The accelerated digitization of today’s classroom impacts every aspect of instruction–from attendance to summative assessment and everything in between. As educators have shifted to the hybrid environment, they have had to make significant changes in the way they approach formative assessment.

Formative assessment is a wide-encompassing term that allows teachers to monitor student progress. In person, this can mean a variety of things like thumbs up/thumbs down, class review games, exit tickets, science activities, and more. As classrooms moved to an online or digital format, the approach to formative assessment had to be considerably changed to meet the needs of a digital landscape.

Digital Formative Assessment Programs

Digital formative assessment programs that were once a luxury are now a necessity in the hybrid classroom. However, the great thing about formative assessment is its versatility: teachers can use almost any sort of assignment as a formative assessment.  And with the increased access to educational tech tools, teachers have a variety of options when it comes to online formative assessment.

This digitization provides centralized, actionable data like never before. Previously, teachers had to manually score individual responses or use class generalizations to make instructional decisions. Now, they have access to immediate results that provide real-time insight into individual and class needs.

Game-Like Formative Programs

“Game-like” formative assessment programs (like Kahoot!, Blooket and Quizziz) provide great benefits to both teachers and students. Students are highly engaged by the trivia-like format–it provides audio and visual entertainment and a chance to compete and interact with classmates while also providing immediate feedback. Teachers receive reports from each activity, which can then be used to identify individual student and class trends and update lesson plans to address student needs accordingly.

Formative Platforms

Formative assessment platforms bring another aspect to digital formative assessment. Digital formative programs, like Formative and Seesaw, give teachers a new set of tools to encourage digital engagement. These platforms often include additional question types that give teachers a better understanding of where students may need additional help.