Formative assessments are used to evaluate how someone is learning throughout a course. While summative assessments are quizzes and tests that evaluate how much someone has learned throughout a course, hence, depend very much on grading and the design of the assessment.

In a way, formative assessment should not be graded. The general goal of formative assessment is to collect detailed information that can be used to improve instruction and student learning while it’s happening. What makes an assessment “formative” is not the design of a test, technique, or self-evaluation, per se, but the way it is used—i.e., to inform in-process teaching and learning modifications.

Technology can help with simplifying the collection, collating, and presenting the large amount of data instantaneously. Allowing the formative assessment to be used for instant assessment, feedback, and adaptation, such as tracking student progress over time. Perhaps even more compelling, however, Edtech can also be used to aid formative assessment: helping to boost engagement, identify knowledge gaps, and support further/deeper learning.

Technology can:

• increase the flexibility of the assessment, e.g., online, anytime, anywhere
• Increase feedback, e.g., through instant online polling, 
• increase customization, e.g. to individual learning preferences.

Enhanced by technology, formative assessment can:

• Refocus students on the learning process and its intrinsic value, rather than on grades or extrinsic rewards.
• Encourage students to build on their strengths rather than fixate or dwell on their deficits.
• Help students become more aware of their learning needs, strengths, and interests so they can take greater responsibility for their own educational growth. 
• Ultimately, raise or accelerate the educational achievement of all students, while also reducing learning gaps and achievement gap

Technology alone is not the silver bullet for the effective implementation of formative assessment. It needs:

• Clarifying, understanding, and sharing learning intentions early in the class. 
• Engineering effective classroom discussions, tasks, and activities that will encourage participation 
• Providing feedback that moves learners forward, i.e., results must be shared.
• Activating students as learning resources for one another, incorporate peer learning, and discourage competition.
• Activating students as owners of their own learning, developing a growth mindset.

References:

1. The Glossary of Education Reform (https://www.edglossary.org/formative-assessment/)
2. ResourceEd - A Promethean Blog (https://resourced.prometheanworld.com/technology-learning-and-assessment/)
3. Revisiting Dylan Wiliam’s Five Brilliant Formative Assessment Strategies. (https://teacherhead.com/2019/01/10/revisiting-dylan-wiliams-five-brilliant-formative-assessment-strategies/)