The creation of an online module has been challenging, but educational for me. I have learned an incredible amount about what it takes to plan and create online assessments.
First, learning new tools from the instructor, my peers and researching has shown me possibilities that I was unaware of until now. I have found new ways to use blogger in my classroom. I have used blogger to organize and share information to my students, but now I wish to get my students more involved. Providing students with blogger will allow for them to share, reflect and learn in new ways.
Second, my work with planning objective, activities and assessments has changed the way I look at curriculum. My students will benefit from my improved understanding of how these pieces fit together. I am writing clearer objectives and planning activities that have more meaningful relationships towards my desired outcomes for students.
Lastly, this final project has given me a new respect for online education. An incredible amount of work and planning goes into just one module. To develop an entire coarse would be an omens task. However, if what I have learned is true; the potential of online assessment makes all the hard work worth while.
The final project can be viewed here:
http://wisseronlineassessment.weebly.com
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
WEEK:six
Reflective note related to this week’s discussions, practices or readings. Also add a link to your pre-course survey.
This week was a great week for implementing and reflecting on all of the new tools that we have learned how to use, as well as all the learning and steps taken towards crafting our online assessments.
I was able to learn about pre-course surveys, and there usefulness in retrieving information about the students enrolled in a given class. I feel that the online tools for creating surveys are free and easy to use. Websites like survey monkey can make it easy for teachers to learn how to best accommodate there students, and key information can inform the instruction for the class.
While the pre=survey was a great learning experience that I am excited to implement, I was more excited this week by the articles read. It was interesting to read.... and ..... because they prompted me to reflect on all of the pieces of the online assessment class. The articles explored concepts such as formative assessment, rubrics, feedback strategies and constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. After reading the articles I posted my thoughts on the message board with my peers. The post most representative of my learning this week is as follows:
The relationship between Constructivist Learning, Rubrics & Feedback- Both articles read discussed feedback as an important part of online assessment. The Petersen article focused on feedback as a device for coaching students by giving feedback relative to performance on formative assessments. However the Koohang, Riley and Smith article explored something that captured my attention. As an art and design teacher, I was very interested in reading how constructivist activities, rubrics and feedback work together. I admit that I have implemented a lot of constructivist activities without having analytic rubrics. However, I can see now how helpful rubrics can be in helping students understand the expectations of the teacher. Furthermore, I can appreciate that rubrics help guide the teacher in giving specific feedback. This class and this article have inspired me to create more analytic rubrics for objectives that require more detail and holistic rubrics for e-portfolios that require holistic feedback.
In all, the articles have been very helpful in exploring how the many assessment techniques work together to ensure the most clarity in online assessment and curriculum planning. I cannot wait to put it all together in my final project. Look for it soon in the ARTifacts page.
This week was a great week for implementing and reflecting on all of the new tools that we have learned how to use, as well as all the learning and steps taken towards crafting our online assessments.
I was able to learn about pre-course surveys, and there usefulness in retrieving information about the students enrolled in a given class. I feel that the online tools for creating surveys are free and easy to use. Websites like survey monkey can make it easy for teachers to learn how to best accommodate there students, and key information can inform the instruction for the class.
While the pre=survey was a great learning experience that I am excited to implement, I was more excited this week by the articles read. It was interesting to read.... and ..... because they prompted me to reflect on all of the pieces of the online assessment class. The articles explored concepts such as formative assessment, rubrics, feedback strategies and constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. After reading the articles I posted my thoughts on the message board with my peers. The post most representative of my learning this week is as follows:
The relationship between Constructivist Learning, Rubrics & Feedback- Both articles read discussed feedback as an important part of online assessment. The Petersen article focused on feedback as a device for coaching students by giving feedback relative to performance on formative assessments. However the Koohang, Riley and Smith article explored something that captured my attention. As an art and design teacher, I was very interested in reading how constructivist activities, rubrics and feedback work together. I admit that I have implemented a lot of constructivist activities without having analytic rubrics. However, I can see now how helpful rubrics can be in helping students understand the expectations of the teacher. Furthermore, I can appreciate that rubrics help guide the teacher in giving specific feedback. This class and this article have inspired me to create more analytic rubrics for objectives that require more detail and holistic rubrics for e-portfolios that require holistic feedback.
