The digital portfolio is becoming mandatory. Most employers are not interviewing people who do not have a digital portfolio.
In order to meet the course objectives, the use of media sites are another avenue to facilitate reaching the overall goals of the course. Students on these sites have the opportunity to display their work, written or otherwise, and get valuable feedback from other classmates which will hone and help shape their expression of ideas such that it evolves into a more polished result. Their ‘digital portfolios’ get constructed and form a basis for the professor to monitor progress and growth, and to help steer them back on to the path should they take a wrong turn.
I believe one would need to employ several methods of assessment to effectively assess students' use of media hosting and sharing sites. The key starts with clearly defining the expectations for participation and the level of professionalism in the communication of the student, otherwise there may be a tendency to use social media as they would in their personal lives. Then I would base the grading on a peer evaluation as well as how the participation met the learning objectives and the quality of the posts.
The use of digital portfolio would provide good evidence of learning. It is also an example of project based learning with proof of content.
HI
To assess the use of students' use of media hosting and sharing sites the instructor must first have in mind the connection between the course material and sites/media hosting. Simply having the students explore online is not necessarily educational. Effective use of journals that incorporate videos, images, student developed surveys and such can stimulate greater excitement on the part of the student and support the educational goals of the course. The students in this more open format will be receiving more critiques from students and developing a sense of community. Rubrics, summary write-ups and exams can all assess the use of these.
Jocelyn M. Dervis
cynthia,
Boy, your daughter has a jump start on her future! I think it teaches the decision making to determine what a student does well. Being self critical is a skill that all our students need.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
One of the methods to assess students’ use of media hosting and sharing sites is through the use of the digital portfolio. This is really the same ‘idea’ as a 3 ring binder with worksheets completed by 9 YO in her 4th grade classes! Regardless of the type of ‘documentation’ of work completed, this is useful for the student to use as a ‘resume’ so to speak and for the instruction to review progress. Resumes of the next generation will be more results based so this could be an electronic item to be provided during an interview process.
Christine,
Great point! You are right, students must be able to articulate why students would use or engage on certain sites.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The use of media sources are meant to be a supplement to the material being presented or learned. In assessing a student’s use of these materials, I would definitely have to evaluated whether what is being used is relevant to the topic as well as whether the student is providing a clear explanation as to it’s relevance and what it is demonstrating. The use of media sources show no relevance if the student can not explain their use and what they have learned from them in connection with the required course material. It would depend on the platform the media is being used in, i.e. discussion board, written assignment, project, etc., as to the appropriate method of assessment, but the premise is the same as to the goal of the assessment itself.
Shannon,
It makes students develop a critical eye of their own work. This is something we MUST work with our students as they came through the educational system always earning a trophy for "trying" This isn't so in the "real" world.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Harry,
That is one way to assess use of media. How would you assess that ?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hi All,
As we learned in the module - the method of evaluating really depends on the task and topics at hand.
I really like the idea of the portfolio as this could be something that the student retains for use in their employment search. Of course, that would be dependent on how professional the portfolio turned out to be.
Thanks, Shannon L. Baxa, MS, RHIA, PMP
Use a discussion board in a Q&A format to accurately students' understanding of material presented.
Joan,
Yes, I think when you look at Blooms Taxonomy and the different types of learning, digital portfolios can measure several of them.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Virginia,
I also think that digital portfolios can convey a wealth of information in terms of evaluating a students knowledge base and comprehension.
DIANA ,
True, I do think it is important to use all of the different assessment tools. "It depends" is so right!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
As stated in the lesson content, "it depends." I like the idea of providing students with a "multiple choice" or "true or false" quiz to see what the student has learned. Incorporating the 'digital portfolio' will help the instructor come up with a good assessment for each student.
Dennis,
You are right, not all the different majors have embraced project based learning ( I think they should) as it seems to be more authentic as well as student centered.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Faryl I agree and digital portfolios remind me of what many students in the past in design oriented majors such as fashion design, etc. had to accumulate all their class projects into a portfolio to present at the end of their program.
Rebecca,
I really like your thoughts! First, if this is media is to be assessed, what are the objectives for the assignment, for the course, for the learning and then build the assessment for the media around that. What do you want the student to demonstrate that should drive it.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
