Amelia Robinson

Online instructors face challenges from all sides in developing online learning. Students often wish to put in the minimum effort to pass the class, hoping to click through screens, take an exam, and be done. Instructors must make clear at enrollment that active participation is required, and that critical thinking and higher levels of learning will be accessed as success criteria. Other instructors often perceive, or act as if they perceive, online instructors as less than F2F instructors and see online learning as a form of entertainment, pandering for higher enrollments. Institutions often do not know the value of active… >>>

Active learning requires students to be responsible for their own learning, and instructors to be responsible for providing and facilitating the activities that enable that. Whether live or online, courses that provide active components such as discussion, group work and projects, and problem-based learning provide greater learning success. While the active learning component may be more time- and labor-intensive to design and develop, including discussion and collaboration, questing and wikis, and production of learning products, it also improves learning outcomes and student completion and retention. I am eager to incorporate more of this into my online courses, particularly effective discussion… >>>

The strength of Mixed Reality (MR) is in collaboration. Best practices for the use of MR include instructors immersing in their own content to be able to assist learners and challege them to consider other perspectives;  introducing new elements at a reasonable pace; and including well-designed experiences that focus on helpful mechanisms. Microsoft says MR lets anyone in the general public build their own virtual world, but only a few headsets are available for purchase, and technology requirements to use their application seem quite high level (for instance, 10 gig of free space, high RAM processing, and high-end graphics cards… >>>

The AR approach focuses on practical learning rather than cognitive learning and it is typically recommmended to present the concepts before its use. Best practices for using ar include focusing on emotional inter- and intrapersonal interaction and spatial intelligence; working the experience in line with the objectives; incorporating realistic imagery and situations; and incorporating user-based interactivity. It is currently used mostly in gaming and entertainment, along with retail and navigation applications.  It still seems a very expensive and development-intensive platform, considering many of its advantages can be achieved through the use of images and videos in a branched scenario that… >>>

When using VR in an educational setting, it is important to make the learner the protagonist, expand their worldview, and make the impossible possible. Several applications exist to use this technology, including Star Chart, public speaking, Quiver and anatomy. The author claims that it is already being widely used in education. However, Star Chart only delivers information based on a received image: Point your phone at a star and receive information about it. I don't understand how this qualifies as VR, as it is not immersing anyone in anything and is similar to a Google Image Search, which is free.… >>>

There are three types of "realities" available, including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Realit, (AR), and Mixed REality (MR), a blend of the first two. While these technologies can be immersive and engaging, several downsides are identified. First, while performance increases at the outset, the novelty may wear off and it is not clear that learning is actually enhanced. the technologies and development to produce AR, VR or MR can be expensive or altogether unavailable. Students are also susceptible to illness or injury from using these, and aside from this course, I have been told that they can create siezures in… >>>

Tehnology tools used for assessments may include online quizzes, virtual labs, digital portfolios, and web quests,  and track changes on essays ans assignments, among others. Technology tools can simplify assessments and enable question pools for randomized questions and unique tests each time, as well as being capable of deployment at any place and time and being automatically graded The downfalls include  the quality of the technology affecting the assessment, the time-consuming nature of developing test banks and the need to word questions very carefully. Evaluating technologies for use in assessments should include whether students received effective feedback and found the… >>>

VAlue added assement can be used to indicate a student's progress in the learning rather than a percentage of the content they have mastered. Value-added assessments can be used with special needs learners, who are not expected to master a percentage of content to be successful. Value added assessment can be diagnostic and can provide fair comparison and accountability.

Assessments must be reliable, providing the same results each time they are administered, and valid, meaning they clearly and accurately test what was taught. Objective assessments are typically multiple choice, true/false or another form of short answer, to which there is only one correct answer. Subjective assessments allow students to expound on the knowledge they have gained and are graded by use of a rubric, which is distributed to students before the assessment to guide their response and make clear how they will be assessed. Assessments should be criterion-referenced to ensure they test the objectives and the correct level of… >>>

Assessment aligned with objectives and outcomes is used both to gauge student success and to evaluate the course for effectiveness and completeness. It measures both student and instructor success. Assessment may be formative, conducted while the course progresses, or summative, taking place at the end of the course. In addition to standard quizzess, reports and projects, formative assessments may be conducted using quizzes, the 1-2-3, or muddiest point methods. Summative assessment is typically a final exam and can be used to determine re-design needs for the course as well as proving student success. Assessment must always be aligned with objectives… >>>