Many students who have a need for social presence often times prefer to work alone rather than in a group where peers collaborate. Being able to express one’s personality in an online environment can be achieved if several elements exist such as the ability to carry on an internal dialogue, creating a sense of privacy, the ability to deal with emotional issues in textual form, and the ability to create a mental picture of the other participants in the learning community. Therefore, instructors should seek to ensure the development of connectedness and presence for members in the community (Palloff & Pratt, 2007).
Once students become a part of the online learning community, measures should be taken to assess the members within the group. Assessing learning cannot be achieved effectively if it is done in the manner it has been in the past. Siemens explains several methods for assessing distant learners. Students assessing students is a method that allows students to actively participate in the assessment process. Feedback from online learners allows fellow students to participate in open communities which are often achieved through list serves. Educators can assess based on student contributions that allow others to look at how many times each student logs on and participate in class through discussion boards, chats, or blackboards. The final method Siemens describes is assessing based on metrics/numerical grades from learning management systems through timed tests /quizzes (Siemens, 2008). It will be important for instructors to make sure the grading practices are fair and equitable. Students have different levels of skills and knowledge to bring to the learning environment. Level of performance on a given task(s), authentic participation in class discussions, and student growth should all be considered when assisting each participating in this type of learning environment.
References
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Siemens, G. (2008) The Future of Distance Education, Laureate Education, Inc.: Principles of Distance Learning Vodocast.
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You mentioned in the last part of your post about student growth being considered as part of the assessment. In the lower elementary grades we can see this growth however it is not considered a valuable tool in the "formal assessment" and assigning grades. All parents and administration seem to look at is that end product and not the journey it took to get there. What steps do you think can be taken to help validate the growth process as an integral part of the assessment?
ReplyDeleteIn our district we give assessments in the form of benchmarks (formal assessments for state standards) to students in grades 1-12 to see how much of the county's curricum has been mastered as it relates to state standards. These are given every 9 weeks and reviewed by teachers and administrators to see how the students are performing, but i think to see if changes need to be made in the content and the way we assess. We compare the students scores to other students in the district as well as other students within the school on that child's grade level. It gives us some idea of whether or not the students are progressing or regressing. Unfortunately, it seems that all we do is assess our children and prepare them for the assessment and specifically the content that will be covered. It isn't always a smooth transition because what the county outlines for us to teach doesn't always line up with the state's standards that are to be mastered by a particular time. Vanessa
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