Abstract:

Back in September 2003, Russia joined the Bologna Process aimed at harmonizing European education standards. It has several basic characteristics: 3 cycled system of higher education; usage of a credit system; mobility of students and staff around the European Higher Education Area; the joint European Diploma Supplement; quality control of higher education; creation of the European Higher Education Area. If to focus on one of them – credit system – it has made the students willing participants of the assessment process. It has made the assessment process transparent and flexible. From here on the students have started to analyze and evaluate the tasks and credits in a new light. Unfortunately, sometimes it leads to students counting which task to fulfill to get more points, and where to go soft, still in the general perspective the system has proved to be reliable and efficient.

In the light of this evidence teachers have to invent new tips, tools and techniques to organize the whole process of education with more polish, power and professionalism.

The tools to control and assess students’ participation, progress and achievement could be as follows: Edmodo, Moodle, Google sheet, Google Classroom, Google Scholar etc.

These tools prove to be much more convenient than already traditional e-mail. And as for online interaction with students to opt for social media is a good idea, as it usually promotes immediate response.

Within the framework of distant assessment Google.sheets are to be used in the form of online register where the teacher marks attendance and progress of the students. All of them have access to the page and can regularly visit it, especially during deadline periods and always during midterm and final term assessment.

Attendance and progress both are measured in percentage and in case of progress this data can be transferred into final grade automatically with the means of special formula, that can be specifically designed upon the request. As students tend to miss some classes and to accumulate so-called debts (not fulfilled on time tasks) having all this information on-line they can always see their current progress and the tasks they should complete to catch up with the group.

As for Moodle system – it is widely used by the universities. It is a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalized learning environments. It is proven and trusted worldwide, designed to support both teaching and learning and easy to use. Actually this system gives all the opportunities needed to organize distant teaching and assessment.

The ultimate purpose of assessment is to create self-regulated learners who can turn able and confident to continue learning throughout their lives. It can be based on diverse information sources and technologies, but all in all this variety fosters collaboration between students and teachers to ensure that successful learning takes place in an engaged and vibrant learning community.

Keywords:

Assessment, distant assessment, Edmodo, Moodle, Google sheet, Google Classroom, Google Scholar.