Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Adapting Your Assessment Activities for Online Instruction

When adapting your assessment activities from a face-to-face course to an online course:

1. Do not implement course grading that relies heavily on exam or quiz assessments. A heavily test based course in the online environment is less than desirable for several reasons:

      a. The opportunity for cheating is high;
      b. Student engagement with the material is low;
      c. Multiple choice and true & false tests assess the ability to recall facts and lower level knowledge which provides less opportunity for the development of critical thinking skills and application of actual knowledge.

2. Consider weighting the exams/quizzes at 40%, participation and contribution at 10%, and the remaining 50% consisting of a variety of assignments spread throughout the course.

The opportunity to cheat can be lessened if not avoided by using a variety of assessment methods such as participation in threaded discussions, contribution activities, and group assignments. Discussion boards and chat sessions help to establish the student's individual "voice" and provides the opportunity to be actively engaged in the course. Well designed group activities encourage collaboration and prompts students to engage with course content and construct new knowledge collectively. Including a peer review or peer-grading component is another excellent method of assessing authentic student work and providing additional opportunity for active engagement.

Information adapted from: online learning insights: A Blog about Open and Online Education. 

Coming next: Adapting Your Assignments for Online Instruction

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Adapting Your Syllabus for Online Instruction

When adapting your course syllabus from a face-to-face course to an online course:

1. Do not use the same syllabus that you used for your face-to-face course. This is a common error when transitioning a class to the online format considering the time, energy, and effort that have gone into developing the face-to-face course. However, creating a revised instructional strategy for the online format is necessary. An instructional strategy for online learning involves revised teaching methods, learning activities, and assessments.

2. Create a new syllabus with the online student and the virtual environment in mind.

3. Include course instructor contact information that will be accessible to online students such as email, text number, Skype address, Google + contact info., etc.

4. Consider recording and posting a brief video clip of yourself (the instructor) reviewing the most important points in the syllabus, just as you would for a face-to-face class.

5. Post the syllabus in PDF format for easy download, or use the Book resource within Moodle.

6. Provide a list of Web resources that relate to and supplement the course content for deeper learning opportunities.

Information adapted from: online learning insights: A Blog about Open and Online Education.

Coming next: Adapting Your Assessment Activities for Online Instruction