Student Post: Using Games for Assessment - Ariana Fisher

Watching students play games, such as Blooket and Kahoot! in my practicum classes has taught me how important games are for instructional use and assessment. The students love the games and often do not realize that they are learning the content as well as being assessed.

I believe that these games are part of the future for truly assessing what students know because their guards are down, and they are truly using their knowledge and what they understand to win a game. These formative assessments provide teachers with the data that they need to evaluate where their students are at. Are the students understanding the content or does it need to be retaught? The games also allow teachers to see the thinking of the students, which is important, especially when there are common mistakes, so that it can be corrected.

The most important part of the games, in my opinion, is that they provide immediate feedback to the students. Did they get the question right or wrong? Where do they need to improve and what do they need to practice on? Providing students with the tools that help with their assessment and lets them take account of their own learning is crucial for them to develop these habits later on in life.

I hope that more teachers begin to use these games as assessment tools, to make learning more fun for students, but to also allow students to see where they are progressing/what they need to work on, which in turn also helps the teacher know when to continue or what the students need more help on.