Strategies for Assessing Students Remotely

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Methods for Assessing Students Remotely

Assessing college students remotely is a challenge, though there is a large number of greatest practices and instruments to assist

Assessments may be significantly challenging in a remote studying atmosphere. How can you confirm that the students just aren’t Google searching the whole lot? What if their parents are completing the projects for them?

These and many other questions plagued educators in the spring (pardon the pun). Whereas there isn't a easy reply for assessing college students in a monitored setting, there are strategies that educators can use to verify students are demonstrating their information and understanding of their learning.

Defining phrases

Before we get into methods let’s define a number of phrases that will affect the timing and type of assessments given remotely. Many of these methods and phrases apply with in-individual assessments as nicely.

Formative vs. Summative: Are you attempting to verify for understanding or just information of fabric?

Googleable vs. Non-Googleable: Multiple choice, fact-primarily based assessments can be easily searched online. Assessments that focus extra on opinion, course of, and student voice are more durable to look with Google.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous: Are you giving the assessment to the whole class at the identical time or is it an extended-term challenge? Synchronous assessments lend themselves to a number of-alternative type exams whereas asynchronous are generally graded with a rubric in thoughts.

What's the aim of the evaluation?

Assessments may hold several totally different purposes based mostly on student goals and outcomes. The graphic beneath defines three types.

The biggest differentiator is whether or not the assessment is formative in nature (a continuous feedback loop) or summative (remaining outcome). Figuring out these types and the corresponding definitions will help as we get into instruments and techniques.

Give attention to feedback

Suggestions is a significant part of assessment because it allows college students to make corrections and study from their errors. Formative assessments generally contain feedback as part of the method for learning, both from the trainer or the student’s own self-reflection. It may also be finished in both a synchronous or asynchronous surroundings, depending on objective.

Some things to give attention to when offering suggestions:

Be sure that it’s timely - Providing feedback weeks later doesn’t help the pupil be taught and alter in the meanwhile of the assessment.

Keep it acceptable and reflective - Encourage college students to replicate on their process and what they might do in a different way to enhance.

Present support - Allow opportunities for college students to ask questions and develop.

Be trustworthy - Students need to understand their errors to enhance.

Medium issues - Giving essential feedback needs to be accomplished with your own voice in an audio or video format if in any respect doable. Written feedback that is extremely essential doesn’t permit for inflection and might be damaging to the trust and relationship with the pupil.


Holding in mind how you'll present feedback will assist as you design your assessments for remote studying.

Polling for suggestions

Earlier than we dive into formative assessments, using polls could be an effective way to supply suggestions in complete group settings. Polls can be achieved asynchronously, but typically are posted when you've an entire group on a video name. Some video conferencing platforms resembling Zoom (opens in new tab) provide constructed-in polling options, or you may all the time complement with tools such as Poll In all places (opens in new tab), Mentimeter (opens in new tab), Slido (opens in new tab), or Answer Backyard (opens in new tab).

Synchronous formative assessment

If the objective is immediate suggestions and checking for understanding, giving an evaluation synchronously over a video call is the route to go.

Listed below are some of the advantages of utilizing a synchronous evaluation:

Present instant suggestions - Students can adjust instantly based on suggestions.

Alter instruction based on scholar responses - Teachers can quickly regulate instruction based mostly on how well students understand the content.

Simply-in-time support and intervention - Students who're struggling with an idea could be supplied assist in real-time.

Help exhibit student knowledge greater than understanding


Whereas there are various tools out there that may also help with this, among the more popular choices embody apps comparable 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 evaluation

Some formative evaluation instruments similar to Kahoot! and Quizlet Dwell add a competitive and time-primarily based aspect that keeps students engaged and makes it tougher for them to make use of Google for his or her solutions.

In addition to these ‘trivia game’-like instruments, there are now plenty of alternative ways to do end-of-unit evaluations in the form of a recreation show and even stay bingo. A software similar to flippity.net (opens in new tab) provides teachers in GSuite districts the ability to edit a variety of interactive games with only a Google sheet. Utilizing gamification as a software for evaluation offers teachers another strategy for assessing scholar understanding and retains college students engaged throughout synchronous remote studying.

