Online assessment types and tools

Many practical classes could be seen as assessment activities. Teachers identify tasks and activities and raise questions for learners. Learners performing these tasks and activities respond to questions, and teachers make decisions about learning, understanding and skills for learners, as shown by learners' answers. These decisions on learners' activities take place during any training and learning session and requires a feedback form for mutual dialogue, decision making and communication of the assessment decision, providing learners with quality feedback on their performance. Depending on the success of the class, learning will vary from learner to learner.

At the end of each training and learning session, teachers should ask themselves: what do students learned during this session that they did not know before?

How to plan for learning?

Learning is not accidental, it needs to be well planned. Planning are a very important part of the lecturer's workload. Teachers need to plan and build opportunities for teachers as well for students in order to learn about the learner's progress in learning processes toward the learning objectives that the teacher set at the beginning of the session. It is very important that the learning objectives are communicated to the learner, but it is also very important that the teacher checks those learning objectives to ensure that the learner not only understands the learning objectives, but also appreciates the assessment criteria that will be used to assess his or her work. Teachers need to:

• Decide what is going to be learnt in a particular session;
  
• Identify the learning objectives;
  
• Communicate the learning goals to the learners;
  
• Collect questions and design tasks to test learner's understanding of the learning objectives;
  
• Explain to the learners the criteria that will be used to assess his or her work;
  
• Decide how the feedback will be provided;
  
• Define how learners will take an active part in the assessment process;
  
• Plan how learners could use the assessment feedback for further progress.
  

How to set the learning objectives?

Starting a new academic year, it is common for teachers to plan the whole study program for the next year. A work plan that will be considered every week and how it will be implemented to ensure the quality of the curriculum provided by the awarding organizations. However, it is very important for teachers to set learning objectives for each learning or training session, in order to ensure that time sections are dedicated to specific learning objectives. It is therefore important that the work program determines the learning objectives of each session and defines how they will be assessed.

How to share learning objectives?

In order to understand the learning objectives, teachers need to explain for students what they have to do during the assignment and check if they understand, what they have to learn from doing it and why do they need to learn it.

Usually, learners do not understand why they need to perform a particular task or activity and how it relates to the curriculum. If learners understand the meaning of each task and activity, they tend to do so. Learning outcomes should be clearly communicated to learners and included in the learning process. Learning cannot be done with individuals. Learning should use two-way communication in order to open up the learner's full potential for learning and achievements. In order to encourage students, to monitor how others respond to tasks and encourages them to apply assessment criteria in their work, teachers need to explain:

• The learning objectives and the reason why students have to reach them,
  
• The assessment criteria and how they are used,
  
• What students have done well and what needs to be improved.
  

Based on: http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/7800/1/AssessmentforLearning.pdf