Stacy,
A rubric is such a tool to use to be clear about expectations for students and give you a way to be more objective toward the assignment. It is a win-win for both.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Scott,
These are all great strategies. You just want to make sure you your assessment is tied to the goals of the course and isn't viewed as busy work to the student.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I have not required students to have a digital portfolio but I think I'd like to try this since there is so much writing in my business communication course. Is there a good resource I could consult to explore the topic? (Or will it be addressed later in EL 110, by any chance?)
I would probably have it as a blog and they would have standards, similar to a written assignment, that would have to be met. Many students like using blogs to share information on. I think this would be a great way for students to submit information.
Kara
Eileen,
One place you may want to look id padlet.com. It is similar to pinterest and you can lock it down or make it available to all. It is free. I used it this summer and my students really liked it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kara,
I agree it is a great tool. Would you consider using a rubric?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
This is a good question. I came to realize a long time ago that I must meet my students where they are, and for many students today, that is through the use of technology. Before my students use media, they get a rubric of how they will be graded. I make multiple rubrics (i.e. Facebook page, Pinterest page, video, Amnimoto, Prezi, etc.). I think that it is important that digital and media literacy initiatives move beyond “raising awareness†and move instead toward empowering students to make their own meaningful choices, critiques and content. Successful digital and media literacy initiatives must set goals beyond awareness-raising, and evaluate their success based upon clearly-defined criteria. Just my two pennies on the issue! :-)
Assessment always derives from the learning objectives so the first step really needs to be to determine what the learning objectives are for the assignment. Once you identify the learning objectives than you are ready to consider the best means of selecting an assessment method to use to measure if they are satisfied.
Options include tradition methods like true-false , multiple choice or essay questions to digital portfolios and learning journals. But the choice must provide an accurate and reliable means of measuring learning.
For example, if you want students to learn how to make a short film for posting on Youtube the first thing you need to do is determine what objectives you want them to cover in the film. Is it going to be an video introducing them? Or a video on some local historical site? Clear objectives are necessary. For this example lets assume the assignment is to do a 4-5 minute video on a local state historical site. Once this is decided then you develop your rubric to assess it. Basically it will be in two parts.
The first would be simple and objective. Was the video 4-5 minutes long? Was it a state historical site? What it a clear image and focused? Was the Audio easy to listen to?
Then you have the second part which is more subjective, was their narration good? Was it professional looking? Did they summarize the reason and history of the historical site well?
The key is to always remember that assessments are intended to measure learning and so they must be derived from the learning objectives.
Yes, a good rubric is key to the development of a good assessment as it ensures consistency in your evaluations.
Willie ,
You are so smart; you are ahead of many of us. You have to have an assessment plan along with your technology plan. You want the students to have a rich experience but still be successful in learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Thomas,
Your post is so good. With all the interesting, exciting things we can do with technology we have to remember why we are using it. You are right, we have to remember the use of the media sites need to have objectives defined and assess them.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Thomas,
I agree with you. It also lets students know your expectations for them.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hello Kelly,
When students use media hosting sites a rubric could be developed with the following items:
Relevancy: The media (photo, video, graphic, text) has to be relevant to the assignment prompts or questions and contributes to answering an aspect of the assignment by visual interpretation.
Content Focused: Is the content in-depth enough to provide a learning experience for fellow classmates
Introspection: Does the media hosting site provide a connection to provide self examination about views or progress in course and offer more self-reflective discussion from classmates
Phyllis Gooden, Ph. D.
Hello Christy,
You have provided a robust presentation of the many ways in which a website hosted assignment could be evaluated. You are correct on the aspect of “it depends.†Your points engage many of the learning skills and concepts that we hope that student obtain to meet the objectives of a course. Great post!
Phyllis Gooden, Ph.D.
Phyllis,
You are right, the rubric is a great tool to set student expectation and to develop grading strategies.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Phyllis,
It is important that you don't continue "adding" additional work but to determine the best assessment or tool for the learning and implement that tool.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Rubrics are a good way of assessing students' use of media hosting and sharing site. It allows to to grade objectively versus subjectively.
Cristy,
You are right. Students know what is expected of them and they need to be held consistently to the rubric.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I really like the idea of a digital portfolio and have started to think about how this could be incorporated into the classes I teach. As with many gradable assignments in a course, I think the use of a rubric would be important in assessing student performance. This allows the instructor to look at each student's submission objectively. I also think that an informal assessment can be done through discussions and one on one conversations with students to understand their knowledge and use of media sites.
Stephanie
Stephanie,
You are on the right track! You are so smart to think of how you are going to use and assess it. You need to make sure you have a plan as they will make you and your students more comfortable with the process.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
