Are papers and exams the best way to measure student learning for your course? Are students integrating your content into their personal knowledge bases in a meaningful and useful way? Do students find your assessments interesting and engaging? If your answers to any of these questions are ‘no’ or ‘maybe not’, then you might want to consider some of the alternative assessments made feasible by the variety of web-based tools available today. This presentation will discuss and provide examples of alternative assessments using such tools as Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, Google Docs, e-Portfolios, and web-based presentation tools. Each of these tools provides student-friendly applications that will allow you to assess student learning in an engaging fashion. These strategies also can offer a ‘real world’, authentic perspective that is difficult to achieve with the more traditional assessment strategies.

1. Alternative Assessments Using Web-Based Tools

2. Today Examples of using web-based tools for assessments Integrating 2.0 assignments into course design Things to think about: Which tool do I use? What do I need to consider? Assessment concerns Student concerns Instructor concerns Curricular concerns

3. Web 2.0 Tools Blogs Papers Social Bookmarking Collaborative Authorship Presentations Social Networks Photos Videos Maps Mashups Concept Maps/Diagrams E-Portfolios

4. Web 2.0 Tools Jason Rhode’s site used for his Faculty Summer Institute presentation this past summer:

5. Which tools can be used for assessment purposes? Pretty much all of them! Limitations Instructor creativity Student technical capabilities Challenge Matching tool with assessment objectives Assuring that there is ‘value added’ for using a web-based tool

6. Exemplars

7. Blogs

8. Social Bookmarking

9. Individual and Group Authoring

10. Presentations

11. Mapping

12. Incorporating web-based assessments into online courses

13. Just creating the assignment is not enough

14. Integrating Web Assessments into (Online) Classes Sufficient lead time so that students have time to learn the tool before the assignment due date Explain why you are using this tool Project instructions Clear and complete instructions on what students are to do Anticipate student questions and uncertainties Exemplars of projects from previous offerings if possible Rubric that describes how the project will be evaluated.

15. Integrating Web Assessments into (Online) Classes Provide instructions on how to get started How to access the tool Links to required required Links for tutorials (either on the product site or ones you create) Where to find ‘help’ Create a ‘tool help’ discussion topic

16. Cool Tools … but Things to think about

17. Considerations when planning aweb-based assessment What are you trying to accomplish? Learning objective, not technology, should drive the choice of tools Learning Management System or Web 2.0 Tool? If the task can be effectively done within the tools available in your LMS, use the LMS What is the ‘value added’ for using the Web 2.0 Tool does the value of using the 2.0 tool exceed the additional time students will spend to learn the technology

18. Considerations when planning aweb-based assessment Which tool to choose? The free one The one that most easily meets the assessment objective (e.g., Google Docs vs. a wiki will support joint authorship.) The one that is easiest for students to learn The one that students have used previously if possible (specify a ‘preferred’ tool, but allow students to use alternative if they have previous experience with a similar tool) The tool that students will most likely use over and over again, either academically or professionally

19. Considerations when planning aweb-based assessment What is the ‘value added’ for using the Web Tool does the value of using the 2.0 tool exceed the additional time students will spend to learn the technology

20. More Things to Think About – Assessment Concerns Will the use of the tool negatively impact the assessment of the learning objective (i.e., are you assessing the achievement of the learning objective or the ability of the student to become proficient with a new software tool?) Can you objectively and effectively evaluate student learning from the final product produced (If you can’t develop a clear and comprehensive rubric to describe levels of competency demonstrated by the project you have a problem)

21. More Things to Think About – Student Concerns Student concerns Does the tool fit within the technical proficiency of the typical student in the class? Is the time required to complete the project ‘reasonable’ When is it too much http://ocw.umb.edu/communications-studies/comstu-210/assignments

22. More Things to Think About – Instructor Concerns Can I grade the projects and provide feedback in a reasonable expenditure of time Does tool have built-in functions that will allow me to provide good feedback? How can I integrate this tool within the LMS

23. More Things to Think About – Program/Curricular Concerns My class is not the only class students take If each instructor is selecting and using different Web 2.0 tools, the impact on students can be extreme and very negative If different courses in the same program use the same tools, students can build on their prior knowledge and produce better and more sophisticated assignmentsas they gain experience with the software.