This first week the conversations in the discussion area largely focused on wikis as assessment tools. I didn't understand it at first, but I think I have a clearer picture of it now. Assessment is not a synonym for evaluation, as I first understood it, but is part of the evaluation process. I can use the products uploaded to the wiki to assess student understanding as a part of the overall evaluation of their learning. Tools such as checklists or rubrics are still needed for the final evaluation, but the wiki helps both me and students see how they are processing the information/concepts. The things I want to keep in mind in using this tool is a) I need to keep it simple - I don't want to have to spend much time teaching the students how to use the tool and b) it has to not be too time-consuming for the students (a regular complaint about anything outside of the lecture/test format, but a valid consideration for many of my students who have full-time jobs and a full course load).
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On Monday I will be beginning the course on Assessment. This is an area I have a lot of interest in and am really looking forward to. I've been doing some preliminary work -- reading the syllabus, looking over rubrics, reading the instructor's bio (busy lady!!) -- and am ready to begin.
I see that some of my classmates from the first course will be joining me. It will be fun to work with them again, as well as the rest of my new classmates. My only quandary at this point it how best to spend my education dollars: I have a strong desire to pursue a doctoral degree. Do I continue with this certificate (which probably won't transfer into another program) or do I switch to a different program to earn the doctorate? Do I have the basic requirements for a doctorate such as working in the field for x number of years, etc.? I've been in the classroom, but not online. So many questions... but for this moment, I am continuing on this route and am looking forward to this course. This week we started working on our e-portfolio.
About 5, maybe 7 years ago I created a digital portfolio. My principal at the time was very much into differentiated instruction and assessment, including for her teachers. We were required to create a portfolio, not just a resume. Being the computer teacher, I chose to do mine electronically. I was pleased with the outcome then, and now I find myself doing it again. I didn't really realize it was the same thing (my brain was going along the lines of a course summary, not a resume) until I saw one of my fellow students really create a resume-type portfolio. It included all the elements required for our end-of-course project, but it also had so much more. I was impressed. Very impressed. So much so that I plan to get mine as close to that level as I can. It will take some time and some tweaking... especially my resume, which has an old format. As for this portfolio, I think it really does showcase what I've been learning. I've thoroughly enjoyed the class, and have enjoyed working through each module even when it was frustrating. I plan on completing the certificate program, so more will be added to my little portfolio and a lot will be added to my brain. This week we made Custom Search Engines in Google. This was an interesting activity... like a blend of a directory (hand-picked and reviewed websites for a topic) and a keyword-based search engine. One of the features of the CSE is that you can add a website, and Google will automatically add sites linked to that website in the search. So not all sites are reviewed, but they are more hand-picked than just searching Google's basic index. I tried it a couple of times. The first time I literally tweaked it to death. After playing with settings and adding more sites, it finally just stopped giving me any results at all. Poor thing.... So then I created a new one and learned to leave well enough alone. It was working beautifully.
_ This week we participated in self-paced learning. What an experience! I learned that design is important, and assumptions need to be kept to a minimum. For example, some of the answers to challenges that really stumped me referred to things not spoken of in the lesson, but (I suppose) the author thought I either knew about or could figure out. For example, there was use of the link command, but one of the answers referred to another command not mentioned as a way to find the answer. I also agree with one of my colleagues in that the subject matter was confusing. The exercise set up this whole elaborate situation with everything linking back on itself and searches turning up conflicting information about what was legit and not. In real life, I would take the time to sort it all out if I had the interest to. I didn’t feel that I was supposed to do that in the exercise.
As for self-paced learning, it takes a lot of internal motivation to do it properly. One of the examples of it is reading a book when you need to know something. Even that is too much for some people (lol). I allow my classes (especially M115) to go self-paced, but they don’t end up being able to perform the skills taught once the exercise is complete. So was anything learned? Not really. So self-paced learning for skills training must be very repetitive with vocabulary repeated as well (what do you call what you just did?). Conceptual learning might be easier in a self-paced environment because I could set up situations/questions which require higher level thinking skills. _ This week I created quizzes and surveys. Mine were a bit tongue-in-cheek in content, but the content wasn’t important…the process of using the tools was. I need to start working on my instructor’s bio, as well. I thought I did a pretty good job with the quiz. There were a couple of elements I would tweak – better directions, more specific directions. I really like the options Moodle has for its questions. The bad part is that I can’t really use it without having it loaded on the server at school and I can’t see Bhavna going for that. I was more careful about directions on the survey. I just did an assessment survey, not a lesson one. The others wanted me to read several different things and then give an opinion on them… time consuming, but I’ll get to them.
_ This week we moved over to Moodle. We have created and moderated discussion boards, but so far (Wednesday) they’re pretty quiet. This week I was confused about what we were supposed to do because at first I thought it was a group activity, but I realized it wasn’t. I’m not sure the purpose of putting us into such small groups. I feel like I missed some information somewhere.
_ We did a lot of reading about building community and worked in the discussion area. The initial topic was a reading reaction. I wonder how this would work in a blended environment. Would students participate if there were no grades attached to it? Would there be any desire to create a community at all? Why did we do it? For an “excellent” on a rubric? Even in an online-only environment, do people participate in things they’re not assessed on?
_ This week was a lot of orientation, as I expected. Some of it was helpful, some just verified knowledge I already had. I think I’ve been online long enough to know how to post, but I understand why the material has to be given. It took me a while to figure out the navigation of the site and things like the checklist. Random exploration was very useful. I plan now on going back and setting up the profile and page, and try to load this into the locker.
As for the posting, I think I participated, but I feel my insecurities rising up again. I hope I come across as friendly and not an asshole. I also don’t want to be invisible. We’ll see… |
AuthorRuth Grayberg Archives
June 2012
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