Abstract:

The advent of technology has brought a myriad of possibilities to improve the outcomes of the teaching learning experience, yet its implications and the unforeseen consequences of poor planning of the phases of any educational experience are fundamental issues to investigate. The role of the teachers, the students, the instructional materials, and the means to facilitate learning take a new dimension in the fast-paced evolving learning environments. Among key issues that are studied today, we have assessment and evaluation of virtual learning, as well as the issues of liability and control in the educational areas where technology has shattered physical, temporal, and social barriers. This study focuses on the impact, advantages, limitations, and possibilities of the implementation of formative assessment in technologically mediated environments.
The study stems from the discussions of the group MESL (Methods and Evaluation of Second languages) and it seeks to explore the practices of formative evaluation in technologically mediated instruction in English courses of two local universities in the city of Medellin, Colombia. The central issues in this exploratory study aim at the unveiling of first, evidences and elements of formative evaluation present in the courses, and second, the relationship between technological mediation and the methods implemented in the teaching learning process.
The results confirm the fact that technology, or the use of the technological artifacts is not sufficient to promote learning. In this type of setting the teachers´ and the students’ roles shift towards new dynamics, especially if we consider their interaction as key in an educational process in which actors are on the spot in the social construction of knowledge (Garrison & Anderson, 2005). Also, it is of paramount importance to understand that participation does not necessarily mean interaction (Barberá & Badia, 2004) In our case, we need to start looking at the formulation of the right conditions to implement formative assessment as a strong support of students ‘effective learning.

Keywords:

Formative evaluations, technology, interactions, methods, constructivism.