Technology has been rapidly and significantly changing. As a result of this rapid change, the variety and accessibility of technology has increased in general. Teachers have more opportunities to use technology and their toolbox has expanded. The practical use of technology in the classroom is significant for numerous reasons. It prepares students for their roles in society, it has the potential of increasing motivation and engagement of learners, it caters to different learning styles, etc. (Eady & Lockyer, 2013). In addition, it provides numerous tools for assessment, in particular formative assessment.
Formative assessment involves analyzing student performance by looking at what learners did well and what they need to improve next time. Understanding formative assessment helps teachers to follow students’ progress and adapt their teaching. In other words, formative assessment and classroom assessment, and including self-assessment, is like a mirror. Learners look at themselves in the mirror and they know where they are and they know what they look like. This helps learners to achieve their goals. Formative assessment goes beyond a score. It goes beyond what a learner did correctly, and it guides learners how to continue learning.
Integrating technology into formative assessment is beneficial for several reasons. Firstly, it increases interaction and engagement of the learners especially when they are not in the physical classrooms. Otherwise, it is challenging for educators to observe the learners when they engage online activities and tasks. Additionally, self-assessment and receiving computerized feedback can be meaningful for learners to see their own process. Learners have access to language learning materials online. However, as feedback and assessment are important parts of the learning process, it is important to provide formative assessment integrated into online materials. In short, increasing engagement and interaction of the learners by providing technology integrated formative assessment should be taken into consideration carefully by the teachers to enhance their teaching.
H5P is one the tools to be used while teaching English and providing formative assessment for the learners. It is an open source, free and user-friendly web tool. It is possible to create content and integrate it into an LMS such as Moodle or Blackboard. It unlocks new opportunities for language assessment both for the students and learners. It enables creating interactive assessment and presenting items.
