WO2017091897A1

WO2017091897A1 - Culturally or contextually holistic educational assessment methods and systems for early learners from indigenous communities

Info

Publication number: WO2017091897A1
Application number: PCT/CA2016/051407
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jarett LAUGHLIN; Andrew Milne
Original assignee: Laughlin Jarett; Andrew Milne
Priority date: 2015-12-01
Filing date: 2016-12-01
Publication date: 2017-06-08

Abstract

A tablet based system and method for the holistic assessment of child learning that is conscience of local contexts and cultures of the child. The methods and systems incorporate culturally relevant materials into the assessment including but not limited to cultural relevant symbols, iconography, linguistics, vocabulary, pictures, sounds, music, etc. The system and methods utilize a puppet with incorporated haptic technology to facilitate the interaction with the child.

Description

CULTURALLY OR CONTEXTUALLY HOLISTIC EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR EARLY LEARNERS FROM INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[001] The present invention pertains to the field of educational assessment methods and systems and more particularly culturally or contextually holistic educational assessment methods and systems for early learners from indigenous communities.

[002] Traditional or conventional educational assessment methods and techniques have relied upon standardized testing, quizzes, or oral questions. The appropriateness of particular assessment techniques may be dependent on the child's age or developmental level with traditional standardized testing regimes being inappropriate for young children.

[003] 'Off-the-shelf assessment methods and technology can consist of a set of items or standardized questions. Standardized testing or assessment regimes have been shown to be unreliable as standardized questions often do not take into account the culture or contexts of the child. Such bias can result in children from certain cultures/contexts to answer the question incorrectly resulting in an assessment that is unreliable and/or misleading. This is especially true for Indigenous children in Canada and across the world.

[004] Teachers who administrate these assessments often recognize these assessment biases immediately as they ask the student the question. This leads to teachers losing faith in the validity of the instrument, and ultimately teachers do not use the data they collect to inform their instructional practices (which is the ultimate goal in formative assessments).

[005] The school and/or school division purchase these assessments the next year, and repeat the same cycle of purchase-recognize bias-lose faith in instrument-do not use the data-purchase again. This is often because there are no better assessments to choose from.

[006] The assessments used today for Indigenous students are not reflective of an Indigenous approach to lifelong learning:

• Parents are not well informed of their child's ongoing assessments. Parents are definitely not seen as part of the assessment process.

• Community members (i.e. Elders in Indigenous cultures) are not part of the assessment process.

• Assessments do not give credence to experiential learning (learning by doing) • Assessments often focus on proficiency (cognitive) in a specific skill and do not reflect the more holistic elements

• Assessment focuses on learning in the school, and do not go beyond the classroom to assess learning in the home, community and on the land.

• Assessments used today do not account for a child's perspective on their learning.

[007] What is needed is a system that reflects the Indigenous approach to lifelong learning and provides accurate assessments and comparisons based on children's performance over time in a culturally appropriate context. The system needs to provide guidance on where the child stands with respect to other children of his or her peer group, and visually demonstrate the progress the child is making.

[008] This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.

SUM MARY OF THE INVENTION

[009] An object of the present invention is to provide culturally or contextually holistic educational assessment methods and systems for early learners from Indigenous communities. In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a holistic assessment system, comprising: a puppet with haptic technology, wherein the puppet is configured to functionally interact with a touch screen when worn by a user, the puppet is configured to be culturally or locally relevant; a culturally or locally relevant software application accessory for assessing child learning that includes an avatar of the puppet and in silico or virtual environment; wherein the puppet functionally interacts with the software application.

[010] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a holistic assessment method for evaluating a child's skills with the holistic assessment system, the method comprising the step of: facilitating the interaction of the child with the software accessory using the puppet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[011] These and other features of the invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawings.

[012] Figure 1 illustrates the holistic assessment approach or pedagogy. [013] Figures 2A and 2b illustrate the platform underlying the holistic assessment.

[014] Figures 3A and 3b illustrate the triangle-approach with puppet, iPad and child. [015] Figure 4 illustrates haptic technology in the puppet's nose.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Overview of the System and Method

[016] This invention provides systems and methods for holistic assessment approaches that provide educators with the opportunity to develop their own assessment that is reflective of the local contexts and cultures of their students, optionally in their classrooms or other environs the students feel comfortable in.

[017] In some embodiments, the systems and methods provide for a holistic assessment of child learning that is conscience of local contexts and cultures of the child. For example, the systems and methods described herein can be specifically adapted for children of First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities or other Indigenous communities, taking into account cultural traditions and values of these communities. In some embodiments, the systems and methods can also be adapted to take into account socio-economic and political realities of the communities.

[018] The systems and methods are readily adaptable to account for child age and development and are optionally configured to allow for a continuing assessment of learning. In some embodiments, the system and methods provide for comparison of an individual child's learning progress against members of the child's peer group.

[019] In some embodiments, the systems and methods provide for the assessment of both Indigenous and Western knowledge.

[020] In some embodiments, the systems and methods provide for the assessment of language and/or math skills.

[021] The system and method of the invention are rooted in a holistic lifelong approach to learning shared amongst many Indigenous populations including First Nations, Inuit and Metis people. The systems and methods of the invention utilize the early learner's culture to facilitate an accurate assessment of learning. The personalized/customized assessments of the methods and system include cultural/contextual references, iconography such that the questions will be recognized, appreciated and understood by students in those cultures/contexts in order to maximize assessment results. One of skill in the art would appreciate what constitutes appropriate cultural and/or contextual references for a particular community and what iconography is appropriate. [022] Referring to Figure 1 , this Holistic Assessment Approach provides personalized assessments that considers multiple perspectives; is locally and/or culturally relevant; facilitates collaborate development; fosters community involvement; provides immediate access to results and focuses on making changes.

