The final week of the course has ended. If you haven't had the experience of online interaction, you might not believe it when I say I will miss the other students in the course. I do look forward to logging in to the discussion board to see what others thought about the readings, projects created, feedback on my thoughts and projects. The varied backgrounds of the other students provides multiple viewpoints.
This week we finalized our final projects and read a couple of articles on using discussion boards. One article titled, Benefits of An Online Discussion List in A Traditional Distance Education Course, by Bradshaw and Hinton (2004) made a couple of points that interested me. One is the idea of exposure versus transformation in learning situations. A second is "if the course content is meaningful within the student's particular social context and their cultural and value system, learning is more likely to occur."
Many years ago I taught grammar and punctuation to middle school students and adult learners. Students are exposed to grammar and punctuation starting in first grade, though for many the concepts never seem to click and stick - no transformation occurs. In my mind, the secret lays somewhere in the second concept listed above. There lacks meaning in their social context, culture, and/or value system. The issue is not exclusive to English. When I figure out how to redesign learning systems to address this, I'm sure you'll hear about it.
My classmates have developed interesting projects for this course. I hope they continue to update their blogs as they implement them. I would like to see their results.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Week 7 Reflections
Developing the draft of our final project this week was a perfect example of an assessment that can be used in an online course that fosters high-level critical thinking skills and creativity. It would be nearly impossible for a student to find anything that could be plagiarized.
I asked a question on the course discussion board about utilizing information from the midterm assessments completed by our classmates. This was not done to be a smarty-pants; I could see a reasonable argument for either side. The "do your own work" side keeps participants from selecting assessments already completed to save themselves some work - even if they may not be the most appropriate assessments for their course. Also, by doing your own research on the selected assessment tools, you may find some information or features that were not uncovered in the work done by your classmate.
The argument for the "collaborative" side is that sharing work already completed reduces the duplication of effort. Teachers are notorious for working in solitude and often spend hours redeveloping work that has already been done by others. Starting with work that has already been completed frees time for adapting for the new learning experience and expanding on the work that has already been started. As long as permission is asked and credit is given, using and expanding on the work of others is a reasonable, and even desirable, task.
It will be interesting to see the many approaches to this final project by my classmates. I'm sure each will have a component or strategy that will spark an idea for me.
I asked a question on the course discussion board about utilizing information from the midterm assessments completed by our classmates. This was not done to be a smarty-pants; I could see a reasonable argument for either side. The "do your own work" side keeps participants from selecting assessments already completed to save themselves some work - even if they may not be the most appropriate assessments for their course. Also, by doing your own research on the selected assessment tools, you may find some information or features that were not uncovered in the work done by your classmate.
The argument for the "collaborative" side is that sharing work already completed reduces the duplication of effort. Teachers are notorious for working in solitude and often spend hours redeveloping work that has already been done by others. Starting with work that has already been completed frees time for adapting for the new learning experience and expanding on the work that has already been started. As long as permission is asked and credit is given, using and expanding on the work of others is a reasonable, and even desirable, task.
It will be interesting to see the many approaches to this final project by my classmates. I'm sure each will have a component or strategy that will spark an idea for me.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Final Project Draft
The final project for Assessment in E-Learning is an in-depth analysis of how four assessment tools will be implemented in our online course. My final project draft is posted on my Google electronic porfolio as "Andrea's Final Project." All questions, comments, and revision suggestions are welcome.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Week 6 Reflections
This week's focus topics were cybercoaching, constructivism, and analyzing different course plans to clarify and identify components of effective learning.
As I was reading the article, "Cybercoaching: Rubrics, Metacognition, and Feedback, Oh My!" by Naomi Jeffrey Petersen, I studied the diagram of Chang and Petersen's Harmonic Feedback Loop with interest. In that diagram I could connect the process we use at WITC to develop and implement curriculum. The course design and stated objectives of the diagram parallel with our course outcome summaries and the teaching, learning, and assessment feedback loop represents what happens in the learning experiences designed by the instructors.
The Cybercoaching article contained many additional applications for implementing sound pedagogical practices online including personal feedback directly related to improving performance on the designated outcomes and using rubrics to facilitate learner independence and self evaluation. In my upcoming course, I want to pay particular attention to the coaching techniques regarding feedback to learners.
We also developed a pre-course survey to send to learners to gather information we can use to assess skills and knowledge learners have coming into the course. My survey focuses on technology and background in facilitating learning.
The final project draft is due next week. I want to get my learning objectives out on the practice post for feedback since they are in a format that is different than I'm used to. Looking at the objectives from a different perspective provides an opportunity to further clarify them - always a good practice.
