Assessment for eLearning - Week 4

To be specific or general? That is the question....

I am pondering the idea of giving specific requirements/instructions for assessments, as opposed to giving vague specifications with room for student creativity and direction. I was taught early on to create rubrics for assessments. The rubrics I was taught to create were always very specific, with criteria for each point value within a category. I've seen other teachers use less specific rubrics, but as a learner, I find them really hard to follow. How can I determine if I have earned 20 points, or 10. If the specifics and a rubric are provided, it is much easier to ensure that the work conforms to the expectations of the instructor, but does that stifle creativity? What if your student works really really hard, believing they are meeting the criteria, only to be awarded with a grade far below what they think they deserved? Will this cause a learner to shut down and give up? Or will they respond to feedback and make an effort to change their work to better meet the instructor expectations? Is it not better to provide more specific criteria before the student gets to a point of frustration, and chance that the learner becomes turned off to a course? It's a tough call...

High Stakes Testing

This week, I am reminded how frustrated I am by the high stakes testing that occurs at K-12 level. It is the excuse that so many teachers use to explain why they do not use better means of assessment and teaching. I hear so often "I can't do that, I have to make sure I cover everything that will be on the test." I also hear complaints about the Common Core, and how teachers can't do things, like use blogs, because the standards don't call for reflection (although they do!). I am frustrated because so many teachers use testing and "standards" as their "get out of jail free" card, when in reality, if they were using project based learning and "alternative" assessment methods, they would probably do a better job preparing students for the tests.

In the video Comprehensive Assessment, the principal from Indiana says that our reliance on standardized tests will crash as it has in the past, but this video was created in in 2010 (to the best of my sleuthing skills, although the computers being used indicate that it was filmed more like the early 2000s) and we are seeing more standardized tests than ever! Another expert interviewed asks: "The question is do we get at what we are saying we want by using the test to drive this." A third individuals says: "There is no evidence to show that you raise test scores by teaching worse." So, what the heck are we doing? I know some teachers who look at the standards, acknowledge them, but refuse to teach to the test. They are using project based, collaborative learning in their classrooms. If I were in a traditional classroom, I would do the same thing. Teaching to standards is NOT the same thing as teaching to the test. There is no need to sacrifice QUALITY assessment to "ensure" that students can pass the test at the end of the year. If the students are learning the materials and skills, then they will surely do well on the required tests.

Furger also explores the concept of project-based alternative assessments. It was only due to perfect timing that I had an interesting conversation with a co-worker the other day. Last week, he and a fellow math teacher came to me and said they wanted students to do a research project on conics in the real world. They wanted students to research different items in the real world that contained conic principals. Students are researching topics like the orbit of comets, planetary orbits, contact lenses, suspension bridges and others. They have to research a specific item from their topic, create a pamphlet, a presentation and a 3D model of their topic. While not as cool as designing a school for 2050, it's a pretty awesome example of applying mathematical concepts to the real world. And why do the teacher's feel than can do these real-life activities? Because their course does not have a standardized test at the end of the year.... how frustrating! The project, however, is going really well!

Group Projects

Some thoughts on group projects....do I see the potential value? Absolutely, but I have learned that creating the right groups is far more productive than random assignment. I did a lot of reading on creating collaborative activities in Creating Collaborative Communities, and the very best thing I took away was to do a quick personality quiz before creating groups. It is not fun to group a Type A with a Type B, either for the Type A, or the Type B! We Type A's tend to come off looking really bossy! Type B's suffer from our stress.

Web 2.0 Tools

This one is short and sweet, I love finding new tools for my tool Box. The past two weeks have had me explore Lucid Chart (for concept mapping), LiveBinders (for collaborative presentation of information), and PowToon as an Audio/Video tool. I was also exposed to Mural.ly by one of my group mates, and though she didn't seem thrilled by it, I am going to take a look anyway! I can't wait to explore the tools presented by the rest of the class!

Our ToolBox

Assessment Tool Box – Team Gonzo

References

Edutopia. (2010, August 03). Comprehensive Assessment: An Overview. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9OBhKzh1BM

Furger, R. (2002, January 21). Take a Deeper Look at Assessment for Understanding. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/performance-assessment-math

Assessment for eLearning - Week 3

JigSaw Activities

I like the theory behind jigsaw activities, and am trying to find ways to incorporate it into my lessons online in a way that doesn't seem forced or artificial. I am considering altering my unit on types of information sources, where students will describe to each other each of the types of sources and their benefits and drawback, rather than just reading descriptions from me. The hardest part of moving toward JigSaw is finding articles and resources for students to use, outside of the written lecture I had already created, particularly because my course focuses on learning how to do research appropriately, I don't want to send them out on a wild goose chase without guidance.

Concept Mapping

I have used concept mapping with students in the past as a way to brainstorm ideas for topics for research, and as a way to organize information they find. I really liked the idea of the "fill in the blank" concept map for class notes. Again, I am thinking about my Information Sources unit. I want to have students create a concept map of the benefits, drawbacks and location of the information sources, that they can later use as a resource when they are doing research. I am contemplating having them add a piece that forces them to analyze the information presented about information sources, and synthesize it by asking them what types of research questions would benefit most from the source types.

