I would ensure students know how to use blogs and understand the importance.
Andrea,
That would be the best way. It would also tell students what you expect!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Andrea,
That would be the best way. It would also tell students what you expect!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
To assess students use of blogging a tailored rubric system would work best. The rubric would measure how effective each students' use of blogging for a particular subject matter.
Helena,
I really like what you posted about looking at growth over time. That is the beauty of journals or blogs. Sometimes we get caught up with the individual entries but not looking at the all of the entries holistically. Thank you make a note of that!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Definitely would have a create a rubric to make the assessment worthwhile. The blog itself allows us to see the growth that has progressed in the work and writing. Also it’s important to explain the expectations and guidelines particularly pertaining to copyright errors that students may not be aware of.
Carla,
That is smart! Consistency is the name of the game to help students develop their learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Ruth,
yes, you need to look for factual information, that can be off the radar if the only we are looking for is writing! You need to set minimum standards to meet and remind students that minimum is at best a C.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kimberly,
Would you create a rubric to establish expectations? I would you give feedback?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When I grade using the rubric designated, I tend to use the same language that is contained in the rubric. I stress to my students to check their work against the rubric.
As an online instructor, the major thing that I would use to assess students' use of blogging is relevance of content. In other words, did they thoroughly and appropriately address the topic of discussion. Also, I would look for factual information, and how well they researched their topic. If there was a requirement of at least three postings with information from more than one source, then this would also be taken into account, when assessing students' use of blogging.
The quality of their communication would certainly be the first way I'd assess their usage of blogging.
Jane,
I think that is reasonable. Why would you use a blog rather than the discussion.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The discussion board assignments in my classroom are very similar to blogs.
I have a rubric I use to assess these already which includes points for content, engagement, critical thinking, language and presentation. Students also must meet a minimum number of posts.
I would use this same approach for a true blog.
Jeffrey,
A rubric is a great idea for grading a blog. you could look at a variety of things. You could also look at responses.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The best way to assess a student’s use of blogging is through a rubric. In developing the rubric I would need to consider both content and student posting. Some areas I might assess with regard to content include comprehension and analysis. With regard to posting, I would assess student writing skills as well as relevancy of any links used. I like the idea of a blog because it can show the ideas formed by the student as well as the student’s critical thinking on a particular subject. As an example, students could be asked to post weekly blog posts which could be evaluated as a significant part of their overall grade. The blog posts could be an evaluation or summarization of the current week’s chapter readings from the textbook.
Nathan,
I agree. A rubric would be the most effective way to assess the use of Blogs.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
A rubric could be developed to asses their engagement, relevancy to the topic and quality of information shared, spelling and grammar, number of responses to peers and instructors comments. If these element are tracked and measured positive outcomes should be found from the experience.
Phyllis,
You make a great point. I agree, you have to have some holistic assessment of the post.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jaclyn,
How do student perceive the exercise? I think your strategy is great!!!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