As I was reading the article, "Cybercoaching: Rubrics, Metacognition, and Feedback, Oh My!" by Naomi Jeffrey Petersen, I studied the diagram of Chang and Petersen's Harmonic Feedback Loop with interest. In that diagram I could connect the process we use at WITC to develop and implement curriculum. The course design and stated objectives of the diagram parallel with our course outcome summaries and the teaching, learning, and assessment feedback loop represents what happens in the learning experiences designed by the instructors.
The Cybercoaching article contained many additional applications for implementing sound pedagogical practices online including personal feedback directly related to improving performance on the designated outcomes and using rubrics to facilitate learner independence and self evaluation. In my upcoming course, I want to pay particular attention to the coaching techniques regarding feedback to learners.
We also developed a pre-course survey to send to learners to gather information we can use to assess skills and knowledge learners have coming into the course. My survey focuses on technology and background in facilitating learning.
The final project draft is due next week. I want to get my learning objectives out on the practice post for feedback since they are in a format that is different than I'm used to. Looking at the objectives from a different perspective provides an opportunity to further clarify them - always a good practice.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Week 5 Reflections
The discussion board was on Bloom's Taxonomy was very interesting this week. Being able to interpret the level of an activity or assessment from a few sentences is not an easy task. At what age are learners able to work at the critical thinking levels? Are there different levels of critical thinking for different age groups?
I was recently introduced to a twist in Bloom's Taxonomy referred to as EASy - Evaluate, Analyze, and Synthesize - putting creating something new as the highest level of critical thinking. An article in APA Online titled Using the new Bloom's Taxonomy to Design Meaningful Learning Assessments explains the thinking that supports the shift.
The site on plagiarism was very informative. Though, as instructors if we move toward more authentic assessments that incorporate applied and personal experiences, the ability to plagiarize significantly decreases.
The activity of just considering how an activity meets or doesn't meet certain criteria for higher levels of a taxonomy is significant for our own practice. Are we asking learners to really dig into topics and discover, make connections, create something new? Then we will have created learning experiences that can't be copied from a book or the web, can't be memorized and forgotten.
I was recently introduced to a twist in Bloom's Taxonomy referred to as EASy - Evaluate, Analyze, and Synthesize - putting creating something new as the highest level of critical thinking. An article in APA Online titled Using the new Bloom's Taxonomy to Design Meaningful Learning Assessments explains the thinking that supports the shift.
The site on plagiarism was very informative. Though, as instructors if we move toward more authentic assessments that incorporate applied and personal experiences, the ability to plagiarize significantly decreases.
The activity of just considering how an activity meets or doesn't meet certain criteria for higher levels of a taxonomy is significant for our own practice. Are we asking learners to really dig into topics and discover, make connections, create something new? Then we will have created learning experiences that can't be copied from a book or the web, can't be memorized and forgotten.
Bloom's Taxonomy Assessment
One of this week's assignments was to review a unit and categorize the activities according to the level of Bloom's Taxonomy we thought it represented.
This task proved to be thought provoking and challenging. Assumptions had to be made about the details of the activities to categorize them. Not one student's taxonomy table was the same as another - some had similarities, but all had differences. This discussion board generated quite a bit of discussion.
Link to my taxonomy table.
This task proved to be thought provoking and challenging. Assumptions had to be made about the details of the activities to categorize them. Not one student's taxonomy table was the same as another - some had similarities, but all had differences. This discussion board generated quite a bit of discussion.
Link to my taxonomy table.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Week 4 Reflections
This week seemed a little odd. Because our team finished our project early, it almost felt like we had the week off. We had a great team that rolled with the contributions of each other - no duplicated efforts, strong focus, and a common vision of the goal. Our product, the toolbox posted below, is concise and informative. When you can get past the idea that testing is the ultimate assessment tool, you are presented with a wide variety of possibilities that are more robust and inform you of students' skills and knowledge in a much deeper way than tests ever could.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Assessment Toolbox
Our midterm assignment was a collaborative group project to develop an assessment toolbox. Our group's toolbox is posted on my ePortfolio Assessment in E-Learning page.
Our toolbox came together smoothly, with each member taking on tasks and responsibilities as they presented themselves. Our group - Matt, Jennie, Laurie, and I - worked well together by building on each other's work and completing our individual tasks in an efficient and timely manner.