Learning Objectives

"The choice of a verb is all-important here. Such frequently used terms as know, understand, grasp, and appreciate do not meet this requirement." (NERC) Well, guess I have been doing that wrong all along! Of course learning objectives need to be observable and measurable! How I missed this is beyond me. Perhaps it is because I never had a course that looked so closely at learning objectives, perhaps its because I never paid attention to learning objectives, or perhaps its because I wasn't ready to grasp them yet. It makes it SO much easier to design activities and assessments when the objectives are clear.

NERC. (2007, January 17). Guide to writing learning objectives. Retrieved March 17, 2014, from http://www.nerc.com/files/Instructional_guide_writing_Objectives.pdf

Bonk

Dr. Curtis Bonk should be evaluated for his ability to see in to the future! Wow, some of his predictions really struck me! What follows are my reactions to some of the predictions Bonk made in 2003:

“Electronic Books. An e-book is text that has been digitised and perhaps re-purposed for various uses. It is often made available online or on CD...Electronic book vendors include Metatext from Xanadu, Books24x7, Questia, and ebrary.” (6) - CD! This makes me think back to the information literacy standards that asked that student know how to find and operate a database on CDRom! There are now so many eBook vendors, libraries and publishers are having a hard time figuring out licensing agreements and where to turn next. 

“In addition to simulations, online games will soon help learners review content in a fun way, including games embedded in cell phones and wristwatches that can be downloaded from university Web sites.” (10) Who wears a wrist watch anymore, but boy did hit hit it with the games embedded on cell phones. 

“Flash animations are becoming an increasingly powerful and cost effective way to illustrate current events.” (7) - And then, the iPad and iPhone killed Flash... 

“There are an assortment of tools and technologies emerging for learner collaboration (Bonk, 2002). In addition to music sharing, peer-to-peer tools might help learners share content, resources, and ideas. Of course, many will conclude that such technologies pose a significant dilemma for students since they can lead to increased course cheating and plagiarism.” (9) - This is the argument that the district I live in is using to not go Google. The board president believes that the better alternative would be to purchase each student a flash drive to bring work back and forth from home (you know, along with viruses, and losing it, and just trading them back and forth to copy assignments....), this will surely help to cut down on plagiarism. How about assignments that do not lend themselves to plagiarism?

“While sales of Tablet PCs account for just 1 percent of the portable computing market today, by 2007, they might account for more than 20 percent (Wired News, 2003).” (10) Okay, so he was a little off, but after the iPad was introduced in 2010, they certainly took off. Now, in 2014, the prediction is that Tablet PCs will take up 50% of the market (which also includes Desktop PCs and Laptops). Can you remember a world without Tablet PCs?

“Videos of well known scholars from workshops, conferences, or special institutes might be made available for others to watch.” (10) - Hello YouTube, MOOCs and iTunes U!
“In addition to computer workstations, such software will certainly enhance mobile technologies such as mobile telephones, handheld computers, and personal digital assistants.” (10) - Welcome Siri, voice activated assistance with sass.

References

Bonk, C. (2004, June). The Perfect E-Storm emerging technology, enormous learner demand, enhanced pedagogy, and erased budgets.

Tablets to make up 50% of PC market in 2014. (2013, November). Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://www.canalys.com/newsroom/tablets-make-50-pc-market-2014

And...after all that blabbering....my concept map of my information sources unit:

Best viewed when you can zoom in on the original

Assessment for eLearning - Week 2

I felt a great deal of frustration this week. The instructions led me to believe that the artifacts for this course and the reflective posts should be in the same place. I struggled with adding static pages in Blogger, as it just seemed the wrong thing to do with a blog and I wanted to find a creative way to satisfy the requirements as I understood them. Whether I was reading too much into the instructions, or whether they are a little unclear, the lesson this has given me as a student is to ASK before wasting time, and as an instructor, be sure that the instructions are very clear and easy to follow. When most students encounter situations in which they do not know how to proceed, they shut down. As an instructor, it is very important that I avoid situations in which I close students out of the learning process, and it is something I have to be very cognizant of.


The readings about blogs helped me to solidify my thoughts about blogs, and also gave me other ways to use them beyond reflection and a place to publicly post work. Having student look at each other's work, as Renee pointed out, is a great way to encourage growth. I too learn by seeing the work and reading the reflections of my classmates. If nothing more, they show me ways I could improve my own work.


The discussion forum is hopping as usual, with so many classmates in this class, it is a bit overwhelming when one feels the need to read every single posting! I know it isn't a requirement, but I can't stop myself! Reading the ideas and understanding of my classmates helps me to generate new thoughts and ideas of my own.

