TeachwithTech_Week5

EDLD 5364: Teaching with Technology**
 * Jennifer Coleman

**Week 5 Posting:**

This week's reading assignments focused on tracking student efforts using technology tools and using Web 2.0 tools for authentic assessments. Both topics focus on student accountability and included a multitude of ideas on how to effectively integrate the use of technology to accomplish both data analysis and evaluation.

First, in //Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works// the authors suggest that technology makes it easier for students and teachers to track the effects of effort on instruction and facilitates more immediate feedback. With the use of spreadsheets, rubrics, and surveys, teachers and students have the ability to maintain and analyze efforts and correlate those results with achievement.

Second, in //Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools,// authors Solomon and Schrum suggest multiple Web 2.0 applications for authentic assessments. Several applications discussed include podcasts to assess content comprehension; videoconferencing for collaborative evaluation; social bookmarks and the use of their tags to assess depth of understanding of topics; a wiki for collaborative evaluation; and e-portfolio to assess files archived within it.

The use of technology tools affords users the ability to create on-going learning and evaluation. It is becoming increasingly imperative for teachers to embrace these tools and to use them effectively in instruction. Even more imperative, it is a skill that teachers need to teach their students.