Our toolbox came together smoothly, with each member taking on tasks and responsibilities as they presented themselves. Our group - Matt, Jennie, Laurie, and I - worked well together by building on each other's work and completing our individual tasks in an efficient and timely manner.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Week 3 Reflections
Curtis Bonk's article, "The Perfect E-Storm: emerging technology, enormous learner demand, enhanced pedagogy, and erased budgets" (2004) published by The Observatory on Higher Education generated quite a bit of discussion this week. The overall response to Bonk's list of 30 emerging technologies is a feeling of never being able to keep up. I guess you just start with something you think will help your students learn the content and see how it works. It could be easy to get caught up in the cool tools.
The electronic concept maps is one tool I can see a use for in my work. I've used concept mapping when I work with instructors to develop a new course using big paper and colored markers. Now I will have the option to use this strategy electronically. No more toting big rolls of paper around! I happened upon a list of 50 Uses for Inspiration on UW Stout's website. It might give a couple more ideas on how to use this tool.
The jigsaw midterm project should result in a useful list of tools for online teaching and learning. My teammates are go getters and I'm looking forward to working with them.
The electronic concept maps is one tool I can see a use for in my work. I've used concept mapping when I work with instructors to develop a new course using big paper and colored markers. Now I will have the option to use this strategy electronically. No more toting big rolls of paper around! I happened upon a list of 50 Uses for Inspiration on UW Stout's website. It might give a couple more ideas on how to use this tool.
The jigsaw midterm project should result in a useful list of tools for online teaching and learning. My teammates are go getters and I'm looking forward to working with them.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Concept Maps
This week's assignment was to write 2-5 learning objectives and incorporate them into a concept map for an online course. Putting the competencies in a concept map format provides a "big picture" image of the course and its components and their relationships.
I used Inspiration to develop my concept map for the course I teach online, Curriculum and Course Construction, a Wisconsin Technical College certification course. This format follows the Worldwide Instructional Design Software, WIDS, model utilized by the Wisconsin Technical College System. The learning objectives (called competencies in the WIDS model) I mapped include the following:
1. Examine performance based learning course design.
2. Develop competencies that describe intended learning outcomes.
3. Develop performance standards (criteria and conditions) for each competency.
4. Write learning objectives for your competencies.
As an assessment tool, having learners create concept maps can help instructors and learners determine whether they have captured the major points of a learning experience and detemine the relationships among them. It would be interesting to see the similarities and differences in individual concept maps at the end of a learning experience. What are students taking away from the experience?
I used Inspiration to develop my concept map for the course I teach online, Curriculum and Course Construction, a Wisconsin Technical College certification course. This format follows the Worldwide Instructional Design Software, WIDS, model utilized by the Wisconsin Technical College System. The learning objectives (called competencies in the WIDS model) I mapped include the following:
1. Examine performance based learning course design.
2. Develop competencies that describe intended learning outcomes.
3. Develop performance standards (criteria and conditions) for each competency.
4. Write learning objectives for your competencies.
As an assessment tool, having learners create concept maps can help instructors and learners determine whether they have captured the major points of a learning experience and detemine the relationships among them. It would be interesting to see the similarities and differences in individual concept maps at the end of a learning experience. What are students taking away from the experience?
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Week 2 Reflections
Creating this blog was a new endeavor for me. Looking each other's blogs created a sense of community for me - seeing the choices made shows a little more of our personalities, incorporating the good ideas you see in other blogs into your own... The trick, as mentioned in the discussion board, will be to somehow manage viewing the blogs of others. Having the wiki with everyone's blog link is a handy tool.
There were so many interesting topics in the discussion board this week regarding discussion board/blog posts: assessment parameters, timelines, orientation to posting, benefits and challenges. I am going to storyboard a learning object for Wisc-Online about creating robust discussion posts and responses. Any ideas about what should be included would be welcomed.
There were so many interesting topics in the discussion board this week regarding discussion board/blog posts: assessment parameters, timelines, orientation to posting, benefits and challenges. I am going to storyboard a learning object for Wisc-Online about creating robust discussion posts and responses. Any ideas about what should be included would be welcomed.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Welcome to my blog!
This blog has been started as an assignment for my Assessment in E-Learning course. Assessment is the backbone of education - it's where learning starts and ends and starts again. I'm looking forward to some quality time reflecting on it.
To begin the course, we found a partner, email interviewed each other and posted our introductions to the rest of the class. Here is the introduction of me posted by my partner, Suzan VanBeaver:
I am pleased to introduce Andrea Schullo.
