0 products and services available. I guess I would be interested in
recent results as well as in particular instruments; we use SurveyMonkey
all the time here, which would obviously be the way to go in conducting
a
survey (among kids who check school email and are inclined to do online
surveys, anyhow).
I would be especially interested in any ideas about how to learn about
principled outliers--the families who don't permit, the kids who won't
IM,
people who are privately boycotting Google or Microsoft--and how those
folks have been brought into 1:1 programs or even "discovered" as
teachers
require more and more work to be done using the tools of the New
Technology.=20
In a nutshell, what I want to find out reality as to whether "all" the
kids are truly doing and able to do all the things that they are all
purported to be doing.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
Cheers--Peter Gow
Peter Gow, Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
Beaver Country Day School
791 Hammond Street
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
www.bcdschool.org
Tel. 617-738-2755
FAX 617-738-2701
Skype: petergow3
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