Reflections on Assessment in E-Learning
Overall Reflection
Incorporating online assessment tools into a course is one way to improve curriculum and to better meet the individual needs of all students. Using a variety of online assessment tools allows students more of an opportunity to collaborate both inside and outside of the regular classroom. It allows them the opportunity to continue learning even after the "bell has rung". Their work can be shared and discussed with a larger community of learners that can extend outside of the walls of the traditional classroom. These tools can help to meet the needs of a diverse population of students as they allow flexibility in instructional methods as well as opportunities for more student-centered and authentic learning tasks. The vast and constantly growing array of online assessment tools available makes it simple for even the technology-challenged teacher to take a small step toward creating a classroom of lifelong learners.
Project Reflection - Concept Map/Assessment Taxonomy
We focused on using Bloom's Taxonomy as we create learning objectives for our class. For the assessment taxonomy activity, we looked at an existing course and decided where in Bloom's taxonomy we would put the different objectives. This was a good activity for me as it allowed me to look at the different verb use that can be used for all levels of learning.
Another strategy we learned about was using a Concept Map to help us when planning a course or to use as an assessment for a course. When planning a course, we can look at the key concepts in the course to help us better understand the topics and informations. Students can use a concept map to create meaning as they make connections and see relationships between different concepts in the course. As I used this tool in this course, I saw that students could use concept maps to plan a project or written piece, study for a test by organizing their material, or create one as they absorb information from digital or print media.
Mid-term Project Reflection - Jigsaw Activity
For our mid-term project, we created an assessment toolbox as a group. This activity spread over the course of three weeks/modules. In Module 2, we were assigned team members and we spent a bit of time getting to know each other and spent time discussing our ideas about this activity. During Module 3, we each chose the tool we wanted to research and shared it with our team members and instructor. The tool I chose was VoiceThread as this is one that I want to try with my high school students. I spent this week researching the tool, its benefits, and creating learning examples. During Module 4, we put all of our research together. This was a great group of people and everyone did a thorough job of researching and writing about their tool. I enjoyed this process as I was able to learn about one tool very deeply while also working with my peers to learn about other tools.
Final Project Reflection - Instructional Tools
The purpose of the final project was to change an existing course to include more online assessment tools and activities. The course I chose to change was my Web Design course at The American School of Dubai. This course is currently run completely face to face and I have decided to add four online assessment tools to make this course more authentic and to allow the students more of an opportunity to collaborate in small groups and also to discuss and work with members outside of their groups. I have included a variety of instructional objectives as they relate to Bloom's taxonomy and believe that an attempt to personalize the instruction and to add activities at the higher cognitive levels will help to deter plagiarism.
The first tool I selected was the survey. I will use SurveyMonkey to add a pre-course survey to this class which will allow the students time to reflect on previous learning as well as to think about what they will learn and how they will benefit from this course.
The second tool I chose was a discussion tool called VoiceThread. VoiceThread can be used in a variety of ways, but in this course I decided to use it as a way to develop the teams at the beginning of the year. Once the students have been divided into teams they will have the opportunity to use VoiceThread in any way to introduce their team members to the entire class. This student-centered activity will allow the teams to get to know each other and will also allow the other class members to learn something about classmates not on their team.
The third tool I selected was PikiWiki. This collaboration tool will allow the team members to work together to design their pages and discuss issues as they come up. Students can use PikiWiki to post images they may want to use on their pages for teammates' input, create and edit section introductions as a team, or work on color and design of their pages.
The final tool I selected was Blogger. While there are many uses of a blog in the classroom, in this course I will use Blogger as a reflective tool to give the students the opportunity to write about what they learn, frustrations they experience, obstacles they overcome and any other topic they feel they need to share. Students will be able to read and review other blogs and will comment on what other students have to say about the course.
After participating in this course, students will have a better idea of what it would be like to work as a member of a web design team. The authenticity of their task (creating pages for the high school web site) coupled with the task of working together as a cohesive team will help them to develop skills to become lifelong learners.