Andrea has worked for the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) for the past 18 years where she currently works as a Curriculum Design Specialist and she also helps area high schools develop articulation agreements. She has been a Tech Prep Specialist, a Professional Development Specialist, an adjunct instructor in communications and human relations, and before life at WITC, she has had a smattering of other jobs.
Andrea has been married for 21 years and has a son and daughter, Greg and Sammi, both in high school. She spends lots of time at the kids’ activities (football, hockey, baseball, volleyball, singing, ballet, piano, and plays). Andrea has two dogs and two cats. She co-leads the high school Youth Group and she is on the figure skating board. She likes to hike, bike, ski, read, scrapbook, and work puzzles. In the future, Andrea would like to do more traveling - in the US and abroad. Whew…. Andrea notes she’s a strong J on the Meyers Briggs and a self-diagnosed recovering anal-retentive and says “I blame it all on my mother for toilet training me too young.”
Here’s something funny that happened to Andrea. The night before her daughter was born, her husband went out to put some wood in the outdoor house furnace. She heard a yell and ran down the stairs just in time to see her husband standing in the middle of the septic tank, which had collapsed around him. Warning to all septic tank owners, do not walk on top of your tank!
What is special about Andrea besides her organizational skills is that she loves to learn and people continue to entertain and fascinate her. Thoughts about online learning and teaching: Andrea has been involved in online learning for the past ten years and has a rich background in developing and teaching online courses. Andrea loves online learning because 1) the time factor - she can sit in her big comfy chair with a snack and her dogs; 2) she finds tech tools very cool; and 3) location, location, location. Andrea says online learning forces one to think about how to assess differently. She states trying to fit the old-paradigm assessment practices into new-paradigm learning venues might not be the easiest fit. Andrea is a highly knowledgeable and skilled person and you will hear more from her soon!
Ineractive Inventory Reaction:
When learning and assessment activities are designed for teachers and learners to work together toward mastery of established outcomes, it looks very different from teacher presenting and learners trying to guess how they will be evaluated. I agreed with the statements in this activity except for one: Assessment is used to monitor learning. The snag might be in the word monitor. If an assessment determines where a learner is proficient and where additional work is needed, is that not monitoring? I would say this is one of the primary tasks of assessment.
To begin the course, we found a partner, email interviewed each other and posted our introductions to the rest of the class. Here is the introduction of me posted by my partner, Suzan VanBeaver:
I am pleased to introduce Andrea Schullo.
Andrea has worked for the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) for the past 18 years where she currently works as a Curriculum Design Specialist and she also helps area high schools develop articulation agreements. She has been a Tech Prep Specialist, a Professional Development Specialist, an adjunct instructor in communications and human relations, and before life at WITC, she has had a smattering of other jobs.
Andrea has been married for 21 years and has a son and daughter, Greg and Sammi, both in high school. She spends lots of time at the kids’ activities (football, hockey, baseball, volleyball, singing, ballet, piano, and plays). Andrea has two dogs and two cats. She co-leads the high school Youth Group and she is on the figure skating board. She likes to hike, bike, ski, read, scrapbook, and work puzzles. In the future, Andrea would like to do more traveling - in the US and abroad. Whew…. Andrea notes she’s a strong J on the Meyers Briggs and a self-diagnosed recovering anal-retentive and says “I blame it all on my mother for toilet training me too young.”
Here’s something funny that happened to Andrea. The night before her daughter was born, her husband went out to put some wood in the outdoor house furnace. She heard a yell and ran down the stairs just in time to see her husband standing in the middle of the septic tank, which had collapsed around him. Warning to all septic tank owners, do not walk on top of your tank!
What is special about Andrea besides her organizational skills is that she loves to learn and people continue to entertain and fascinate her. Thoughts about online learning and teaching: Andrea has been involved in online learning for the past ten years and has a rich background in developing and teaching online courses. Andrea loves online learning because 1) the time factor - she can sit in her big comfy chair with a snack and her dogs; 2) she finds tech tools very cool; and 3) location, location, location. Andrea says online learning forces one to think about how to assess differently. She states trying to fit the old-paradigm assessment practices into new-paradigm learning venues might not be the easiest fit. Andrea is a highly knowledgeable and skilled person and you will hear more from her soon!
Ineractive Inventory Reaction:
When learning and assessment activities are designed for teachers and learners to work together toward mastery of established outcomes, it looks very different from teacher presenting and learners trying to guess how they will be evaluated. I agreed with the statements in this activity except for one: Assessment is used to monitor learning. The snag might be in the word monitor. If an assessment determines where a learner is proficient and where additional work is needed, is that not monitoring? I would say this is one of the primary tasks of assessment.
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