When I read that meme online, my teacher-brain went haywire.

I know it’s a joke and I know that not every student in every class cheats, but it made me realize that there must be a better way!  I’m here to say that there ARE many other ways to assess students without worrying too much about policing them.

There are all kinds of ways for teachers of almost any level to assess their students online with original, creative and project-based examinations.  The goal should be to encourage students to produce something original in order to show their understanding of the concepts of your class. 

When students are creating something of their own, something unique, and not just responding to questions from the teacher, they must learn the material. This way, their ability to cheat or just spit back information is drastically reduced. And let’s face it, those types of testing formats are based on memorization of facts and a “repeat it back to me” strategy. That’s never a good idea, in any circumstance.  Worst of all, your students don’t learn anything in the process! 

So here are some ideas to spark your imagination for your next assessment:

Have students make audio recordings (not video) from the privacy of their own home that respond to a specific question or prompt. The recordings could start off simply by defining a concept or explaining a term, but then they need to apply that term or concept to the world around them.

For example, in a foreign language class, students could explain how to make a french crepe or a mexican taco, and then describe how that food has affected American cuisine.  Or in social studies, students could explain the causes of the civil rights movement and then give their opinion of what their lives would be like today if Martin Luther King never existed. 

Whatever the assignment is, have them show they have learned the concepts first, and then apply that knowledge through opinions, analysis, comparisons, etc. That way you avoid “copy/paste” or simple answers that all the students do in the exact same way. Encourage creativity and unique answers!

Tools to do this with: Voice Memos (pre-installed app on iPhones), VoiceRecordPro (free app for any device)

Just because we’re online, doesn’t mean they can’t “stand up” in front of the class and give a presentation! Have them make individual or small group presentations over Zoom.  Yes, I know, this can be time consuming, but it has so many other benefits.  It is an original and creative assessment that exercises speaking skills and encourages class participation. Best of all, it takes the pressure off the teacher for constantly being the one on camera. 

Tools to do this with: Zoom, Google Meet, Skype

Most students love creative or artistic projects because they think they are less work than an essay.  (Let’s just keep it our secret that it is often more work!)  Some ideas for creative projects include: 

• • Produce a comicstrip with Pixton such as the one above
  • Create an original “infographic” with images, text and colors using Canva 
  • Collaborate on a digital book with Book Creator
  • Design an original website using Wix where each student creates a page
  • Guide students through a virtual field trip using StoryMap

Provide multiple sources for the students to synthesize in either oral or written format. You might give them an article to read from a newspaper, a case study, a section from the textbook, a photo, a tweet, a social media post or an advertisement and have them compare/contrast the information.

This can be very done in a simple manner for younger kids by simply asking what are the similarities and differences of the two sources. On the other hand, it could be more complex by asking the students to describe how jealousy or hatred affected each source.

Sources of online material: Smithsonian Institution, Twitter, New York Times, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NPR radio, Unsplash (free stock photos) etc. The options are endless!

Portfolios are a great way for students to reflect on their work over the course of a semester or a year.  It’s a great way to get them to realize everything they have done and how much they’ve grown. It doesn’t need to include all of their work. It should just have some examples of what they have done.

If they use a platform like Seesaw, they can record an audio to explain each photo in the portfolio.  This way, they can label each photo with important aspects or reasons why they stand out.  But most importantly, they should reflect on what they have done well, how they could have done better or what they would like to continue learning.

Tools to do this with: SeeSaw, Bulb and Showcase

One time, I thought to myself “if the students only knew how hard it was to create a test from scratch…” So I had a lightbulb moment.  I had them write their own unit test.  It was truly an eye opening experience for them.

They had to write a traditional exam with multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank questions etc, AND they had to provide the answers to all the questions on a separate copy. It was a great because they clearly had to understand all the concepts of that unit in order to write all the questions and answers. Plus, it gave me lots of great ideas for the following year’s test!

Tools to do this with: Microsoft Word, Google Docs (and a little creativity!)

There is no one way to assess students. And there certainly isn’t just one test format that is perfect. My best suggestion is to give a variety of tests in lots of different formats in order to let the students discover how to best express themselves.  But no matter what you choose to do, remember to make it something creative and original. That way you will get the best out of your students and you won’t be so worried about them cheating.