Assessment Toolbox

I spent so much time and effort on my group project this week that I completely missed the discussion board postings of problems. When I did go into the discussion board I discovered several of the teams were using the space for discussions about their projects. Reading those postings made me feel like a peeping Tom but I learned about tinyurls, and the code with which to load the Our Story widget to a wiki, and that it would be possible to create a video paper in which one would look at a short video clip of each product in the toolbox. I also saw and was very jealous of the site set up by Stags for his group.

Our group was wonderful, working as a team, and everyone trying to do their fair share and more. There were supportive comments and helpful suggestions at every turn. We discussed things and made decisions as a team. It was a wonderful experience.

We communicated via UWStout email and home email. We used a Google.docs site for our discussion as well the Learn@ UW chat room for synchronized communication. A team member posted our completed portions in a pdf file on her school site. It was easy to use google.docs except when I wasn't granted editing access for two days. A team member added my home email address to the group members list and that seemed to fix the problem. Within google.docs we were able to post our sections, then make corrections, or suggestions when proofreading. Those could be highlighted or written in a different color, making them very easy to see.

Our group chose to write about Adobe Acrobat Connect and wiki for peer-to-peer collaboration tools, ePals as a blog/reflective tool, and 1st Class Grades for the course-tracking tool. Each piece was well-researched and good reports were generated.

This was a way to get to know classmates and I really enjoyed that aspect of the collaboration. Of course, the experience was positive because, other than the member who was almost completely absent because of vacation, the rest of the group's level of commitment to the project was at the same level as mine. That made for a compatible group.

I wish a group project had been assigned earlier in the class. That might have alleviated some of the feelings of isolation. I'm thinking along the lines of a group project as an introduction. There would have to be tools chosen, like a blog spot, and the basics of managing the blog would be taught. Then, people would be assigned to a group, either 3 or 4 members per group. They would interview each other and then each would post an introduction for someone in the group.

After looking at the projects completed by each group I am greedily wishing for one great big toolbox that would include all the reviews. Right now that would seem like Christmas!

Concept Map-The IEP Process

IEP Process
Holly J

I would use this in an intro to special education class. I’d use the jigsaw method, breaking the students into groups of three, each person responsible for educating the rest of the group and adding their portion to the blog that would be used as an assessment tool.

Module 3: The Perfect E-Storm

Module 3: The Perfect E-storm

I found the ideas presented in the Bonk (2004) article, The Perfect E-Storm, to be thought provoking. The contributing aspects of the E-storm were identified as emerging technology, enormous learner demand, enhanced and erased pedagogy. Bonk’s discussion of the emerging technologies caused me some consternation. I want to become an online educator but I am not someone who is on the cutting edge of technology. I am having enough trouble learning technology that is years old, so Bonk’s article caused me to question my ability to keep current enough to be an effective teacher.

Then, I got to the resources area of Bonk’s (2004) article. This section got me very excited and I was especially thrilled to find the particular area that identified resources available for college level instructors. This section caused the article to rise from mildly interesting to a Wow! level.

Ledlow’s (1996) article on Using Jigsaw in the College Classroom gave a name to a technique I’ve seen used on numerous occasions with a variety of success levels. I also liked the way the article formalized the aspects of the technique, taking a lot of startup issues out of the learning curve. I thought this article will prove to be one of the most valuable to me in teaching adult learners.

The McLinden and Trochim article, From Puzzles to Problems,: Assessing the Value of Education in a Business Context with Concept Mapping and Pattern Matching (1998) was a window through which we need to start viewing the world. As educators, we like to pretend we are above having to address the value of education in monetary terms. However, that value is a huge selling point that I think we need to start to address in our efforts to persuade students to remain in school as well as selling the public on providing the monetary support necessary to provide a quality education.

On the discussion board many of my peers in this class were wondering about the value of the concept mapping activity. I think, many of the people in this group are a cut above the run-of-the-mill teacher. This group seems to have many people who are cutting-edge, technology people for their districts, as well as others like me who aren’t bound hand-and-foot to the teachers’ editions. We are so used to assessing the students’ needs and what they need to get there from here that we forget that mind/concept mapping is a learned skill. Many of us in the class also tend to forget how many people in the class are not educators but business people for whom this concept mapping will prove to be a valuable technique.

I think it’s odd that in a class that meets solely online we are able to pick out people with whom we want to interact. This is the second class I’ve taken with many people in this group and I have to say this is not a particularly warm and fuzzy group. I wonder about that. I wonder if it’s just the dynamic of the particular members of this group or if something more could have been done to build the community. If more could have been done to build the community, I wonder what it is.