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Social Media and Assessment

 Can teachers assess their students without stressing them unnecessarily? This week's article by Alonzo et al. (2023) answers this question positively. They contend that while assessment is a crucial part of learning, social media supports the dialogic aspect of assessment, such as giving feedback. This matters because from the point of view of Sociocultural Theory, feedback involves the student's agency and knowledge exchange, where the scaffolding, facilitated by feedback, supports the student as they move gradually toward a better understanding. 

Evidence suggests that social media gives students a sense of participation and ownership. Its interactive nature enables students to provide each other with feedback almost instantly. However, a significant challenge lies in the tendency of teachers and students to perceive social media as a source of entertainment rather than education. Even so, social media’s accessibility and ease of collaboration make it a highly valuable tool for education.

When it comes to actual assessment, social media has been used for both teacher and peer feedback, pre-test and post-test administration, and self-assessment. In studies so far, social media-based assessment has been used in ESOL and writing classes, Math, Science, often emphasizing the improvement of self-regulated learning. Potential problems connected with using social media for assessment are a heavier workload for teachers (something I experienced firsthand), students’ inappropriate language, and lack of feedback literacy.

Social media can be a powerful tool in learning, provided teachers are trained to use it advantageously and students are given practice in providing peer feedback and using appropriate language.

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