Hello All,
First being ease of use. Did the students talk about what they learned or how hard it was to use the app.
When assessing software, and online applications, the overall outcome can be the proof, but also what can be asked of both the student and the outcomes are, did the application allow for diversity in the learning environment and did it consider the creative problem solving approach, with built in flexibility of original thinking allowed. Also assessments needs to be performed as a scientific study if the results want to be considered accurate.
Thank you.
Kelly
Diana,
You make a great point. We forget the importance of FAQ and tutorials provided by the software for both the instructor and the student. Yes, you have to be able to extract data that will help you make assessment decisions.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
What I believe to be the three most important things to consider when assessing the use of technology assessment tools in an online learning environment are:
1. Ease of the tool for the student
2. FAQs on troubleshooting problems
3. Getting feedback from the student to make the necessary changes
Josh,
Great post. The user friendliness is so important for both the student and the instructor. I saw one technology tools that was great for the instructor to design the assessment, great for the students to take, but the data needed by the instructor was impossible to get. That is a problem with software!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Vimlarani,
What a great post! You are right you must match the assessment wit the outcomes. The results must be able to measure the outcome. A variety of assessments will give students opportunity to show what they know and/or can do in different ways.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Three things that I think are important to consider would be:
1. User-friendliness. If all the time is spent trying to figure out how to use the tool, then it won't be very helpful for anyone.
2. Challenging. But I don't think that the assessments should just be a cake walk. I think it is important to give the students something that will push them.
3. Engaging. I think different learning styles should be considered to provide the most effective experience to students.
Use assessments that align to learning outcomes and work well in an online environment. Using a variety of assessment techniques throughout the course provides instructors with the best picture of their students' learning. While there is no rule about what works best, and different subject matters call for different types of assessments, the following are some generalized methods that work well in an online environment.
• Performance assessments: students develop a product such as a blog or wiki
• Authentic assessments: students complete work under the same conditions that they would in the real world
• Portfolio assessments: students demonstrate progress over time by showcasing artifacts and reflecting on their learning
• Computer generated and scored tests and quizzes: allow for banks of questions, randomization and, in some cases, instant feedback
• Learning outcomes are directly related to assessment strategies: Identification: (post photographs, complete quiz); Describe (write essay, create graph); Analyze (write a lab report, relate a theory to a real world scenario); Create (write programming code, build a model); synthesize (create a blog or wiki, complete a research paper).
Learning objectives, selection of tools, and timely grading and feeback are key to using tools for developing online assessments.
Sarah,
You make great points. I don't think you can underestimate the availability of support. You also make a great point about using student time wisely. If there are barriers learning is not accomplished and time is wasted.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Three important things to consider are the comfort level of the students, the goal to be accomplished, and the availability of support. If students are uncomfortable or do not have support, learning will not occur. Also, the technology must be suited to the purpose of the course so student time is being used wisely.
Roland,
What a great post. You are right and we haven't really talked about students devoting enough time to complete an exam. How many of us have students take an exam that we know will take an hour starting at 11:30 when the cut off is 12:00? Then they email the instructor saying there was a technology issue that would not let them finish. (I guess you picked up that this has happened to me). So many students haven't taken online exams and they can be very uncomfortable taking an online exam. I do provide practice quizzes so they can get used to the technology and testing.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
