PDTCA 2022

Digital tools and educational technology are now embedded in almost every classroom across Canada. They bring currency and diversity of content that was impossible with printed resources, as well as a whole world of creative student tasks. At the same time, an open and changeable informational environment where facts can be pulled up at 5G speed presents challenges to teachers and students alike. Flat and undirected engagement with digital content is still likely to cause frustration and boredom. Two-dimensional assessments that ask students to reproduce static information or list subject-area facts do not prepare them for a world of competing and changing factual narratives. They lack the depth to accommodate the sheer quantity of information, perspectives, and voices that students regularly encounter.

What does it look like to bring depth to instruction and assessment? Three-dimensional assessments are spaces where students develop skills, try things out, test thinking, and ultimately showcase what they can do with the information at their fingertips. They call on – and support – students to think, analyze, judge, and communicate across subject areas. This workshop will explore how three-dimensional digital assessments can be the core of the digital classroom and allow it to effectively reflect and respond to the wider world.

Trop souvent nous abordons les aspects théoriques d'une évaluation au service de l'apprentissage, mais concrètement, comment appliquer ce principe en classe? Quels outils utiliser? Quelles approches prioriser?

While waiting for the release of new Alberta curriculum, teachers can do many things to ensure they are ready to plan, instruct, and assess the new learner outcomes. Teaching and assessing through the lens of concepts is a universal and transferable teacher skill. This pedagogical approach is used to teach and assess any program of studies or common core standards across the globe. Research from internationally recognized thought leaders in Assessment will be referenced throughout the session.

During an AAC workshop with assessment expert Dylan Wiliam last year, we learned about an idea called "the 25% rule" for classroom assessment. In this session, we’ll explain exactly what this rule means and offer tips on how to implement this rule into your assessment practice.

In this session, we will explore the following questions:
What exactly is an authentic assessment?
How do authentic assessments help to engage vulnerable students?
How do authentic assessments foster academic integrity and cognitive rigour?
What can I do right now to incorporate the characteristics of an authentic assessment into my current assessments?

As educators, we’ve honed the craft of giving feedback to students. Hours upon hours are spent ensuring our feedback is timely, specific, true and presented with students' well-being in mind. But somehow we still find learners who are not accessing and using this feedback to grow.

This interactive session will explore the practices that shift from “a look-back-in-time” with feedback, to a feedforward approach that ensures students understand and activate important details they need to learn.

Participants will leave with fresh strategies for use in face-to-face and online settings, and the resources and skills to activate a feedforward approach to improving student learning.