NCTCA 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.