In all, the articles have been very helpful in exploring how the many assessment techniques work together to ensure the most clarity in online assessment and curriculum planning. I cannot wait to put it all together in my final project. Look for it soon in the ARTifacts page.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
WEEK: five
This week led me to some key realizations:
1. Using blooms taxonomy (verbs) can guide the planning of higher level thinking in activities. In the following video Jerry and friends illustrate some of the verbs related to blooms taxonomy.
2. Developing rubrics can guide teachers planning and inform students of expectations. In the following clip, Grover finds himself at the mercy of unclear objectives. This illustrates the frustration that can occur when students are not sure of what the educator expects.
3. Rubrics can help guide feedback and can be an important formative assessment for online learning. Below are some resources that help to explain formative assessment.
1. Using blooms taxonomy (verbs) can guide the planning of higher level thinking in activities. In the following video Jerry and friends illustrate some of the verbs related to blooms taxonomy.
2. Developing rubrics can guide teachers planning and inform students of expectations. In the following clip, Grover finds himself at the mercy of unclear objectives. This illustrates the frustration that can occur when students are not sure of what the educator expects.
3. Rubrics can help guide feedback and can be an important formative assessment for online learning. Below are some resources that help to explain formative assessment.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
WEEK:four
Team Fozzie Online Assessment Tool Box
Our group was able to explore several tools for online assessment. The tools are varied with unique benefits, challenges and application possibilities. We now have a tool box that equips us with a variety of tools. Each tool has been broken down to determine what type of activity it would best assess. We now know that survey monkey can be used for quizzing, blogger can be used for students to reflect, Vyew can help with collaborative work and Audacity can be used in making online discussions more personal. In the end, we all feel slightly more equipped to appropriately choose online tools for activities and, are more prepared to purposefully use these tools to aide students in their online learning.
Click to see the WEEBLY that we created in order to share all the great tools that we researched.
MORE TOOLS THAT WHERE DISCUSSED
Additionally, other teams produced toolboxes and shared their research with the class. This was extremely beneficial and allowed me to learn about online tools exponentially. Many tools were discussed this week. However, I have found that for sanity sake, I must focus only on technologies that I believe will work best in my classroom, and forget the ones I will not use. Some of the tools shared by my peers that I would try in my classroom are as follows:
Our group was able to explore several tools for online assessment. The tools are varied with unique benefits, challenges and application possibilities. We now have a tool box that equips us with a variety of tools. Each tool has been broken down to determine what type of activity it would best assess. We now know that survey monkey can be used for quizzing, blogger can be used for students to reflect, Vyew can help with collaborative work and Audacity can be used in making online discussions more personal. In the end, we all feel slightly more equipped to appropriately choose online tools for activities and, are more prepared to purposefully use these tools to aide students in their online learning.
Click to see the WEEBLY that we created in order to share all the great tools that we researched.
MORE TOOLS THAT WHERE DISCUSSED
Additionally, other teams produced toolboxes and shared their research with the class. This was extremely beneficial and allowed me to learn about online tools exponentially. Many tools were discussed this week. However, I have found that for sanity sake, I must focus only on technologies that I believe will work best in my classroom, and forget the ones I will not use. Some of the tools shared by my peers that I would try in my classroom are as follows:
- Google forms for surveys & quizzes
Helpful Links
The following link takes a close look at how the information is translated onto the spreadsheet and shows an example of a substantive written question/response.
In the following link you will find helpful information (slides 15-20) and information about the use of a grading application listed in the drop-down window under “gadgets.” When activated, this application provides a comprehensive grading feature to be used along with Google Form (slide #12).
Google Forms Home Page: http://www.google.com/drive/apps.html?usp=ad_search&gclid=COb74t_Hsb0CFVKDfgodk0AAAQ
At this site, you will find Google Docs, and as you scroll down you will locate Google Forms listed with a green icon to the left of the heading, “Forms” click on “Create” and experiment with your new form.
