Upgrading the Curriculum: Assessment

Jacobs, Heidi Hayes (ed.) Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World ASCD, 2010 

Chapter 2: Upgrading the Curriculum

The first thing that hit me while reading this chapter was the fact that the author believes that instead of "integrate technology in the curriculum" which is what we have heard all our classes in technology, the author believes the wording should be replace instead of integrate. Integrate technology seems to be a term that teachers do in staff development and where teachers are lost at how to do and seems like extra work. Instead by using the word replace it incorporates something concrete as a replacement. 


The author starts with how assessment can be upgraded and replace in the curriculum.  There are several steps that a school can take to replace their assessment and upgrade it to technology. Step 1 involves developing a pool of assessment replacements Step 2 is to identify the types of technology that do exist currently. The author suggests stretching teachers to use one new told per semester or school year. Step 3 involves students commit to replacing one assessment type per semester. Step 4 involves sharing the assessment upgrades with colleagues and students. This step encourages collaboration and brainstorming. Step 5 involves incepting ongoing sessions for skill and assessment upgrades throughout the year. When students are stretched and measured with new assessment processes, it will help them become students ready for the years 2015 and 2020.


I really like how this book gave practical and very measurable ways to upgrading and replacing technology into the curriculum. We have staff developments that try to talk about incorporating technology into the classroom where the whole school tries to change but it really depend on each individual teacher and their desire to incorporate the technology little bits at a time. Even if it is just one technological element that replaces a traditional assessment while used in the semester and the teacher works at it, I think they will find that that helps them considerably instead of trying to incorporate technology all at once. 


I still don't know what I feel about this author's view on replacing instead of integrating. I have been so conditioned into the saying "integrate technology in the curriculum" that it blows up everything I've thought previously. It is definitely a new way at looking at technology and maybe it is better way at looking at technology. We want our students to be students with a technological mindset in the 21st century and so that may require us as teachers to completely revolutionize the way to teach with our curriculum, assessment, and technology. When you start to think of technology as replacing the traditional ways, it is a complete paradigm shift and ready or not, it is the 21st century.