Formative assessment tools

Move away from paper and pen and enable online assessments with Digiexam. Continue reading to learn about formative assessment and the advantages of formative assessment tools.

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What is formative assessment?

Understanding what a formative assessment is

While the concept of formative assessments has only existed since 1960, educators have used "formative assessments" in various forms since the invention of teaching. It refers to a wide variety of methods teachers use to conduct evaluations of the student's comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during an instructional period, for example, a course, semester, program, or school year.

Formative assessment helps educators:

Accelerate student achievement and reduce learning gaps
Provide detailed feedback based on individual student needs
Help students identify strengths and areas for improvement
Determine what students have retained from previous learning

Formative vs. summative assessment

Understanding the difference between formative and summative assessment

Formative assessments are usually contrasted with summative assessments. The difference being that summative assessments are used to evaluate the students' learning process and achievements after the conclusion of an instructional period.

Formative assessments are for learning, whereas summative assessments are of learning.

The distinction between them can be somewhat fuzzy in practice, and there are divergent interpretations of the formative and summative online assessments. However, both are considered vital parts of effective teaching and learning.

Types of formative assessments methods

5 types of formative assessment methods

There is no shortage of formative assessment programs, strategies, techniques, and methods available to educators who use formative assessments in the classroom. Here are a few of the more commonly used types of formative assessments:

Exit slips: A quick assessment given at the end of a class session. The teacher asks a few questions that help evaluate understanding of the subject.
Self-assessments: Let the student evaluate their own performance and identify their strengths and weaknesses.
Worksheets and practice problems: Traditional tools that allow teachers to gauge student understanding through hands-on practice.
Educational games: Interactive activities that make learning engaging while providing assessment data.
Formative tests: Short tests or quizzes used to monitor student progress and identify areas needing attention.

Formative assessment with Digital Tools vs. Pen and paper

Understanding how formative assessments with digital tools are different from pen and paper assessments

The use of formative assessment with digital tools and similar online learning solutions skyrocketed during the pandemic when pen and paper became obsolete and inaccessible. And they are here to stay. The concept of "digitization" has been on everyone's lips for a long time and has taken root in almost every industry.

Paper-based learning has slowly but surely been phased out at all levels of education institutions, from primary school up to university. The transformation was already ongoing when the pandemic hit, which further accelerated it.

While the digitization of the classroom and remote learning has their fair share of challenges, the advantages of formative assessment technology and online learning are hard to deny.

Selecting the right formative assessment programs for your needs

How to select the right formative assessment platform?

The saying "a tool is only as good as its user" goes both ways. Without proper formative assessment tools, the assessment process can become a time-consuming ordeal, and the assessment can potentially drop in quality.

While the benefits of online assessment tools for teachers are (hopefully) clear, it can be challenging to choose the right option. What works for your classroom depends on a wide variety of factors. To help you along the way, we have created a three-step process based on our experience and the feedback from our existing clients for identifying the best formative assessment tools based on your needs:

Determine your end goal: The first step is establishing a clear goal. Identify current and future needs that the assessment tool can solve. Explore the opportunities it can create for your institution. Find out how you can benefit from the tool.
Take a technology audit: Audit your classroom to determine what tools you already have available and brainstorm how these tools can help you establish an engaging, effective, and interactive formative assessment process.
Figure out what features you want and need: Create a comprehensive list of what features you absolutely must have and what features you want.

Want to know about our formative assessment technology?

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The Digiexam formative assessment tool

Advantages with the Digiexam formative assessment tool

There is a wide variety of methods with different formative assessment programs for every type. The Digiexam formative assessment technology is designed to safely and reliably power the whole test lifecycle. With it, you can create both formative and summative assessment examinations/tests to gain valuable insights into the students' knowledge levels and understanding of the subject.

Ensure academic integrity and enhance your assessments' efficiency while giving both students and teachers the best possible experience with Digiexam.

Why choose Digiexam for formative assessments?

Create formative and summative assessments

Design both formative and summative assessment examinations/tests to gain valuable insights into the students' knowledge levels and understanding of the subject.

Ensure academic integrity

Our lockdown functionality prevents students from accessing unauthorized resources during assessments, maintaining the integrity of your evaluations.

Enhance assessment efficiency

Streamline your assessment workflow with collaborative grading, anonymous marking, and constructive feedback tools including annotation features.

Integrate with your LMS

Seamlessly connect with your existing learning management system through LTI integration, making it easy to manage assignments and grades in one place.

Best experience for teachers and students

User-friendly interface with modern accessibility tools like text-to-speech and extra time accommodations for students who need them.

Reliable offline compatibility

Ensure uninterrupted assessments even when internet connectivity is unstable. Work continues offline with automatic syncing when connection is restored.

What our customers say

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As the University continues to pursue a remote assessment strategy for all courses, confidence in the systems we use to support exam integrity is vital.

Maggie Gibson

Birmingham City University

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Digiexam receives a lot of attention in the south of Germany since a lot of people share the belief that it will be the only product that will meet the regulatory and data privacy requirements for future online testing.