What are those revolutions?
Based on what I read in the research the online assessments can range from online tests to collaborative assignments with other students in the courses. There are projects that can be produced by the student to demonstrate their understanding as well as the timed test that is graded immediately.
What are the challenges?
Some of the challenges that eLearning can produce in terms of assessment include the fact that many of the ways that online assessments are designed based off of the traditional brick and mortar school assessments. These do not always translate very well for instance if the instructor chooses multiple choice questions that are graded by the computer rather than the instructor. With the ever-increasing demand on the instructor’s time unintentional delays in supplying feedback to the student can occur to the disadvan- tage of both the student and the instructor. Often the most valuable feedback occurs at the final stages of the learning path, giving no real assistance to the student and only limited feedback to the instructor. (Farrell & Ying 2004)
One writing program partnered college professors and high school teachers to grade students work in English. The educators read the students' work and recorded their comments. There was an online scoring website that the educators would use to assess the work (Griffin, et al, 2010)
Summarize what you learned.
Assessments online need to be adjusted to help students gain a better understanding of the material. The assessments must provide quick feedback to the students as well as allow the instructor time to produce the feedback. Online presentation tools, audio recordings and video captioning can also be used to help the educator understand what the student is attempting to produce. These methods are also used to return feedback to the students.
Then, briefly, reflect on the following:
Based on your personal theory of learning, how should online learners be assessed?
The online learner must be given feedback quite frequently. The assessment must be easy to understand and the online learners must have thorough instructions about the expectations. The online learner can take essay based assessments as well as take timed online tests.
How is this congruent with what is understood, in the literature, about mobile and online education assessment? Since I have taken online classes for over 5 years and have taken tests and completed assignments online and just like the articles that I read, I know that the online educational environment is here to stay. The online educational environment is growing as people gain more access to online resources and creating different ways to evaluate the work of online students is crucial to the success of the online educational movement
References
Farrell, G., & Ying, K. L. (2004). Innovative online assessment using confidence measurement. Education and Information Technologies, 9(1), 5-19. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/B:EAIT.0000024258.29560.3c
Griffin, M., Falberg, A., & Krygier, G. (2010). Bridging the gap between college and high school teachers of writing in an online assessment community. Teaching English in the Two Year College, 37(3), 295-304. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220965058?accountid=12085
Lawton, D., Vye, N., Bransford, J., Sanders, E., Richey, M., French, D., & Stephens, R. (2012). Online learning based on essential concepts and formative assessment. Journal of Engineering Education, 101(2), 244-287. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1016488788?accountid=12085
Fletcher, G. H. (2012). The new online assessments: what we know so far: two consortia of states are paving the way for online assessment of Common Core State Standards by 2014. Will your district be up to speed? T H E Journal [Technological Horizons In Education], 39(5), 20+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA295058350&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w
LeRhonda,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that frequent feedback is vital when teaching online students. As teachers, we must make it a priority that our students recieve this type of interaction to provide them with the most effective communication and direction to succeed! Thanks for your post!
~Angela
Hi LeRhonda!
ReplyDeleteFeedback is very important when it comes to online learning. Online learners would like to know how they are progressing and would like to hear back from their instructors. As in a traditional learning environment, students would like immediate feedback so they would know if they are on the right track. Communication is the key to online learning. Thank you for sharing!
LeRhonda,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. Feedback is very important because students are always curious to know how they are doing on assignments. Then if the students are able to get proper feedback then they can adjust what they are doing in before it is too late.
My masters degree is the first degree program that I have ever taken online, and it does present challenges. I think group projects are a large concern of mine because of the schedule differences and the limited amount of time to discuss assignments and expectations with your peers. It is much easier to do group work when you can physically meet with the members of your group. This is just one area that is a challenge to online courses. There are other challenges, but for me this is the largest.
You are right, online education is here to stay because it is becoming more and more popular.
LeRhonda ~
ReplyDeleteAs e-learning explodes in the 21st century, I am finding myself intrigued with wanting to learn more. This is my second Masters and I'm already making plans for 2013 and heading full speed for my Doctorate (yes, I'm insane..lol) I can say though, that through the years I have learned more from constructive feedback, discussion boards, and essay based questions than I have from the traditional types of assessments I grew up with. This is due to Professors being frequent as you state and being thorough about instructions for expectations. I am grateful for these types of assessments as I freeze when it comes to quizzes and tests.
Blessings ~ Ruth Sholes
I agree that feedback must be immediate in online learning, especially with assessments. It's vital that students know exactly what is expected of them, and if possible, know their mistakes so that can be clear on what must be done to improve. You also made a great point on how the instructions must be detailed. Seeing that online assessments lack the ability to have a hands-on approach where students can immediately ask the professor a questions, as in a traditional classroom, it is vital that the expectations are clear so that the learner can easily follow through with them.
ReplyDeleteOnline learning is definitely here to stay. I have also taken a lot of online courses because the flexibility fits my work schedule. The different new possibilities with online learning and assessments amaze me. It seems to change every semester and the possibilities are still growing.
ReplyDelete