Formative evaluation, ICT and adult training: an exploratory study in the Portuguese Secondary Cycle

Abstract

This paper presents an exploratory study with three classes of a secondary level adult education and training course, with double certification [professional and academic] in the field of management assistance, during the academic year of 2012/2013, which we coordinated and in which we taught. Since we were dealing with adult students, many of whom had left school several years ago, we considered that it would be important to discover how receptive they were to new technologies and the 2.0 environment, and to find about their technological skills, their (re) acquaintance with the digital environment, vital in contemporary society and highly valued by employers. As for our methodological options, we did participant observation in LMS and chose statistical analysis.

We concluded that all the students began to routinely use Moodle, both in and out of the classroom, in order to seek the elements provided by the teacher/trainer and to submit their activities.

Additionally, we found that the adults in the beginners’ class acquired technological skills at the most basic level and performed activities using 2.0 tools. In this class, the formative assessment revealed to be crucial (in view of the initial technological illiteracy), and was very intense and essential in all the activities that took place. In the other two classes, the adults showed technological autonomy and easyness in performing their activities, using a variety of technological tools. The formative assessment was most intense and needed in the digital presentations and the creation of an e-book. In a word, we confirm that formative assessment is an essential aspect of the assessment process, including in the context of adult education at a secondary school level.