- Mural.ly for online collaborative brainstorming & presentations
Helpful Links
- Blogger for reflection & portfolio & teaching
Helpful Links
- EyeJot for Video Messages
Helpful Links
- Weebly for website or blog or presentation
Helpful Links
Monday, March 24, 2014
WEEK: three (continued)
The perfect storm... too much or a dream come true?
If we learned anything from reading and discussing "30 emerging technologies for e-learning." — Bonk, Curtis. (2004) it is that the possibilities for online assessment are expansive and in a constant state of flux. For some, this can be overwhelming while others may find this to be an assessment paradise of never ending possibilities. Our group discussed this perfect storm of technologic possibilities in assessment. Our discussions led us to a realization that while we may have the confidence to go where no educator has ever gone before that we must be careful not to overwhelm educators and students with technology, and we must be evermore careful to use technologies appropriately.
Objectives should inform the choice in media
Useing technologies in online assessment takes careful planning. It is all too easy for educators to get excited about technology and completely disregard what they wanted students to accomplish to begin with. Moreover, reading some articles and checking out some websites such as THIS HOW TO WRITE OBJECTIVES helped us consider how to choose an online assessmnent more appropriately. Technologies should be chosen based on their abilities to aid the students in their achievement in the pursuit of learning objectives that are carefully created with the end result in mind. Other helpful links where SMART OBJECTIVES, and WHERE DO I STAND.
If we learned anything from reading and discussing "30 emerging technologies for e-learning." — Bonk, Curtis. (2004) it is that the possibilities for online assessment are expansive and in a constant state of flux. For some, this can be overwhelming while others may find this to be an assessment paradise of never ending possibilities. Our group discussed this perfect storm of technologic possibilities in assessment. Our discussions led us to a realization that while we may have the confidence to go where no educator has ever gone before that we must be careful not to overwhelm educators and students with technology, and we must be evermore careful to use technologies appropriately.
Objectives should inform the choice in media
Useing technologies in online assessment takes careful planning. It is all too easy for educators to get excited about technology and completely disregard what they wanted students to accomplish to begin with. Moreover, reading some articles and checking out some websites such as THIS HOW TO WRITE OBJECTIVES helped us consider how to choose an online assessmnent more appropriately. Technologies should be chosen based on their abilities to aid the students in their achievement in the pursuit of learning objectives that are carefully created with the end result in mind. Other helpful links where SMART OBJECTIVES, and WHERE DO I STAND.
Monday, March 17, 2014
WEEK: three
Team Fozzie Bear was born and we set forth to practice our collaborative learning skills. We challenged ourselves in discussions concerning online assessment techniques and online collaboration tools. It was difficult at first to work with people in different time zones and with different (all very busy) schedules. We needed to get very organized and decide what was the best way to contact each other and figure out how each persons unique skills and schedule could help or hinder the collaborative process. We quickly chose a leader and determined how we would communicate together. We chose/assigned tasks for each group member, and used discussion forums to share our learning. I imagine if I was to use online group learning I may use blogger, Google Docs, Google Hang Outs and Google plus to help my high school students be successful in their quest for knowledge.
It isn't that Google is the only online tools to use... but I find it so much easier if everyone is using similar tools in the group and if all of the tools are centrally located. A Google account and all its many tools are free and easy to obtain.
I would ask/teach students how to use Google's free tools for communicating via emails, live chat and video chat, and I would show student how to collaborate on document/presentation in live time with the option to live chat at the same time.
There are many great tools out there and I am learning as I go, but Google tools are by far the most convenient free tools that I have found so far, and they are great for collaborating in multiple modalities in real time or otherwise.
However, the group decided to use Weebly. I have never used this, but I am looking forward to trying it out and I will be discussing this next week after getting some experience with it.
Friday, March 14, 2014
WEEK: two
This week I read about the uses and benefits of blogs in education. I created a blog for this class in an attempt to catalog artifacts, reflect on learning and share new knowledge concerning online assessment. The readings led me to several realizations on how blogs can be used in the classroom, and I have made a choice to implement blogs in a few new ways.
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