Methods for Assessing College Students Remotely

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Strategies for Assessing Students Remotely

Assessing students remotely is a challenge, though there may be a large number of finest practices and tools to assist

Assessments might be significantly difficult in a remote learning setting. How are you able to confirm that the scholars simply aren’t Google looking out everything? What if their dad and mom are finishing the tasks for them?

These and many other questions plagued educators within the spring (pardon the pun). Whereas there isn't a straightforward answer for assessing students in a monitored setting, there are strategies that educators can use to make sure students are demonstrating their data and understanding of their learning.

Defining terms

Earlier than we get into strategies let’s define a couple of phrases that may have an effect on the timing and kind of assessments given remotely. Many of these methods and phrases apply with in-person assessments as nicely.

Formative vs. Summative: Are you trying to examine for understanding or just knowledge of material?

Googleable vs. Non-Googleable: A number of choice, reality-based mostly assessments might be simply searched online. Assessments that focus extra on opinion, course of, and student voice are harder to look with Google.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous: Are you giving the assessment to the whole class at the identical time or is it a protracted-term mission? Synchronous assessments lend themselves to a number of-selection sort checks whereas asynchronous are typically graded with a rubric in mind.

What's the aim of the evaluation?

Assessments also can hold several completely different functions primarily based on scholar goals and outcomes. The graphic beneath defines three types.

The most important differentiator is whether or not the assessment is formative in nature (a continuous feedback loop) or summative (final consequence). Understanding these sorts and the corresponding definitions will help as we get into tools and methods.

Focus on feedback

Suggestions is a serious part of assessment as it allows college students to make corrections and be taught from their mistakes. Formative assessments typically involve feedback as a part of the process for learning, both from the trainer or the student’s personal self-reflection. It can be accomplished in either a synchronous or asynchronous environment, relying on function.

Some things to give attention to when providing suggestions:

Make sure it’s timely - Providing suggestions weeks later doesn’t assist the scholar learn and alter for the time being of the evaluation.

Keep it applicable and reflective - Encourage students to reflect on their course of and what they could do differently to enhance.

Provide assist - Permit opportunities for college students to ask questions and develop.

Be sincere - Students need to know their mistakes to enhance.

Medium matters - Giving important feedback ought to be performed with your own voice in an audio or video format if in any respect doable. Written feedback that is extremely crucial doesn’t enable for inflection and can be damaging to the trust and relationship with the pupil.


Holding in thoughts how you'll provide feedback will assist as you design your assessments for distant learning.

Polling for feedback

Before we dive into formative assessments, using polls might be a great way to supply feedback in entire group settings. Polls could be finished asynchronously, however usually are posted when you've a complete group on a video call. Some video conferencing platforms similar to Zoom (opens in new tab) provide built-in polling options, or you may always complement with instruments similar to Poll In every single place (opens in new tab), Mentimeter (opens in new tab), Slido (opens in new tab), or Answer Garden (opens in new tab).

Synchronous formative assessment

If the aim is speedy feedback and checking for understanding, giving an evaluation synchronously over a video call is the route to go.

Listed here are a few of the advantages of utilizing a synchronous evaluation:

Present instantaneous feedback - Students can adjust immediately based mostly on feedback.

Adjust instruction based mostly on pupil responses - Teachers can quickly regulate instruction primarily based on how properly students perceive the content.

Just-in-time help and intervention - College students who are struggling with an idea will be offered support in actual-time.

Assist display student data greater than understanding


While there are a lot of instruments on the market that might help with this, some of the more in style selections embrace apps similar to Kahoot! (opens in new tab), Formative (opens in new tab), Quizziz, (opens in new tab) Socrative (opens in new tab), and Quizlet (opens in new tab).

Gamified assessment

Some formative evaluation tools akin to Kahoot! and Quizlet Dwell add a competitive and time-primarily based element that keeps college students engaged and makes it tougher for them to make use of Google for their answers.

Apart from these ‘trivia game’-like instruments, there are actually a number of other ways to do finish-of-unit critiques in the form of a game show or even reside bingo. A software such as flippity.net (opens in new tab) gives teachers in GSuite districts the ability to edit quite a lot of interactive video games with only a Google sheet. Using gamification as a tool for evaluation offers teachers one other strategy for assessing scholar understanding and retains students engaged throughout synchronous distant studying.

Interactive presentations with embedded evaluation

One of many downsides of using formative assessment instruments is that requiring students to log into various platforms might be time consuming and add a layer of technical challenges. Posting a link to the assessments in the LMS or video chat might help with this transition time, however embedding it in an interactive presentation can help keep college students on the same page while teaching synchronously.