Creating Collaborative Communities - Week 8

I hereby resolve to

• Try to connect with classmates outside of the course to bounce ideas off one another
• Go over my already built courses with a fine toothed comb to see where items can be improved by collaboration, community and critical thinking
• Build my new courses with collaboration, community and critical thinking in mind
• Maintain and update my “Online Teaching Playbook” as I find resources
• Refer back to my “Online Teaching Playbook” as I redesign and build new courses

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my natural instincts for online discussion facilitation were pretty good. The tools, resources and activities throughout the course allowed me to refine my skills, and gain insight and knowledge from my peers. One of the things I liked the most about this course were the role playing discussions. It was so valuable to see how different people would respond to different situations, and many of these were situations that you might not guess would happen. Even in my time as an online instructor, I have not seen some of these things, but I guess I was just lucky!

I found the community built in this course to be astounding, I don’t know that I have ever felt more connected to my classmates, or my instructors. It felt so natural, as if I had known everyone for much longer than 8 weeks. Ultimately, I am very happy that I took the courses out of order, and was able to establish relationships with students who I will now learn with in Assessment for eLearning.

Using a resolutions list in my reflections has helped me to not only reflect on the week, but set specific, achievable goals for the courses I design and teach based on what I have learned in this course. I can refer back to them often, and see where I need to improve my teaching based on what I promised myself I would do.

Although not a requirement of this course, I created my Online Teaching Playbook, which I think will serve as a very valuable tool as I move forward in online teaching and learning. Gathering resources and articles to remind myself of different considerations was a wonderful experience for me, and something that I have thought about doing for a long time. I am thankful that Dr. Kay encouraged me to explore this because it gave me the drive to do it.

One final thought, as I read through the finals chapters of Making the Move to eLearning, I need to add audio and video files to my portfolio! I’m thinking, either on the Welcome Page, or on the About Me page, where I can tell prospective employers about my accomplishments, rather than have it presented as just text, while showing that I am comfortable and confident using technology.

Assessment for eLearning - Week 1

One thing that struck me this week was that you need to make sure your topics and discussions do not leave anyone feeling left out. The Ice Breaker activity was to choose a movie that held a special place for you, describe the movie, then describe your connection with it. As someone who is not a movie watcher, this prompt left me frustrated and worried that I was going to start out the course very poorly. Although I did ask, and was granted permission to change the prompt to a book, I still felt very left out of the conversations of others. I am normally the student who comments on at least 50% of my classmates opening posts because I feel some sort of connection, and love making those connection. Although I had heard of some of the movies, the number I had watched was really low. What this left me with was the understanding that not everyone fits into a little box, and that as an instructor, I need to be careful to make sure that I don't leave anyone behind. Being flexible, as my instructor was, will help me make sure that I include everyone in my activities.


I was intrigued to read about the 6 purposes of assessment this week, and to share our ideas about the opening activities on the discussion boards. Debora and Buffy helped me see the connection between surveys and metacognition. Prior to this, I wasn't really certain how they helped other than as a way to gather feedback and data. I greatly appreciated the connections they helped me make, and I will be brainstorming ways to use this metacognition type of assessment in my courses.


Wikis used to be something I was very much a supporter of, but I have since moved my love to Google Docs, which allows for the same type of learning/assessment activity, but also allows for simultaneous edits. I think that the ability for students to work together to create a community learning tool is important, and at first was frustrated when my new LMS did not have a wiki feature. Once I made the connection that I could do the same with a Google Doc, I actually found it to be a superior way of creating group documents. So the outcome is the same, but the means to the end is different.

Creating Collaborative Communities - Week 7

I hereby resolve to

• Create troubleshooting documentation for group chats
• Have a very clear set of “If A then B” plans in place before starting a group chat
• Create very specific peer feedback guidelines so that the feedback in meaningful and helpful to the learners

The most challenging thing of this module was to try to wrap my head around how EASyR is different from Bloom. Perhaps it is because I always knew evaluate, analyze and synthesize in that order from my library work, that maybe I never really understood Bloom? I have also tried, whenever possible, to include these activities in Information Literacy Skills Instruction (unless otherwise directed by current teacher evaluation measurements), so finding a lesson that I could update was a bit tough.

I found it interesting trying to get everyone together for the group chat. I always try to accommodate for non-tech learners and create tips sheets, but I never thought to do a mic and video troubleshooting guide. Despite the fact that I had sent out the questions ahead of time, and they had them in the module materials, and I added them to the Q&A session of the Hangout, and I had a list of extenders and redirects, I was thrown off by the technical issues, and it seemed like I was all over the place and unprepared. This frustrated me as someone who is very organized, which probably threw me even more. It was also disjointing because we created a group Google Doc, but were also using the chat window because of auditory issues, so again, it seemed like I was all over the place with facilitation.

I love receiving peer feedback, as it allows me to see how others view my work. In this particular case, how they interpret the questions I am so sure are clear (but often are not). I wish my fellow learners would do more “tearing me apart” because I know I am not perfect. I run in to this a lot with peer feedback, peers are too “nice” with their feedback. I would rather know what needs to be fixed in a peer feedback situation.