Monday, November 24, 2008

NJ ASK- Why No Technology Section?

While working on a PowerPoint presentation, which focused on the NJ ASK test, for my Assessment of Student Ability & Achievement class, I began to wonder why Technological Literacy is not a section of the test. Though I still believe the basics, such as Language Arts Literacy, Mathematics and Science should be tested, I definitely think technology skills should be an additional assessment component of NJ ASK.

Technology should be considered a more valuable subject to 21st century learners than it is currently viewed in national education, as well as in state districts. Though technology has been integrated into national and state standards, it can be said that it is still not an area that is of equal importance to the subjects of Language Arts, Mathematics and Science, as it is not an area that is deemed necessary for a standardized assessment. I'd be curious to know what others might say regarding this issue or if this is something that is currently being addressed by state and/or local officials. My hunch would be that within the next 5 years, Technological Literacy would be a section added to all state assessments nationwide.

2 comments:

Dr. Luongo said...

Great question!

Maybe you should write to the state!!!

Unknown said...

I agree that Technological Literacy should be incorporated into the NJ ASK, just like any other subject. My only concern is how the school would administer that portion of the test. Would it require a computer for each student? Or would it be a paper-based test that evaluates a student's knowledge of technology literacy?

Either way, it's a great topic of discussion!!