[023] Central to holistic indigenous learning is community and relationships within the community including family relationships and non-familial relationships with the community at large. The instant invention capitalizes on these integral relationships to provide a multiple perspective assessment from individuals involved in child's education and development. These individuals include but are not limited to caregivers, guardians or parents, educators, older siblings, community member including but not limited to Elders.

[024] In some embodiments, the holistic assessment will include at least three separate perspective assessments. In some embodiments, the holistic assessment will include four separate perspective assessments. In some embodiments, the holistic assessment will include more than four separate perspective assessments.

[025] Optionally, identification of appropriate assessors will be based on the environs in which the individual assessor promotes the child's learning. Learning environs include the home, the school, the community, the land and nature amongst others. In some embodiments, each assessor will be from a different learning environ thereby allowing for an assessment that focuses on a broad array of domains thereby ultimately painting an overall balance across multiple places and domains of learning and optionally allows for an identification of environs that a conducive to the child's learning.

[026] The methods and systems are designed to be locally and/or culturally relevant thereby reflecting local contexts and cultures of the early learner. The methods and systems incorporate culturally relevant materials into the assessment including but not limited to cultural relevant symbols, iconography, linguistics, vocabulary, pictures, sounds, music, etc. Culturally relevant material can be provided as eBooks, learning activities including games and other interactive materials, hard or durable goods such as toys including puppets, electronics, etc.

[027] The system includes assessment applications and portals or interfaces are tailored or customized to reflect culture and context.

[028] In some embodiments, the methods and systems are used to not only develop a culturally- appropriate assessment but also supportive curriculum material for the classroom that provides context prior to the assessment.

[029] The method and system is configured to facilitate the development of an assessment that promotes collaboration among educators, principals and administrators through the design, delivery and implementation. This collaborative process maximizes a sense of ownership over the assessment and maximizes success during implementation. [030] The methods and systems are configured to foster community involvement. In some embodiments, the holistic approach includes the involvement of parents and community in the entire assessment process thereby supporting parents in their efforts to educate their child in the home and also facilitates an appreciation for assessment.

[031] The systems and methods are configured to provide immediate access to results. The holistic approach requires the use of technology to deliver the assessment and to measure, record the results. This ensures results are accessible immediate to the parents and educators, supporting the formative nature of the assessment. Methods of delivering results are known in the art and can include web-based access to results through, for example, on-line portals or applications. The system can be configured to send alerts or copies of the results to appropriate parties.

[032] The methods and systems are configured to provide the results in a format that facilitates positive change in early learners' education by supporting data-driven decision making to evoke change. The holistic assessment provides a direct link between results and learning activities to support turning "data into action." Ultimately, this approach produces reliable and valuable information that helps inform a change in values, attitudes and behaviors.

[033] Referring to Figures 2A and 2B, the Holistic Assessment Portal Platform Infrastructure consists of 4 core secure audience components (caregiver, educator, assessor, admin) plus the underlying CMS, database, API and user account system. Each of the audience components contains a base set of content, reporting and functionality to accelerate the design and customization process.

[034] Referring to Figure 3A and 3B, the system provides for a triangle-approach to assessment and includes a puppet and iPad / tablet or other touch screen device to facilitate interaction with the early learner. Installed on the iPad / tablet or other touch screen device is a culturally / locally relevant assessment application. The culturally / locally relevant assessment application includes an avatar that mimics the appearance of the puppet or a representation thereof.

[035] The triangle approach to assessment attempts to remove the subjectivity, and inherent bias, that comes with conventional assessment approaches. It involves creating a triangular relationship between the child, puppet, and technology (i.e. tablet), which creates an environment where the assessor (human) is essentially absent from the relationship. This supports a comfortable environment where the child feels free to converse with the puppet and maximizes the potential for them to demonstrate their learning abilities. This triangle relationship also removes any uncomfortable, biased or cultural barriers that exist between the child and the assessor (for example, teacher). These barriers are more prevalent with children from minority and/or vulnerable populations (i.e. Indigenous).

[036] Referring to Figure 4, the system includes a puppet with integrated haptic technology. The puppet may be configured as a human or animal including turtle, moose, bear, orca, eagle, wolf etc. In some embodiments, the integrated haptic technology is in the puppet's nose or beak. Appropriate haptic technology is known in the art.

[037] To allow the puppet (non-conductive material) to interact with the technology (or touch-based tablets), it was required to design haptic technology within the puppet's nose or other appropriate part such that the assessor feels the conductive material within the puppet and can use their fingers to convey multiple gestures/swipes using the puppet and the tablet.

[038] Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All such modifications as would be apparent to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A holistic assessment system, comprising: a puppet with haptic technology, wherein the puppet is configured to functionally interact with a touch screen when worn by a user, the puppet is configured to be culturally or locally relevant; a culturally or locally relevant software application accessory for assessing child learning that includes an avatar of the puppet and in silco environment; wherein the puppet functionally interacts with software application.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the puppet is configured as an animal.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the haptic technology is in the nose of the animal.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the animal is a turtle, moose, bear, orca, eagle or wolf.

5. The system of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the software application accessory includes culturally or locally relevant digital stories or content.

6. The system of any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising complementing classroom materials.

7. The system of any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising one or more online portals or interfaces to allow access to results.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the results are realtime.

9. A holistic assessment method for evaluating a child's skills with a system of any one of claims 1 to 8, the method comprising the step of: facilitating the interaction of the child with the software accessory using the puppet.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of a teacher, caregiver, parent or

community member reviewing the child's interaction with the software accessory.

1 1. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of assessing a teacher, caregiver, parent or community member using the software accessory.