- How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed? How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning?
- If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, what should the other members of the learning community do? What role should the instructor play? What impact would this have on his or her assessment plan?
I think Swan (2004) hits the nail on the head with the mention of rubrics used to asses online learning involvement. This is the way most educator asses in order to have a set guideline so there are no gray areas. The online classes we are discussing are advanced level classes so we as students should expect to be assessed at a graduate level. If the work produced is not being completed in this manner then the instructor should contact the student directly. I also think Swan's statement to "provide frequent opportunities for both public and private interactions" between students and instructors is very important. This provides plenty of opportunity for "fair and equitable."
If a student does not want to network or collaborate in an online learning community they have to do as the instructor states in the requirements anyway. I am focusing now on education courses, but almost anywhere someone works is going to require collaboration. Students have to be able to at least tolerate collaboration because it is a requirement of the program. They was known before the courses were started. If a student is reluctant to collaborate, the online environment is the perfect place to start. The face to face is very limited so the pressure is lessened. The instructor should play the role of "providing timely and supportive feedback" and encouragement (Swan, 2004). Siemens (2008) also encourages providing practical experiences for aprehensive students to give them a chance to practice communicating in online learning.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author.
Swan, K. (2004). Relationships between interactions and learning in online environments. The Sloan Consortium.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is very important to provide frequent opportunities for public and private interactions in online learning environments, especially for online newcomers. These interactions and rubrics are fair and equitable assessment tools. They provide students with the opportunity to show their strengths and to develop their weaknesses. Furthermore, Siemens (Laureate, 2008) stated that instructors often are concerned about fairly assessing not only the student’s outcomes, but also on individual’s learning growth. Therefore, rubrics and other assessment strategies must accommodate accordingly.
I also agree with your notion that students must tolerate or adapt to the learning environment in which they have enrolled. I believe there is an evaluative process when choosing where to enroll to pursue education. One does not choose to enroll in a program that does not suit the needs. On the other hand, even F2F programs require some collaborative assignments at some point. However, people enroll on this type of programs due to the advantages and convenience they provide. Therefore, students must evolve with the innovative learning methods.
Yahira
Reference
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer) (2008). Principles of distance education. Baltimore, MD: Author.