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Temple University Center for Research
in Human Development and Education |
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Assessing the Effectiveness of Educational Technology
124
by
Ellen B. Mandinach
Education Development Center's Center for Children and Technology
The increased use of technology in schools has led school districts, state departments of education,
and Congress to seek ways of assessing its impact on student achievement. For example, the recent
congressional legislation, No Child Left Behind (2002), requires school districts to include
technology assessment measures in their applications for competitive grants. However, assessing the
impact of educational technology is a challenging enterprise, fraught with pitfalls and caveats,
but worthwhile if undertaken with appropriate objectives and methodologies. Just as implementation
should not simply replicate traditional pedagogical techniques but take advantage of the distinct
capabilities of technology, assessment also should be sensitive to the particularities of technology.
As Lesgold (2000) notes, "The problem we face in inserting new technologies into education is that
they partly represent new ways of teaching and partly represent new content that ought to be taught now" (p. 403).
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A major challenge is recognizing how technology can be used to enhance teaching and learning activities to meet educational goals as well as how such implementation can be evaluated. Yet technology is not the answer to all educational problems; it is a tool to be used to enhance instruction and assessment. Just as instruction and assessment should form an infinite feedback loop in the classroom, implementation and evaluation should provide formative information about how technology is affecting educational processes and outcomes.
Efforts to formulate appropriate indicators of successful technology implementation must take into account the fundamental pedagogical paradigm shift entailed in using technology in education:
- In online settings, learning can occur anytime, anywhere, and at any pace.
- E-learning provides for immediate knowledge, infinite resources, and global learning in multimedia environments (see U.S. Department of Education. Office of Educational Technology, 2002).
- Technology-based applications are interactive and constructive, rather than passive and didactic.
- Technology-facilitated simulations generate student engagement and intellectual exploration.
- Technology can stimulate role changes, shifts in responsibility for learning, and collaboration, not just individual learning.
- The teacher functions as facilitator and coach, not as a transmitter of information-the "guide on the side" rather than the "sage on the stage."
Given the vast potential technology affords, deciding on appropriate applications is perhaps the most critical component in implementing technology, a decision which in turn requires selection of appropriately sensitive assessment techniques. The selection of methods of assessment can be challenging because of the need to translate skills across media.
The Key
Assessment Components
There are four key components to gauging the impact of technology-based reform efforts.
First, there needs to be enough "stuff" happening for measurement to occur. Longitudinal
approaches yield more valuable information than short-term studies and should be used when possible.
Second, the use of multiple measures is critical, especially nontraditional ones. Triangulation of
traditional measures of process and outcomes (e.g., assignments, observations, projects, tests, and
case studies) as well as nontraditional indicators (e.g., attendance, drop-out rates, tardiness, and
think aloud protocols) can provide a more complete picture than the traditional measures alone. Third,
it is necessary to focus on different levels of analysis. Even though student performance may be the
ultimate focus, assessments should examine not only the students but also the teachers, classroom
processes, and schools as learning organizations. These factors form a complex system of interactions;
thus, the fourth component is systems analysis. A systemic perspective must recognize the dynamic
interrelations among the components that comprise the school as a system.
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