First would be my own assessment of ease of use of the application, navigation, time input and final output evaluation. Second would be how well does the tool fit with the objectives of the course and course subject. In addition, lastly would be from the students perspective (end user), how assessable is the tool, ease of understanding the functions, navigation and overall learning curve to use the tool, the built in flexibility and knowledge needed to grasp and understand the flow of material, objectives and output directions.
Do you feel that the authors of the learning tools primary design objectives should be to give to give both instructor and student flexibility and customization as their primary goals to meet the diversity in classroom education today?
Thank you.
Kelly Carrington
Agnes,
You make such a great point. I actually had this situation happen. My institution bought software that was easy to use for the student, easy to design an assessment for the instructor; but I could not get the results in a meaningful fashion. It was horrible. That is poor software.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The essential thing to consider when assessing the tools would be whether or not the technology helped provide meaningful feedback to the instructor.
Also, it needs to be determined what kinds of challenges were encountered during the assessment, and how it could be improved.
Finally, individual tools need to be used according to their function, and obviously, they serve different ones. Quizzes would be different from portfolios (content knowledge vs. growth).
Stacy,
What a great post. You are right, we should never use technology for technology's sake. Students should be able to do what they need to do and the instructor should be able to do what they need to do.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Hello. When I consider assessment tools, there are three variables that are significant. First, I want to be certain that it's a tool that is appropriate for what I need and that I can sufficiently utilize it in an effective way. Second, it has to be a tool that students can connect with. It shouldn't be difficult for them to use or understand. That could impede their learning. Finally, I want to ensure that it actually promotes learning, development, and growth. Sometimes, technology is present just for the sake of having technology, but I want the tool to be meaningful and useful.
Terry,
Great post. All of these important and you are the center of it all! It is a challenge.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
A few elements to consider while engaging technology within your classroom includes the following:
1. Ensuring you use the right tools for the task. With this, I tend to create youtube videos for the students to further demonstrate how something should work to help ease their frustration.
2. Making sure all students can access and utilize these tools. Reviewing and/or providing other options is a plus!
3. The final consideration should be the platform students are working with. Will these tools work on all devices or do I need to come up with something different?
Joseph,
Students love the tools when used appropriately. It is up to use to continue to learn how to use the tools appropriately also. We owe it to the students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Kimberly,
You make such a great point! You are so right as instructors we become complacent when we teach the same course the same way. It doesn't matter if we are online or f2f. We need to practice life long learning and that means evolving our teaching.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I would agree with the response. The main concern I have always had as my school moved to online was the ease of the tools for the students.
My instructors and I have had positive feedback from students on how assessments tools have been used so far in the their program.
To me the biggest piece that an instructor needs to look at is usability and user friendliness. If a software tool is too advanced for the student population the instructor has then the students will not benefit from the instructor using it.
I feel many times instructors that have been in an online environment for a long time lose focus on what level their students are performing at. Just because an instructor has used a similar took for years and can find his/her way around easily does not mean a student new to online will be able to move around as easily.
Looking at a software from a student's point of view is essential in picking the right one.
Kim Christensen
Peter,
I agree with you. I had a tool that was easy for me to build and easy for the student to use but I couldn't get information to report from the technology. It was next to impossible. That is a problem!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Cynthia,
Your post really made me think. You really examined the use to technology as to assessment and you make great about structure and response. You are right, if students don't answer in a specific way, it may the question not the person answering it!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eyad,
This is a great strategy! We know through research the best way to be an effective online instructor is to be an online learner. It makes you empathetic to the student.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Audrey,
All of your choices are correct by timeliness of PROPER feedback. Its not just about getting info in, it is getting meaningful data out.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Dr. Wilkinson,
When looking for an assessment tool I believe this criteria should be met:
1. Can my students understand it?
2. Can I use it properly?
3. How difficult is it to grade?
Too often what is good for the instructor is not necessary good for the students. As their instructor will I look professional when I cannot operate the assessment of my choice? While online learning is designed to assist the assessment process just how difficult is it to load answers into tests or to grade short answer questions?
The three things I think are most important in online tool assessment are:
1) Variety - As the lesson stated, this is important to support various learning styles, in addition to multiple intelligences and the diverse mastery of different types of technology. When students are able to place value on their strengths, it can be easier to accurately evaluate challenges because there is a balance of positive and negative feedback.
2) Understanding - Students need to understand the purpose of the evaluations. We assume questions are structured well to get certain outcomes but personal preferences can be the motivation behind a student's answer resulting in an only inward-looking response. In these cases, students should be able to identify that answers are "personal preferences".
3) Realistic - In the lesson it states,
"Students should be asked to provide feedback on whether or not the technology assessment tools helped the instructor provide meaningful feedback and whether (sic) not the technology caused difficulty in the assessment process."
This seems to be unrealistic in the sense that, I personally do not think a student can assess tools from the standpoint of stating whether it helped the instructor provide feedback or caused difficulty to the assessment process, unless they have some experience with assessment. However, they can measure how much they felt the assessment tool help their process.
Dr. Vessel
I try to always view the question from a students aspect not an instructors because it gives me an honest but realistic view to the cause and effect to the situation that technology assessment tools help me when teaching an online class. The first thing to consider is how will the outcome of learning be achieved using technology assessment tools from a virtual classroom. Second do the students know what is expected of them when they are being assessed for let's say a group project. Third what perimeters are being used in collecting data to properly grade and determine what the student used as a visual learner would use when taking an online class.
Dr. Christopher,
Wow, what a post! there are so many variables to "control" when it comes to the technology. You really can't control the device your students have so you have to think about multiplatform. I like to think we use technology that is "platform agnostic". You don't want the technology to be the barrier to learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
When assessing the use of technology assessment tools in an online learning environment, the three most important things to consider are:
1) function;
2) accessibility;
3) timely proper feedback
