Framework for Assessment: Technology-Assisted Learning and Collaboration Overview by Anne H. Moore

Context for Discussion Accountability challenges Technology’s promise Collaboration needs and opportunities Higher education traditions and ethos Contemporary issues and drivers Individual achievement and group accomplishment

Proposition The ubiquity of rapidly changing technologies calls for improved articulation of what students need to know and be able to do in technology-enabled learning environments, in their local communities and professions, and the global marketplace.

Being Fluent with Information Technology* or FIT Contemporary skills: use computers, applications and networks Foundational concepts: discern principles and ideas of computers, networks, and information Intellectual capabilities: apply technology in complex and sustained situations *(National Research Council, Committee on Information Technology Literacy, 1999.)

Purpose of FIT-ness Contemporary skills – acquire basic skills that change as technology changes Foundational concepts – explain the how, why, and why not of technology as it evolves Intellectual capabilities – empower people to think abstractly about information and its possibilities – collaboration high on capability list

Assessment Strategies Contemporary skills – easy to assess and frequently done Foundational concepts – descriptions, contrasts, comparisons also forthcoming today Intellectual capabilities – still at early stages despite growing calls for accountability related to learning outcomes

Collaboration, for example What do achievements in collaboration in a technology-enabled environment look like? E.G., what are the learning outcomes desired? Does using technology require collaborators to do something different? Be more explicit than when face to face? What does this mean in any domain attempting technology-assisted collaboration?

Proposition The NRC’s framework for FIT-ness is also a useful framework for organizing and grouping assessments of technology-assisted learning outcomes. People who know/work with the technologies can effectively assist in conversations with colleagues across domains about technology- enabled learning outcomes.