Formative Assessment In the Era of Big Data Analytics

Assessment, be it summative or formative, is an integral part of every educational system or program. However, though formative assessment is much more favored, it is time-consuming and requires significant, ongoing dedication and efforts from teachers. As such, it often yields little benefit to both learning and teaching. Nevertheless, the emergence of big data analytics in the last couple of years has opened up new avenues in educational assessment. Our objective in this paper is, therefore, to explore the potential role that these new technologies play in enhancing the assessment process. In this respect, it has been found out that by retrieving and processing the voluminous amounts of data that students generate while using different online learning materials, teachers can gain valuable insights into how their students are learning. They can identify the strengths and weaknesses as well as the preferred learning mode of every individual student. Based on this valuable information, all students can be provided with real-time and customized feedback that they need to improve their learning experiences. Using big data analytics can also allow teachers to enhance curricula and adapt their teaching strategies to the changing needs and requirements of students. Thus, rather than being confined to traditional formal and informal assessment procedures, educators can, through big data analytics, improve formative assessment by making beneficial use of the digital footprints that students leave behind while learning online.