This was certainly a different assignment and one that came with a unique set of challenges and obstacles that ultimately led to some insight and discovery. If I am to be honest, I am finding ETEC 565A to be one of the better classes in the MET program at offered real life application of educational technology. This specific assignment offered a unique blend of academic and practical knowledge and I am confident the lessons I learned will apply well in my practice; however, as the group and I worked through Assignment 2 a few challenges emerged. A few of the most prevalent challenges I came across, with the group, were; how to properly approach the assignment and develop the rubric, how to communicate with the group, and finally subdivide the work and create a cohesive product.
At the onset, the challenges of developing a rubric for assessment of an LMS seemed almost too easy, especially given the SECTIONS (Bates, 2014) readings that we had explored in previous weeks. However, as we delved into the development, it became apparent that it would not simply be a blanket application and that the group would have to work to ensure that the developed rubric would be comprehensive / specific enough to ensure effectiveness but not so elaborate as to create redundancies and become convoluted. Also, the SECTIONS model did not account for the First Nations perspective that would be required for the YESnet program. Though email correspondence, Google Docs, and Google hangouts we initially decided that a straight forward approach would be to simplistic a not offer the detail needed to be effective. As a group we decided to expanded on the basic categories in SECTIONS and decided to use more sub-categories as well as areas that would represent the First Nations perspective (Bowers, 2000). Problem averted! Well, maybe not. Once we used the sub-categories we were left with a much longer rubric that at times became redundant. Once again, using the Google platform we merged some categories and eliminated some that had redundant parts. It was strange the see the evolution from worrying that our rubric would be too brief to dealing with actual problem of it being overly loquacious. However, after working on sections as individuals and then discussing and editing as a whole we were able to develop a comprehensive and effective rubric.
As with any E-learning class environment, we had group members from across the country and each with varying time commitments, as well as school, family, and work obligations. Therefore, finding a method and time to meet was a challenge. Our initial contact was made form the Black Board learning portal and email, from there we decided that we would use the Google platform as our primary communication tool. We held a preliminary Google hangout in which we discussed how we would approach the assignment and breakdown workload. We then used a communal Google doc to share work and develop our rubric with SECTIONS in sections. Daily email updates kept every body in the loop and we had a final Google handout / edit session a week following the to read and edit the rubric and ensure proper and consistent voice and vocabulary were used. This was also beneficial is editing as we had 5 different readers to evaluate the assignment.
Finally, although this seems to be addressed above, how do you subdivide this kind of work and ensure quality is consistent. It has to be said, when you work in E-learning group work, a certain amount of trust needs to be given. When you release the reigns of a particular part of the workload to another person, you have to be confident that they will do an acceptable job. Thankfully, in my 8 MET courses I have never come across the adverse. In our initial group discussion, each of the 5 members took ownership of two sections of the Rubric, in my instance these were Cost and Organizational Issues, then we came together and edited and proofread as a whole to create a final document. This was highly effective and divided the assignment into manageable portions that were attainable with the other demands of the class as well as personal and professional lives.
In the end, this was a very well organized assignment. The group members each brought different ideas and strengths to the rubric and we worked cohesively to develop our final product. We issues arose in how to proceed; the group communicated effectively and came to communal agreements on how to best approach the problem. This was a rather fast passed assignment and did not leave much time for considerable interaction, but I can confidently say that the group worked well and developed a rubric that I feel is effective and would accurately assess an LMS for the YESnet program.
Bates, T. (2014). Choosing and using media in education: The SECTIONS model. In Teaching in digital age. Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/part/9-pedagogical-differences- between-media/
Bowers, C. A., Vasquez, M., & Roaf, M. (2000). Native people and the challenge of computers: Reservation schools, individualism, and consumerism. American Indian Quarterly, 24(2), 182-199.