Reflections

For the past two months my life has been consumed by UW Stout classes.  At times I wanted to pull my hair out and other times I just sat and cried.  I almost gave up.  Today, as  I review my accomplishments, I realize all the knowledge I would have missed if I did concede.  I sit here with a huge smile on my face admitting I am so pleased because I was persistent.  These classes taught me so much about online instruction, technology and myself.  There is no doubt in my mind that because of my success in these classes, I can learn just about anything that is thrown my way.  I feel accomplished, satisfied and content.  All is good! 

My final project has moved along….painfully but with great rewards.  My peers have been so patient and have enlightened me to so many new technologies!  I am forever grateful, I do not know if I would have made it through this class if they were not so willing to support and educate!  I am sure my project is going to need some “tweaking” but overall, even though the project was a challenge, the knowledge I gained was worth every painful moment!

I believe I am going to concentrate my final project on Group Dynamics.  I chose this course because it is a class I am familiar with and teach often.  Currently our program is not offered online, however, I am hoping in the near future that may be an option.  If this course becomes available online, I would like to have it ready for immediate instruction. 

One of the assessment activities I will utilize is the mapping tool.  This tool will be useful to me as an instructor and to my students for their group projects.  It will outline the course and break it down into categories.

Prior learning can play a factor in assessment planning, so I am thinking I should do some type of evaluation at the beginning of the class.  I am not sure what that will be yet.  Maybe I will have them introduce themselves and then have them portray their leadership skills and experience.  I will have them take a pre-course survey to establish their prior knowledge of group dynamics and their reasons for being in the class.

TAKE SURVEY

When  my students start their prep work for organizing their group project, I think the wiki would be a good central location that would be accessible for all the group participants. 

I utillize reflection in all of my classes now.  I think reflection is a good way for the students to step up and recognize what they have learned in the class and why it was important.   This may be an ongoing diary of what they are living and learning during this course.

There are so many tools that can be utilized for this program, I want to make sure I do the proper research and find the tools that will best suit the needs of my online students.

Let’s face it.  Sometimes students are dishonest.  We like to think the best of everyone but there is no denying it, sometimes students cheat.  In an online environment, how do we know who is taking the test?  How do we know who is behind that screen?  No matter what we do, we cannot say for sure that the person behind the screen is actually our student, however, as trained professionals, there are things we can do to try to prevent our students from cheating.  One way is through our assessment tools.  As an instructor, we should design our assessments to be unique, unexpected and based on material that most people would not know unless they participated in our specific class.  We should create many smaller assessment activities.  This in itself can help prevent cheating because it is hard for anyone to have someone there to help them for every assessment.  Start by having written assignments.  Get to know your student’s form of writing, how they learn best.  This will give you a heads up if their styles change.  Do progressive assignments.  If a paper is to be turned in at the end of the term, have them turn in several rough drafts at select times before the final paper is due.  Utilize several different assessment tools.  This keeps your students on their toes and keeps them interested.  It also gives you a leg up on who is doing what.

Sometimes students will utilize information off the web.  There are sites such as turnitin and plagiarism detection that can tell if the information was pulled off the web.  Best suggestion would be to have a quick tour of do’s and don’ts of internet usage.  Make sure your students realize they cannot just pull anything off the web, this information is copyrighted and they need to reference the material they are using.

According to researchers, Patricia Hyde, Berwyn Clayton and Robin Booth, few studies have been done on assessment in flexible or distance learning.  They suggest that the key to a successful flexible learning environment is assessment that is fair, reliable and valid.  The types of assessments used should be carefully evaluated and designed based on the course content, method of delivery and the qualifications of the students.  Formative assessment is generally the type of assessment utilized in online learning environments such as:  self-assessment and written activities.  Recognition of prior learning should also be considered a contributing factor for assessment.

