Response to "Making Assessment Matter: Using the Computer to Create Interactive Feedback

I already wrote a response to this and the blog site messed up and didn't post what I wrote....so I'm a little peeved. I'm going to make this short, and do bullet points b/c I don't want to write it all again.

- I'm confused by the idea of having kids burn their projects onto cds. I thought once information was burned onto a cd, more information could not be added. If the idea is that the teacher burns another copy of the paper onto the cd, the amount of money invested into the project would add up.

-I think the Auto Format idea is great, regardless of whether one uses all the other tools the author suggests. Even if kids sent in their papers via email on word documents, the AutoFormat would save much time and allow for more personalized comments.

- I was very surprised to learn that the majority of students like the interactive grading, find the audio helpful, and do on average 10 percentage points better on their papers than students who do not have the technological ability. The widespread positive response leads me to think that this education tool would be very beneficial.

-I still believe that face-to-face discussion on such topics as paper-writing are indispensable, and I hope to promote that type of learning in my classroom.