Doug Otten

Authentic assessments has to do with the fact that most of out traditional testing only checks for memorization or knowledge on a specific question.  If we want to gain a true assessment of the students critical thnking process we need to understand their understanding of the process to get the end topic.  

Use of end based ideas in mind help us to create our instruction.   This helps us work from the end of our concept back to the begining so we know what the end knowledge will be.  We also found out that portfolios can be used to assess and display the students knowledge of the topic.

We must allow the students to digest the information and make sure that they understand the content.  We have to ensure we reach all different levels of learners and the way they conceptionalize the instruction.  Some are visual, some are auditory and some are hands on.

Dynamic instruction finds ways for instructors to use their talents and experience to reach learners of all abilities.  This is done through using technology in ways that students can understand and be interested in the topic that is presented.  There are many different things that can be used towards this goal such as blogs, wikis, and chats.

Reply to Kim Black's post:MRS.BLACK!!!!!!

We must find ways to make sure our students are engaged since online instruction is different than F2F.  Some may try to teach online in the way that they do in the classroom, this may not keep your class engaged.  We have to find ways to reach our students, intially that may be with a welcome letter that provides them insight into you as an instructor.  We have to catch they interest off the bat, just like in the classroom, but online provides us with a different set of circumstances that we must address.

As with regular F2F classroom standards, we must continually monitor the students interaction and ensure they are all involved.  We must evaluate our process of directing and guiding the class to ensure we are in charge as well as listening to our students on they receiving the content.

Asynch vs. Synch.......they each have a reason for use.  It is up to the instructor to identify which forum is better fo the content they wish to deliver.  Some of the criteria may be that Synch is required for daily F2F through video class online.  Where as a Asynch is an any time delivery method for the student to pick when they are available, but also requires the student to be more self paced.

We must ensure that, even though we are using technology, we use the appropriate tech.  We must ensutre that the tech is relivent, assessed, and that our audience is receiving it.

We as instructors, need to continually address how we evaluate students and how we "close the loop" with our instruction.  We need to look at different ways to evaluate such as peer evalutions, portfolios, etc.  We also need to use different ways to reach learners of all abilities.