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Assessment was the highlight of our discussion this week.  This assessment categorizes or places in order competency level with thinking skills in conjunction with course objectives.  1. Knowledge 2. Comprehension 3. Application 4. Analysis 5. Synthesis 6. Evaluation

During this module we had an assignment that Explored the Truth in Journalism.  This assignment was to utilize Bloom’s taxonomy to categorize course objectives for this journalism class created by Christine Casey.  Based on this case study, I have attached a copy of the taxonomy I thought would work for Ms. Casey’s class.

assessment-taxonomy-table2

Now, on a digital note…..a question was presented as to how this taxonomy would change if Ms. Casey’s class was online and as a higher level assignment. 

According to Andrew Churches, Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooming Digitally, higher order thinking skills changes the order of the categories.  Higher order thinking skills in a Bloom Taxonomy would show as: 1. Evaluation 2. Synthesis 3. Analysis 4. Application 5. Comprehension 6. Knowledge  This version of the taxonomy would (changing from lower order thinking skills to higher order thinking skills) also be represented by the use of verbs not nouns.

How would the assessments change for an online class.  Many of the assessments could stay the same such as the essays, the quizzes, the research and reflection.  Other changes could be made, instead of field trips to the movies, they could be watched online and then discussed in a forum.  If students were going to act as reporters, they could video their interviews and show them online as if they were actual newscasts.  If smaller group participation was needed, wikis could be designed for group projects.  By designing several smaller diverse assessments, online instructors have a greater opportunity to understand and assess each individual student. 

Collaboration is a joint effort, a group of people coming together to work as a team.  In order for this team to succeed, they must first decide as a whole what they are trying to accomplish.  What makes a group successful?  Setting guidlines, norms, perimeters, and designating specific jobs for each participant.  If your group has good communication you will almost always succeed. 

It was midterm this week.  Our assignment was to utilize the jigsaw method (a cooperative learning design) to report on assessment tools. We worked as  individuals then combined our research as a collaborative team.  Our group consisted of Margie, Mary, Dailia and Jan.  Based on the midterm assessment tool categories, I presented on Quiz & Test Builders, Margie on Reflection assessment, Dailia on Peer-to-Peer collaboration and Mary on Course Tracking tools.  Although we started a little slow (turning our chosen tools in a day late) we worked well together.  We went to the discussion board and decided on which tool each student would research.  My original thought was that we would correspond using the discussion board and email.  Mary suggested creating a document in Google Docs where we could each contribute and edit as our schedules permitted.  The plan was made and we actually all ended up ahead of our scheduled deadlines.  I found that Google Docs is a great tool to use when working together in a group.  The benefit was that there was only one document.  By each of us having access to the one document, we all had the availability to see how far along our partners were and it gave us insight into the overall progress of the group.  A copy of our midterm can be viewed by clicking the link below.

group-4-midterm 

This week has been quite a bit different than the last two weeks. The technology aspect of blogging is getting a little easier.  I am attempting to try some of the tools to change and create.  It has been a process but it is becoming less frustrating. 

Mapping is a concept that I understand. It is a tool I think can and will be useful for my students. I created a simple map that has the potential to be a useful tool for my Professional Communications classes. I am sure in the future, I will work with the Inspiration 8 mapping tool many times. I believe this tool will provide the students with a visual description of the goals and objectives of our classes. Please check out the link below for a sample of my map.

procommap1

This week has been a technological nightmare for me.  Learning about wiki’s, blogs, Diigo and Moodle.  I have ventured way beyond my comfort zone into a realm that I didn’t even realize existed.  This blog has been a challenge because I did not fully understand the concept of blogging.  The experience of creating a blog has been extremely benificial.  However, it was extremely time consuming trying to understand the process.  I think I have finally grasped the concept and I am ready to forge ahead.  Thanks for being patient with me and my technological challenges.  I will say that this website was my saving grace.  Check it out, it is an extremely helpful tool.  http://miketemple123.edublogs.org/v-tutorials/