Blended assessments of learning

Wow! 
Listening to the webinar this week and there are some great tips in here. For anyone involved in designing assessments this one is worth watching. Answers to questions about preventing cheating, designing multiple choice questions, using LMS settings and more. Watch the webinar to find out how Brad & Angelina can have a place in assessments :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDzPETEdoP0

The reading for this week highlights the importance of giving really clear instructions to learners, remembering that in a F2F environment there is the opportunity to ask clarifying questions. 

Online tests are often used as a quick and easy assessment, but a good online test will take time to set up: banks of questions, randomized questions, appropriate feedback, test questions in Google (students may do this) ...

We spend a lot of time talking about how to prevent our online students from cheating, so this was interesting to read:

"In the design of effective assessments of learning, Hoffman and Lowe (2011, January) note that the “focus must be on student learning, not student control.” Particularly when dealing with online assessment (e.g., the ubiquitous auto-scored multiple choice quiz tools within learning management systems) it is tempting to design a testing environment in which all variables are controlled and student responses do naught but reveal students’ mastery of course objectives. However, as Dietz-Uhler and Hurn (2011) note, “the evidence, although scant, suggests that academic dishonesty occurs frequently and equally in online and face-to-face courses” (p. 75). It is counter-productive to adopt an adversarial stance as we attempt to fence in students to prevent them from cheating (in any modality). Nevertheless, there are steps we can take to make online testing more effective. Many of these are applicable to face-to-face environments as well."

 I like the idea of the one-sentence summary:

"Students answer seven questions separately: “Who? Does What? To Whom (or What)? When? Where? How? And Why?” Then they put those answers together into one sentence."

Now to consider where I can use that.

Blended Interactions - necessary?

Along with my reading this week I have some questions to think about. The first is:

"Is there value in student-to-student and student-to-instructor interaction in all courses regardless of discipline?"

My immediate response is "yes, of course", but after more thought I'm less sure that it is always necessary and need to justify my response. There are many things I have learned in life through my own endeavours, mostly through reading. But how then do I determine whether or not I trust what I'm reading, where do I go if I need something explained. There are definitely times where I need contact with someone else, be that another student or an instructor. There are times when I need some external motivation and contact with other students or instructors can help.There are also times when I'm able to help out another student, and that too gives me a boost. 

As a student, I appreciate interaction with the "experts", the instructors, as that ensures I'm on the right track. As an instructor, I see that I fit well into the model of Concierge Learning ( a new term for me) - providing soft guidance, some traditional teaching but allowing (and expecting) learners to explore for themselves.

I also appreciate the opportunity to share with other learners as we journey together, yet independently, along a path. Sometimes we rub along together for a while, other times we just cross paths briefly, but each interaction adds something important to the experience.

The challenge now is to consider learner interaction in our not for credit course on wildlife rehabilitation. What's in it for them? What are the benefits of interactive activities? How will those link into the face to face workshops?

More work needed ... 

Another year, another MOOC.

This time its Blendkit 2015, aka Becoming a Blended Learning Designer. I'm hoping this will help me as I design courses at work, and also as I revamp the training program for our Wildcare volunteers. And of course, I'm running behind in this so trying to do a bit of catch up.

The first topic is "Understanding blended learning" and for me the key point in this chapter is here:

"Blended learning is not simply adding an online component to a face-to-face course. Technology in a course should be used wisely – to facilitate student learning. Technology should not be used just to show off technology. Excellent opportunities exist for teachers to make learning interactive, dynamic, and fun when used properly. The technology aspect of a lesson should be like a good baseball umpire – it (like the umpire) is good if it (he) goes unnoticed."

Too  many times I've seen a bunch of pdf documents uploaded to a Learning Management System and - bingo! - an online course. Over the last few years I've enjoyed exploring a variety of social tools (padlet, popplet, etc) and for me the challenge is to create a course with social interaction and online activity that complements the course content, not detracts from it.

Looking forward to learning more as the course progresses.