Assessment in eLearning - Module 3 Reflection

Dr. Bonk's article about the Perfect "E" Storm was very applicable to this week at least for me.  I am not sure I have ever been this confused about an assignment.  The concept map really threw me for a loop.  It look until Saturday to finally figure out what I was doing.  Not happy with myself about that one.  Now that it is completed I know I have done them before but for some reason, I could not wrap my head around it this week.  I think at first I like many others confused it with the midterm.  Once this confusion subsided, I was still facing that "Perfect Storm" of confusion with now slightly diminished waves.  Thank you Jim for clarifying even further what we needed to accomplish as this cleared the storm and it was much smoother sailing home at least for me.

Regarding the reading material this week, it was slightly overwhelming with all of the information.  I realize that the main article was written over 7 years ago, but some of the information in it was new to me.  This alone added to the confusion I was experiencing this week.  What really seemed to resonate with me was the need to ensure you are actively engaging your students and having assessments which are authentic for them.  If this is not occurring, you will lose your students.  We have actually had this occur in our classroom when students have stated to us they were either playing Xbox, Playstations, Wii, or even watching TV when we were conducting our lessons online.  Since we cannot see them, they simply need to log and we "hope" they are actively engaged.  Well, we learned early on that we needed to ensure our lessons contained elements to engage those learners as well as assess them.  I have to say we have been quite successful.  Also, I am glad this class had the chance to read this article and view the video.  Even though items such as this might be "old" in terms of technology, it never hurts to revisit them every once in a while.  As I said, I had not heard of some things and I consider myself pretty computer/technology savvy.  Always glad to learn something new.

Here is hoping I get my head out of whatever fog it seems to be in for understanding some of the activities we have to accomplish.  Until next week's challenges begin I shall sign out for now.

Notes from Reading Interactive Inventory

I loved completing this inventory since it asked questions about  how we teach.  This is so what my philosophy is about teaching, learning, and assessing.  I loved it.  If you would like to take it as well, here is the link:  Assessment: Teacher-centered or Learner-centered?

I do agree with my results.  As I have evolved as a teacher over the years, my philosophy regarding assessments has changed greatly.  I greatly prize learning with my students and learning from our mistakes.  A simple test is not really going to tell you a student has mastered the material you have been working on in class.  This is where portfolios or projects come in for assessments.  The world of education has changed and I for one am very happy it has.

"Let's Go to the Movies" - Breaking Away / Hoosiers

I think you can probably tell from my choices where I grew up - Indiana. These two movies always remind me of home. Breaking Away is a story about four young boys from Bloomington, IN who don't fit in with the college students who attend Indiana University. They are the townies or most specifically "cutters" since their dads were cutters of the limestone. Once boy in particular, Dave, really wants to fit in and loves to ride bikes. Due to some scuffles with the college kids it is decided the "cutters" will participate in the "Little 500" a race which only the students rode in before this decision. It is a great movie about growing up, facing the challenges life throws you, deciding what you want to do, and making your dreams come true. It also showcased the beautiful campus of IU which is where I started my undergraduate work. (See trailer below)

Hoosiers is about the most sacred thing in all of Indiana - basketball! Ask anyone about March Madness and you will get an earful. This is also a movie my husband and I enjoy watching together. It is nice to see a small school in Indiana face all of the bigger schools and win the state championship. This is based on a true story and I love the message again about following your dreams no matter what life throws at you. This too was filmed in Indiana as well. (see trailer below)

As you can see, these movies are special to me for many reasons but overall I think it is the feeling of home I get when I watch them which keeps me viewing them. While I may be a Buckeye since I have lived in Ohio for over 21 years, I will always be a Hoosier at heart dreaming of my Indiana home as the song says.

Assessment in eLearning - Module 2 Reflection

This has been a trying week for me.  I have had to teach my online unit about the Atmosphere to my fifth graders as well as keep up with all of the duties for our Pilot Math group – exhausting.  Then I have been trying to figure out how I wanted to tackle this week’s assignments for this class. At first, I thought I would use my Google Sites for the blog, but realized this would not be the best thing since it does not really allow for interaction as a blog.  Next, there was a lot of reading to do about blogs!  I have been blogging for almost 2 years now but without any real information about it other than what I learn as I go about doing it. However, I so appreciate having the resources now to learn just how to use this tool in the academic arena. What a wonderful tool when used in the right manner.  What is the right manner?  Well, that is something the teacher will have to decide.  Still so much to learn from this course and it is only 8 weeks long and we are already in week 2.  Looking forward to seeing what week 3 holds in terms of learning!

Assessment in eLearning - Module 1 Reflection

Well, it is time for another eLearning class to start.  I am anxious for this one as it will be interesting to see to see how different assessment might be in the online environment.  We started the class by posting to a WIKI of which I was the second one to post on netiquette. This is something near and dear to my heart as we have been working with our fifth graders on this very thing.  Amazing how little they know about the topic and how much they have to learn.  However, I ran into a problem in the middle of the first week when I could not get a second comment to post.  After sending messages to Jim about it, I finally discovered I was putting my information into the wrong field.  Mentioned and noted to self – do not do work like this when you have a migraine! 

Another task was a survey we took to help Jim tailor the program and help assign us to groups. I am impressed he took the time to ask us about what we wanted. Not many teachers/professors really want to know your opinion. For the discussion boards, we had to complete two tasks - write about alternative assessment techniques and give our favorite movie(s). The favorite movie(s) will be a separate post.  For the alternative assessment, we were asked to think about the WIKI, survey and the icebreaker (which was about the movies) and how we could or could not use them as assessment tools. I thought the survey and the WIKI would probably be the most useful for these purposes since it is easily tailored to many different areas depending on how it is constructed but then again so could a WIKI now that I think about it.  My favorite was the WIKI. I started working with them about a year ago for another class. At first, they were extremely challenging, but the more I have used them the more I want to find ways to utilize them in my classroom as well.  Until next time!