Interactive presentation instruments comparable to Nearpod (opens in new tab)and Pear Deck (opens in new tab)can keep your college students on subject and allow you to send varied polls and formative assessments to examine for understanding. Each of those instruments additionally enable for a pupil-paced asynchronous component so that if a student misses the video call or has connectivity issues, they'll catch up on their very own and nonetheless give the instructor what they want.

Asynchronous remote assessment

Many teachers solely have a restricted period of time with their college students in a synchronous video call. Utilizing that time for instructing, discussions, and feedback means that you could be not have sufficient information to really assess scholar understanding. Offering asynchronous assessments can imply a bit more work, but it could present a wider range of knowledge points that a multiple selection quiz doesn’t provide.

Some advantages to designing and offering asynchronous evaluation:

Versatile time to course of - Slightly than having to suppose and reply on the fly, students have more time to analysis and process to construct their understanding.

Not as internet dependent - One of many challenges of giving synchronous assessment is that not every student has the same level of at-residence access and should miss components of a quiz or video call on account of connectivity issues. Asynchronous assessments may be completed on the student’s pace and are much less bandwidth dependent.

Constructed-in reflection time - Research (opens in new tab)shows that studying is more internalized when college students have an opportunity to reflect on what they've finished.

Extra focused on the method - Studying is a course of greater than a product. Having high-quality asynchronous assessments provide teachers perception on what a scholar is considering.

Help show understanding more than information


When selecting the instruments for asynchronous assessment, teachers have to deal with those that give students an opportunity to elucidate their thinking and supply their voice and reflection.

Asynchronous suggestions through Learning Management System (LMS)

Most LMS platforms provide methods for students to submit drafts and collect suggestions from teachers and/or their peers. In an asynchronous environment, teachers can make the most of constructed-in tools to give directions, set expectations in a rubric, and supply direct suggestions as college students examine in all through the method.

Some LMS platforms offer portfolio choices that can provide for each the pupil and teacher an extended-time period view of progress and development. Using these features may be cumbersome or limited depending on the LMS, so teachers might have additional instruments to offer and catalog asynchronous assessments.

Tools that present voice, course of, and reflection

Whereas an LMS can give a space for voice, process, and reflection, it can even quickly be overloaded with bulletins, discussion boards, and task postings. Having a tool or instruments to use particularly for asynchronous evaluation may also help streamline the process.

Listed below are just a few platforms that teachers gravitate toward for this purpose:

Flipgrid (opens in new tab)- A instructor favourite as either an exit-ticket or for just having students share their voice to a question or situation. Flipgrid now also comes with built-in white boarding so that students can file an annotation of their considering when they respond.

Ebook Creator (opens in new tab)- Now obtainable on any system, E book Creator provides students an opportunity to have a operating interactive journal to document their learning by recording their voice or capturing a hand-drawn image. Teachers can see their college students on a virtual bookshelf to verify their progress.

SeeSaw (opens in new tab)- An LMS-sort system that's geared towards younger college students. It gives a robust set of tools for teachers to file verbal feedback for college kids to hear.

Bulb Digital Portfolios (opens in new tab) - An eportfolio instrument that provides college students area to set goals, mirror, and document their own learning processes.

Last guidelines for remote evaluation

As teachers analyze the training to evaluate this 12 months, in both a distant or in-individual setting, there are a mess of tools and methods to assist with this course of.

Some remaining issues to consider previous to delivering a distant assessment:

Will the assessment be synchronous or asynchronous?

Are you checking for understanding or data?

Can college students mirror on the learning course of?

Do college students have a chance to clarify their considering?


The answers to those questions will assist guide educators as they design assessments in probably the most versatile approach heading into what guarantees to be a really totally different fall semester of faculty.

Observe: This article was additionally given as a presentation that may be seen right here (opens in new tab)and the hyperlinks and slides accessed right here (opens in new tab).

Greatest Practices Around Digital Professional Development (opens in new tab)

Truth-Checking Sites for college students (opens in new tab)


Carl Hooker has spent the previous 20+ years in training as a trainer and administrator targeted on the considerate integration of expertise. He consults for a number of districts throughout the nation and is a frequent speaker at state and national occasions. In his free time he's an writer, DJ, podcast host, Poetry Slammer, and Trivia Night time MC. Try his newest ebook Prepared Set FAIL! Now accessible for pre-order here: https://mrhook.it/preorder (opens in new tab) Read more at Hooked on Innovation (opens in new tab).