Prof Gilly Salmon Beyond Distance Research Alliance

Assessment for DistanceLearning

Prof Gilly Salmon Beyond Distance Research Alliance

Plan

1. What’s the issues?

2. Principles

3. Beyond Distance Research

4. Technology for student engagement

Assessment for learning Assessment for accountability Assessment to monitor national standards

What’s different about DL?: security, plagarism, identity,

cost-benefits

• The student you taught is the one you’re assessing?

• It’s tutors’ main method of communication & feedback

“Online assessment is moving beyond the traditional multiple-choice question that is currently the predominant form of computer-based assessment and will provide much richer, authentic and meaningful assessment tasks for students studying remotely“Professor Geoffrey Crisp

Curriculum and assessment for DL- cost issues

Flexibility- every aspect of flexibility adds £££sHand craftingFailure to review and pilot before presentation to studentsFailure to recruit and train part time tutors

Design once- deliver many timesEnsure all materials are easily changed, updated & versionableUse stable institution-wide technologyTrain tutors to work efficiently online

REAP design principleshttp://www.reap.ac.uk/

"empower“

Engage students actively in identifying or formulating criteria

Facilitate opportunities for self-assessment and reflection

Deliver feedback that helps students self-correct

Provide opportunities for feedback dialogue (peer and tutor-student)

Encourage positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem

Provide opportunities to apply what is learned in new tasks

Yield information that teachers can use to help shape teaching

"engage"

Capture sufficient study time and effort in and out of class

Distribute students’ effort evenly across topics and weeks.

Engage students in deep not just shallow learning activity

Communicate clear and high expectations to students.

ADDER: Building feedback design into CARPE DIEMs

www.le.ac.uk/beyonddistance/adder/

www.e-tivities.com

Using e-tivities with bulletin boards, wikis, blogs,Google docs

Design formative or summative assessment into the e-tivities

• Claims that ‘if an e-tivity is not assessed, students won’t do it’ are not accurate.

•The use of e-tivities for learning and formative assessment crossed all teams/disciplines

•Learners engaged with timely feedback, offered by tutors and peers, on their responses to the e-tivities.

•Some course teams developed highly collaborative e-tivities, with feedback loops, spanning over days or weeks,.

Research showed:

Impala: Benefits of Podcasted feedback

• Increasing accessibility: ‘24/7’ availability, Easy to use and obtain feedback, Access feedback from home

• Reducing the turn-around time• Effective feedback through voice

– Voice commentaries are popular with students

– Speaking quicker than writing

– Deliver sensitive, clear feedback, immediacy, more acceptable negative comments

– Significance of how words are delivered through the tone of voice

– Greater depth and detail in podcasted feedback

– More specific, constructive, accurate account of the quality of work and why marks were awarded

– More personalized, like a ‘one-to-one’ personal tutorial

Impala: www.impala.ac.ukFeedback with podcasts

• 2 modules in Department of Geography and Development Studies at the University of Chester : Podcasted feedback for assignments

• 2 types of podcast for each assignment– Feedback & mark for each student based on the quality of their work (2-8 minutes)

– Feedback on the group’s performance as a whole and reflecting on general strengths & weaknesses (2-7 minutes)

• Podcasts were posted in the feedback section of each student’s electronic Progress File (Personal Development Planner), embedded into the university’s VLE.

• Students received an automatic email as soon as a new podcast became available

• Listen to an example of feedback podcast: http://www.atimod.com/podcasting/podcasts.shtml

Wolfhttp://wolf.lec.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=139

• Collaborative work and feedback mediated through PDAs

• Capture ‘live’ events for later reflection

• Provide illustrative examples assignment submission and tutor feedback

CALFWWW.LE.AC.UK/CALF

Auditory and verbal learners prefer words, spoken or written explanations.

Creative Story Telling in Twitter

Marks:1. Posts/involvement2. Creative story

extensions3. Reflection paper on

process4. # of people tracked

• Reflective and observational learners prefer to reflect, observe, view, and watch learning; they make careful judgments and view things from different perspectives

Reflect Personal & Team Blogs

Marked1. Relevancy to class2. Insight/Interestingness3. Completeness4. Depth5. Diversity of Ideas6. Reflective

Reflect : Workplace and Field Reflections

(asynchronous discussions)Marks: 1. Coherence2. Completeness/Weekly Participation3. Course connection/Integration4. Creative insights5. Interaction with peers

YouTube Video Discussions

Marks: 1.Insight2.Connections to content3.Helpfulness and interactivity4.Digging

Visual learners prefer diagrams, flowcharts, timelines, pictures, films, and demonstrations.

Concept Mapping Tools(VUE, Bubbl.us, Cmap, Freemind, Gliffy, Mindmeister, or Mindomo)

Marks: Connections, causal relationships, depth, breadth,

descriptions, logic, creativity, etc.

Visual: Vlogging (Video Blogging)

Marks:1. Insightfulness, creativity,

and originality 2. Design and organization3. Coherence and logical

sequence4. Completeness 5. Relevance of content

Student YouTube Videos Sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=FivFpj6tqjw

Marks:1. Insightfulness,

creativity, and originality

2. Design and visual effects

3. Coherence and logical sequence

4. Completeness5. Relevance of content

Flash, 3-D Visualization and Laboratory Software

Marks:1.Reflection2.Ability to solve problems or cases

Tactile/kinesthetic senses: role play, dramatization, cooperative games,

simulations, creative movement and dance, multi-sensory

activities, and hands-on projects

Simulations (Medical Traumas from TD Magazine, August 2006)

Marks: 1. Completed task2. Solutions offered3. Time required(reflection papers

possible)

Indexing Sounds in Cities with Google

Maps (SUNY Potsdam)

Marks:1.Recorded required # of

sounds2.Reflection paper on task3.Creative or original (bonus

pts: most sounds indexed or finding a sound no one else did)

Student-Generated Podcasts(also see www.startinguni.net)

Marks:1. Insightfulness,

creativity and originality

2. Design and audio or visual effects

3. Coherence and logical sequence

4. Completeness5. Relevance of

content25#

Cool Resource Provider

This is a mastery assignment —you get full credit if done well

Collaborative: (Indiana University and Open U of Malaysia)

Marks:1. Sound and Original Solution2. Quantity of Posts3. Interactive4. Feedback to Other Groups5. Timeliness

Research into DL:

Make way for DucklingsDelivering University Curricula:

Knowledge, Learning and INnovation Gains (DUCKLING) project develops advanced delivery, presentation and assessment processes to enhance the work-based learning experience for students studying remotely. The DUCKLING project will demonstrate the practical marriage of sound approaches in delivery together with new technologies and work–based pedagogies for learning support, communication and assessment of professional adult learners from commencement to completion of the programme of study.

Courses

EducationMA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) by DL

PsychologyMSc in Occupational Psychology (by DL)

and MSc in Psychology of Work (by DL)

New technologies:

E-books for mobility and interaction with selected writings

Weekly short pedagogical podcasts

Second Life (SL) Media Zoo for visits to other SL locations and for in-world learning collaboration.

Thanks for listening

8th January 2009Please book now- free to

Leicester staff