Interactive displays with embedded evaluation

One of many downsides of utilizing formative assessment tools is that requiring college students to log into various platforms could be time consuming and add a layer of technical challenges. Posting a hyperlink to the assessments in the LMS or video chat may also help with this transition time, but embedding it in an interactive presentation might help keep students on the identical page whereas teaching synchronously.

Interactive presentation tools reminiscent of Nearpod (opens in new tab)and Pear Deck (opens in new tab)can keep your students on matter and help you ship various polls and formative assessments to check for understanding. Each of these instruments also enable for a student-paced asynchronous component so that if a student misses the video call or has connectivity issues, they will catch up on their own and still give the trainer what they need.

Asynchronous remote assessment

Many teachers only have a restricted amount of time with their students in a synchronous video name. Using that time for instructing, discussions, and suggestions means that you may not have sufficient knowledge to actually assess scholar understanding. Offering asynchronous assessments can imply a little more work, but it will possibly present a wider vary of knowledge factors that a multiple selection quiz doesn’t provide.

Some advantages to designing and providing asynchronous assessment:

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

Not as internet dependent - One of the challenges of giving synchronous evaluation is that not each pupil has the identical stage of at-dwelling entry and should miss components of a quiz or video name as a result of connectivity points. Asynchronous assessments can be done on the student’s pace and are much less bandwidth dependent.

Constructed-in reflection time - Analysis (opens in new tab)exhibits that studying is extra internalized when college students have an opportunity to replicate on what they have executed.

More focused on the process - Learning is a process greater than a product. Having high-high quality asynchronous assessments provide teachers insight on what a pupil is pondering.

Help reveal understanding greater than knowledge


When selecting the instruments for asynchronous evaluation, teachers need to deal with people who give college students an opportunity to elucidate their considering and supply their voice and reflection.

Asynchronous suggestions via Studying Administration System (LMS)

Most LMS platforms provide methods for college students to submit drafts and collect suggestions from teachers and/or their peers. In an asynchronous setting, teachers can utilize constructed-in tools to present directions, set expectations in a rubric, and provide direct feedback as students verify in all through the method.

Some LMS platforms supply portfolio options that may present for both the student and trainer a protracted-term view of progress and growth. Using these features could be cumbersome or restricted relying on the LMS, so teachers may need extra tools to offer and catalog asynchronous assessments.

Instruments that present voice, process, and reflection

Whereas an LMS may give a space for voice, process, and reflection, it also can rapidly be overloaded with bulletins, dialogue boards, and task postings. Having a device or instruments to use specifically for asynchronous evaluation might help streamline the method.

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

Flipgrid (opens in new tab)- A teacher favorite as either an exit-ticket or for simply having college students share their voice to a query or subject. Flipgrid now also comes with built-in white boarding so that college students can report an annotation of their considering when they reply.

E-book Creator (opens in new tab)- Now obtainable on any system, E book Creator gives students a chance to have a operating interactive journal to doc their studying by recording their voice or capturing a hand-drawn picture. Teachers can see their college students on a digital bookshelf to examine their progress.

SeeSaw (opens in new tab)- An LMS-sort system that is geared toward youthful students. It gives a powerful set of tools for teachers to document verbal suggestions for students to listen to.

Bulb Digital Portfolios (opens in new tab) - An eportfolio device that gives college students house to set objectives, reflect, digital learning and document their very own studying processes.

Final guidelines for remote evaluation

As teachers analyze the educational to evaluate this yr, in either a distant or in-particular person setting, there are a multitude of tools and techniques to help with this course of.

Some last things to think about prior to delivering a distant assessment:

Will the assessment be synchronous or asynchronous?

Are you checking for understanding or information?

Can students mirror on the educational course of?

Do college students have a possibility to explain their thinking?


The solutions to those questions will assist information educators as they design assessments in the most flexible approach heading into what promises to be a really different fall semester of faculty.

Be aware: This text was additionally given as a presentation that may be viewed here (opens in new tab)and the hyperlinks and slides accessed here (opens in new tab).

Best Practices Round Digital Skilled Development (opens in new tab)

Reality-Checking Sites for students (opens in new tab)


Carl Hooker has spent the past 20+ years in training as a instructor and administrator centered on the thoughtful integration of technology. He consults for multiple districts throughout the country 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 Evening MC. Check out his newest e-book Ready Set FAIL! Now out there for pre-order here: https://mrhook.it/preorder (opens in new tab) Read extra at Hooked on Innovation (opens in new tab).