Technology Literacy Requirements / Definitions / Responsibilities / Reporting / Toolkit / Q&A

TechLiteracy™ Assessment

Determining technology literacy requires a consistent and fair method to ensure that we are not comparing apples to oranges.  RIDE has a contract with Learning.com to use their online TechLiteracy Assessment™ to assess all 8th grade students in public schools for the next three years (SY-2008/09 through SY-2010/11).  The TechLiteracy Assessment™ will indicate whether a student likely possess the basic skills and knowledge necessary to use technology successfully in core coursework and in preparation for life in the 21st century.

The TechLiteracy Assessment™ is a blend of multiple choice questions assessing students' knowledge of technology concepts and performance-based items assessing students' skills with technology applications and tasks.  The assessment is designed to be completed in the classroom, computer lab or on Internet-connected computer within one class period.  It is aligned to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) with criterion-referenced standard validated test items.  Because it is an online assessment, timely reports with valuable data including score averages, assessment numbers, and proficiency levels are available at the state, district, school, class and student levels.

Testing windows:

Students only need take the TechLiteracy Assessment one time during the 8th grade.  The majority of districts will be able to give the assessment in one class period during computer class minimizing the impact on the rest of the school population.  Other arrangements will need to be made where no formal computer class is available to students. With that understanding and to accommodate for unique situations, there will be two testing windows, one in December to accommodate semester one students and one in May to accommodate semester two students.  Schools who have a year long computer class will assess their students in May.

• December 6-17, 2010
• May 9-20, 2011

Test Administration

It is highly recommended that the Test Administrator provide an opportunity for students to take a "practice test" for two important reasons.

1. To prepare students for this type of online testing
2. To identify technical difficulties well in advance of the testing windows

A 20 item, shorter version with sample items on the assessment is available from Learning.com.  The Sample Assessment and the TechLiteracy Assessment both require Adobe Flash Player v7 or later and Adobe Reader v7 or later.  CAUTION:  The first 8 windows or slides of the Sample Assessment instruct the test taker on how to navigate and what to expect on the assessment.  Be patient and wait approximately 10-15 seconds on the eighth slide.  A second "Start" button will appear to start the Sample Assessment.