Incorporating online assessment tools into a course is one way to improve curriculum and to better meet the individual needs of all students. Using a variety of online assessment tools allows students more of an opportunity to collaborate both inside and outside of the regular classroom. It allows them the opportunity to continue learning even after the "bell has rung". Their work can be shared and discussed with a larger community of learners that can extend outside of the walls of the traditional classroom. These tools can help to meet the needs of a diverse population of students as they allow flexibility in instructional methods as well as opportunities for more student-centered and authentic learning tasks. The vast and constantly growing array of online assessment tools available makes it simple for even the technology-challenged teacher to take a small step toward creating a classroom of lifelong learners.
Project Reflection - Concept Map/Assessment Taxonomy
We focused on using Bloom's Taxonomy as we create learning objectives for our class. For the assessment taxonomy activity, we looked at an existing course and decided where in Bloom's taxonomy we would put the different objectives. This was a good activity for me as it allowed me to look at the different verb use that can be used for all levels of learning.
Another strategy we learned about was using a Concept Map to help us when planning a course or to use as an assessment for a course. When planning a course, we can look at the key concepts in the course to help us better understand the topics and informations. Students can use a concept map to create meaning as they make connections and see relationships between different concepts in the course. As I used this tool in this course, I saw that students could use concept maps to plan a project or written piece, study for a test by organizing their material, or create one as they absorb information from digital or print media.
Mid-term Project Reflection - Jigsaw Activity
For our mid-term project, we created an assessment toolbox as a group. This activity spread over the course of three weeks/modules. In Module 2, we were assigned team members and we spent a bit of time getting to know each other and spent time discussing our ideas about this activity. During Module 3, we each chose the tool we wanted to research and shared it with our team members and instructor. The tool I chose was VoiceThread as this is one that I want to try with my high school students. I spent this week researching the tool, its benefits, and creating learning examples. During Module 4, we put all of our research together. This was a great group of people and everyone did a thorough job of researching and writing about their tool. I enjoyed this process as I was able to learn about one tool very deeply while also working with my peers to learn about other tools.
Final Project Reflection - Instructional Tools
The purpose of the final project was to change an existing course to include more online assessment tools and activities. The course I chose to change was my Web Design course at The American School of Dubai. This course is currently run completely face to face and I have decided to add four online assessment tools to make this course more authentic and to allow the students more of an opportunity to collaborate in small groups and also to discuss and work with members outside of their groups. I have included a variety of instructional objectives as they relate to Bloom's taxonomy and believe that an attempt to personalize the instruction and to add activities at the higher cognitive levels will help to deter plagiarism.
The first tool I selected was the survey. I will use SurveyMonkey to add a pre-course survey to this class which will allow the students time to reflect on previous learning as well as to think about what they will learn and how they will benefit from this course.
The second tool I chose was a discussion tool called VoiceThread. VoiceThread can be used in a variety of ways, but in this course I decided to use it as a way to develop the teams at the beginning of the year. Once the students have been divided into teams they will have the opportunity to use VoiceThread in any way to introduce their team members to the entire class. This student-centered activity will allow the teams to get to know each other and will also allow the other class members to learn something about classmates not on their team.
The third tool I selected was PikiWiki. This collaboration tool will allow the team members to work together to design their pages and discuss issues as they come up. Students can use PikiWiki to post images they may want to use on their pages for teammates' input, create and edit section introductions as a team, or work on color and design of their pages.
The final tool I selected was Blogger. While there are many uses of a blog in the classroom, in this course I will use Blogger as a reflective tool to give the students the opportunity to write about what they learn, frustrations they experience, obstacles they overcome and any other topic they feel they need to share. Students will be able to read and review other blogs and will comment on what other students have to say about the course.
After participating in this course, students will have a better idea of what it would be like to work as a member of a web design team. The authenticity of their task (creating pages for the high school web site) coupled with the task of working together as a cohesive team will help them to develop skills to become lifelong learners.
Photo source: Wikimedia Commons