I agree completely. We, as insructors/teachers/facilitators need to be able to allow our students to express themselves in the best way possible. Sometimes that can be by giving them a wide berth for the format that they complete the assessment if. For example, one student may write a report while another draws a picture. We need to keep multiple intelligences in mind as we prepare things for our classes.
I was in one of my master level classes for secondary education and the entire instruction for a final project was take an event from the victorian era (real or ficticious) and develop it. We had so many different varieties of events/people/topics that everyone was allowed to learn in the best way for them. One person did an example of spiritulism, one did the life of a real prostitute that became famous, and one did an event of body snatching. All of these topics were prevalent in Victorian England. By allowing a wide assessment of the course we were all able to learn and present it in the way that worked best for us. Personally, I cannot wait to try this idea out...my only concern is how to adapt it for the online environment.
Amanda,
Thanks for your input. You bring up some good points. I liked that you noted assessments do take time, planning and keep up to date. Students should benefit from the assessment.
Nice job.
When assessing the use of technology assessment tools in an online learning environment many things are important to consider. However, I would have to say that three most important things are the ease of use; what you, the teacher are trying to evaluate; and, what the students acutally gain from the use of the tool.
Based on my teaching experience you can develop the best assignment you have ever made but then the assessment falls flat on its face because it doesn't assess what you want. Also, if you create a WebQuest assignment you have to go back before you give it to your students to make sure that all the links are still active. Therefore, the students will not learn what you want them to. Technology assessment tools are great to use and essential in today's environment of technology, technology, technology. However, they do take planning, assessing, and critizing before they even reach the student. Once the tools reach the student, you have to have the students analzye it to make sure that it is what you wanted.
Good point. Assessment really requires multiple tools to get a complete picture.
I agree that the tool should be easy to function.
Today our tools are changing quickly. As an instructor I must keep up technically with these changes and remain savy at using these tools.
Assessing is a skill requiring patience.
Therefore, choose numerous tools will be most beneficial because some students may express better in different mediums.
There are many important aspects to consider when assessing technology. I would say that the top three includes relativeness of use, functionality and level of interaction. Relativeness of use is directly correlated to how well the assessment tool works with the course materials. The use of technology assessment tools must also have easy functionality; this will ensure that both the instructor and student can use the tools in the appropriate manner. Given the online nature of the online environment and its often asynchronous communication methods, the ideal technology tool must also provide a way for students to communicate with each other, and for students to communicate with the instructor.
