Looks like we are going to be exploring assessment tools this week.
I just wanted to post the following assessment resources so that I have them for future reference. I’ve used survey monkey before but not in a super in-depth way. I’ll definitely take a look at these when I have a momment.
SurveyMonkey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/Default.aspx
Zoomerang: http://www.zoomerang.com/
Questionmark: http://www.questionmark.com/us/index.aspx
HotPotatoes: http://hotpot.uvic.ca/
Well…….that took forever! And I’m not even done yet!
I started doing the module on creating a web page last week and I’m still going and going. I didn’t realize it at first (because I went through all of the story boarding before creating it) but web pages are like a ton of little black holes. They can just keep going and going and going. Then you think you’re finished and tada – you need a link to another page. Ack.
Not to say that it wasn’t an interesting experience, but as a new user (even on a fairly intuitive site like www.wix.com) there were so many great options that it took what felt like an exhausting amount of time to even get the page remotely how I wanted it. And like I said, I’m STILL not done! (not sure I ever will be).
What I really liked at ‘Wix’ was how easy it was to use the different features (despite how many there were). It didn’t take long to acclimatize to the system and when I got stuck, there were video tutorials conveniently placed (often as part of the tool itself, which I loved) and fairly straightforward.
At the same time, the site still doesn’t quite have the feel that I wanted. Maybe it’s because I don’t have the designer eye, or maybe it’s because the sites don’t really lend themselves as well to learning experiences as they do personal or commercial pages but I supposed I’ll have to keep working on it. But for now, I’m going to have to let it go because another unit is starting already. Where does the time go?
If you would like to see what I’ve come up with so far, you can check out my site at :
After participating in the discussions this week I just wanted to record some ideas that came out of trying to moderate the workload on the instructor when it comes to answering the inevitable questions that come up.
My most recent experience with learner, knowledge, assessment and community centered environments took place during the masters program that I participated from 2007-now. It was/is 100% online with a cohort of about 60 students, and the primary focus of the program seemed to be the Learner/Community. Most activities were discussion based or revolved around group projects, but also, there was very little instructor presence in terms of direction/discussion/communication in most of the modules. I understand that they wanted to create a community so that we can learn from each other but as Anderson says, “the effective online teacher is constantly probing for learner comfort and competence with the intervening technology” (2008, p.48) and also “… needs to provide the big picture scaffolding upon which students can grow their own knowledge and discipline centred discoveries” (2008, p.49).
If I were an instructor and had access to learning technology tools, I would want to use them to first help the students get to know who I am as an instructor and the perspectives I hold. It seems to me that when working 100% online there needs to be a way to break down the 2-D barriers and make both our co-learners and instructor real so that we feel more curious about who they are, what they bring to the table and what we can learn from them. Using Wimba, especially at the beginning of a course in small groups would be an excellent way for the students to at least get to know 3-4 others well so they feel comfortable having dialogue. And having the teacher do an introduction/get involved in first conversations via video or audio would do a lot to build a sense of connection & trust, which I anticipate would lead to more meaningful interactions.
Well, I didn’t have to practice this one because I use it quite often. I found it very easy to use although… when using it while teaching I have experienced problems with DVDs working on some players and not others – expcially when trying to play using a computer player rather than a DVD player.. not always reliable. But, the tips about testing and resting and burning 2 copies are good advice. What I would like to know more about is embedding igital videos into power point presentations. Any tips to offer?
Erin
Well…. that was a bit intimidating. Maybe it’s because I’m sleep deprived but I found it very hard to get and stay focused while doing the Moodle tutorial. There are just so many tangents a person can take and it’s like a black hole of information – you can go on learning forever! I suppose that’s one of the challenges I faced – knowing when to say ‘enough’ and then go on to create my own course shell.
Once I got onto my own shell however, I found the instructions fairly simple and intuitive, which was great. It didn’t take too long to create the webpage or forum. Still, I’ve got to say that I never would have been able to navigate through all of the other choices including Aggregate Type….Grade menu…subscription…attachment size, etc. without guidance. That’ll have to be something I go back to and study when I have time.
I was surprised that the intitial course shell page was so busy. I think I was expecting more of a ‘wizard’ that allowed you to make one choice at a time. For a first time user I think that would have been less overwhelming.