I really appreciated how the module conveys the deep need for very detailed planning of rubrics. I have created a number of online courses and the rubric is a very involved tool to create but well worth the effort --- really important for the student to know what to expect for course outcomes and so on.

Rubrics can be a wonderful guide as to what is expected from a student. As a student I truly appreciated the rubric. Teachers know how to accurately provide feedback to their students by using the rubric. By using rubric scores to analyze it was noted that improvement was needed within the educational program in a study (Little, 2009). Rubrics, however, need careful thought to construct the most optimal one for a given class. Reference Little BB. (2009). The use of standards for peer review of online nursing courses: a pilot study. J Nurs Educ. 48(7):411-5.

I do like authentic assessments quite a bit, it is important in my own profession of law enforcement. Authentic assessment is a type of assessment in which students use their understanding of a subject to solve real world situations and problems. This is what law enforcement officers have to do every day, in my opinion.

If given the opportunity I would sue both types of testing in the classroom, but online it is not always quite so possible to do this. I have always leaned towards testing that puts the student into a situation like they would be faced with in the real world and then encourage them to research the topic fully and respond.

I saw a previous comment by an instructor about reflections journals, I think these are great tools for learning, after all, are we not interested in how the student can make sense out of what they are learning and put it to use?

While doing a bit of research on the topics I saw the following quote, what is your opinion about what the author said? "Assessing learning alone is not sufficient because the ultimate success of students is also dependent upon their motivation and commitment to learning."

I often use subjective assessment for my online students via written essay type answers. A study showed the value of subjective assessment used in anesthesiology residency e-leanrning ( Chu et. al, 2013). Reference Chu LF, Ngai LK, Young CA, Pearl RG, Macario A, Harrison TK. (2013). Preparing Interns for Anesthesiology Residency Training: Development and Assessment of the Successful Transition to Anesthesia Residency Training (START) E-Learning Curriculum. J Grad Med Educ. ;5(1):125-9. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-12-00121.1.

Because alternative assessment is conducible to online online, I try to use this with my students. Students being able to evaluate their work and benefit from the evaluation process is wonderful. Great Module!

Formative assessment is critical in online programs. I am aware of the need to be using such assessment to better understand my students' ongoing progress; thus I am able to modify lessons to improve from assessment results. The value of formative assessment programs are noted in randomized control trials (BMC Med Educ, 2014). Reference Palmer, E., & Devitt, P. (2014). The assessment of a structured online formative assessment
program: a randomised controlled trial. BMC Med Educ. 14:8.

Technology tools are very important for a solid online course. In my health science courses I use technology tools and references for online resources most appropriate for this population. Technology tools are very crucial for the success of online courses for medical students (Han, Nelson, & Wetter, 2014). 
Reference 
Han, H., Nelson, E., & Wetter, N. (2014). Medical students' online learning technology needs.
Clin Teach. 11(1):15-9.

While there are many sites with Digital Portfolio Abilities, many of them free. I feel it is extremely important to have a platform easy for your students to access and "play" with. The site chosen should also be user friendly to the instructor as well. The most important thing is that you have "played" with it enough and saved things to your portfolio so you can guide your students through it. I did a simple internet search and found over 20 sites for saving digital portfolios. These were free. For a fee, there were several more. How would you narrow this much information down? I think discussions with fellow instructors and others who have worked with these is a good start. In many schools they have established accounts with certain sites. Do yourself a favor and check with your Academic Dean first to see if there is some direction there. Who do you think is important to touch base with on this topic?

How do we properly weight an exam rubric used in the medical professional field? Using practical to practice from pretend patient to clinical.

How do we integrate the new tools with older students?

How do you as professor maintain a high level of engagement?

What are some good examples of diagnostic assessments for computer courses? I find people often overestimate their capabilities on questions and answers.

Has anyone used reflective journaling as an assessment of learning? I understand managing them could be time consuming, but could provide additional benefits such as writing improvement. Jacquie Porter

Does anyone have students who still continue to fight their grade despite a detailed organized rubric? For example I once had a student fight with me that they got a A-. I had marked them lower on the student participation area of the rubric. They were supposed to deliver a lesson plan and engage students in the process. Her response was that it was "ridiculous" that I would expect her to be responsible for other students being engaged in her presentation/lesson. Furthermore when it was her turn to listen to others and engage in their lesson plan she continued to chat with her friends and look at her laptop instead. If my students aren't engaged in my classroom online or face to face I take it that I need to revise my content/curriculum because they cannot learn if they are not engaged.

One thing I find that differs greatly among students is their technical skills. SOme people are very tech savvy, not afraid of learning new software & hardware while other students seem hesitant and need to have their hands held every step of the way. I find giving a diagnostic tool in the form of a technical survey helps me to use differentiating learning and engage all learners in an online environment helping each and every student to increase their technical skills at their own comfort level.

I've found that a good set of rubrics is to begin with the course objectives and each of the assignments. The flow should be course objectives to grading rubric to classroom student assignment. This way we can use this assessment to determine if students are getting out of the classroom what we expected them to and be able to circle back and improve the course curriculum. At the same time we can provide students with feedback to help them throughout the course.

I teach a Careers class where we build individual resumes etc. This is such a subjective area and sometimes it's difficult for me to use traditional grading methods. I find that using a Digital Portfolio works best for me.