Dawn,
There is nothing wrong with fun! Fun and learning can work together. I like your list!
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
One of the most important things to consider is whether the type of tool is going to allow measurement of the specific student learning outcome the course is designed to produce, and therefore the learning outcome the instructor trying to assess. For example, a written paper is a good assessment tool for evaluating a student's mastery of analysis. A verbal presentation is a good technology for evaluating student skills in persuasion.
A second important consideration is the functionality of the technology. The technology selected must be functional for the students involved, or alternatives must be provided. For example, online face to face chat technologies are useful for student presentations, but perhaps not functional for students who may be located in different time zones such that scheduled online presentations would occur at inconvenient times.
For such students, submission of recorded presentations would be a good alternative, and recording of the other students' presentations for later viewing would also be appropriate.
A third important consideration in selecting tools for assessment is the diversity of student learning styles. Some students may be more comfortable and successful with some types of technology used in connection with assessments than they are with other types of technology used in assessments. For example, students with significant ESL issues may be uncomfortable in live presentation assessments due to their language issues, but may be more comfortable with their written skills. Students with ESL issues may also be more comfortable with untimed assessments than with timed assessments. In addition, a variety of technologies used for different assessments can provide a better view of the overall learning outcomes of students. For example, having some timed assessments, as well as some untimed assessments, and having some essay type assessments as well as some multiple choice assessments would provide a more complete picture of student learning outcomes than using an individual assessment.
An additional important consideration in assessing the use of technology assessment tools in an online learning environment is the resource availability for providing meaningful feedback following the assessment. For example, students taking multiple choice assessments can receive instant feedback while economizing on resources. In contrast, using essay assessments or portfolio assessments requires more labor intensive feedback for students to benefit, and students who don't receive an appropriate level of feedback may be dissatisfied.
These are just some of the significant considerations in evaluating the use of different technology assessment tools in an online learning environment.
The three things would be:
1. do they have the technology aptitude for the course?
2. Do they have the actual technology available to them?
3. Are they disciplined enough to learn online?
I ask myself the following questions before implementing a new technology assessment tool:
1. Will the students learn?
2. Will they learn in a meaningful way?
3. Will they take the knowledge learned and apply it to the their future knowledge?
4. Will they have fun doing it? In other words will they be actively engaged?
Colette,
Great point. You want the assessment tool to be a good fit. You can't change the objectives to fit the assessment.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Tami,
You make great points. You want the technology to measure the outcomes you are assessing, not how well students use the technology. The technology cannot be a barrier as assessment is too important.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Terry,
You make great points. All are so important, I would also add easy for the instructor to use.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Weighing the pros and cons of each tool to prevent using the wrong tool would be important. Next, considering the connection between the assessment and course objectives would be important. Last, it would be important to consider the effectiveness of the tools.
Today's diverse adult learner needs to know that the work they are doing is meaningful and can be transferred to their work environment. At the same time, many of our older adult learners are not as familiar with technology as our younger adult learners. When assessing the use of technology assessment tools it is important to make sure the assessment is meaningful and really measures what it is designed to measure. Questions that are little more than direct recall of minute details do not provide meaningful learning to the adult learner. Technology based assessment tools must also have an ease of use. This means that using the tool must be easy or have a tutorial associated with it to demonstrate to the leaner how to use the tool. Finally, the assessment tool must provide meaningful feedback. There is nothing worse than completing an activity and never getting meaningful feedback that indicates areas of strength and weakness.
Certainly we have a wide array of technology tools from which to choose. It is important to consider:
1. Does the tools function fill the need.
2. Is the tool easy for the student to use.
3. Is the tool reliable, i.e., does it work.
Brian,
What a great post!!! You are right, the tool must be transparent to the student as you want to assess the content not how to use the technology. It isn't a bad thing to ask students their opinion about the technology in that type of environment.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Katrina,
Right, they have a lot riding on those assessments. You want the technology to almost be transparent to the learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Katrina,
I also find instructors learn enough technology to get started in teaching online but never continue learning and the technology never changes. What a shame when there are so much great technology to use and that is easy to learn.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Tomi,
The technology should match the assessment needed for the content. Technology should not drive assessment decisions.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Tomi,
User friendliness includes both student and instructor.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Katrina,
Great post. You are right. You have to be able to get students "up to speed" in using the technology.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Tomi,
I like your list. Do you think institutions should hold students to technology requirements to ensure they can use the different technology?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Jacqueline,
You are right! If we as instructors are going to use a tool to give students feedback, we better know it ourselves. With assessment tools, not knowing how to use a tools hurts everyone involved in learning.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The three most important characteristics to consider are the following:
1) Ease of use for the instructor. Students spend a lot of time preparing and executing the assessment, but instructors also spend a lot of time grading using the assessment tool. One could argue we spend as much time here as in all other aspects of facilitating the course combined. It is very important to have a comfortable, easy-to-use tool for the instructor.
2) Ease of use for the student. I have used several tools in the past that were great, but ineffective because students would not use them. One reason may be that the tool requires Java, which constantly needs to be updated. If students, say, cannot access the tool via their smartphone, then they just won't participate. It is important to have a tool that the student will utilize.
3) Effectiveness. The tool must be effective in meeting it's end goal of delivering a meaningful learning experience to the student. That varies based on the subject, and "effectiveness" can be a grey term, but most of the time students and facilitators know when something works and when it doesn't.
Best,
Brian Stout
I agree that there must be a mechanism to address student concerns and questions as students tend to get very sensitive when it comes to assessment.
