Journal Entry Eleven: Final reflections

How do I begin to describe my two months studying in this course? I came to this course without clear expectations, excited and nervous about my having an opportunity to plan and design formative and summative evaluation methods.
From the online partner interview to the final summative project, I was blessed enough to be supervised by a great teacher who appreciated and encouraged me all the way through this course. Through my conversations with her and her assistant, I have a clearer impression about what it’s like to teach an online class. Now, as I look back on my experience, I am filled with an appreciation for the priceless lessons in assessment and evaluation and their effects on the learning process.
In closing, I would like to extend my gratitude to all my classmates who have given me a hand during my master studies. Every encouragement, help, advice and support from you does play a significant role on my development. I can now move forward in my quest to become an online instructor, with a newfound confidence and wisdom. Thank You!

Journal Entry: Ten

As the class comes to a close, we faced the challenge of completing 3 activities for this module. The first activity involved the submission of the final project. The final project for the course was based on the dimension of assessment tools relating to a mock online course that was created solely for this project. We had to select and analyze the benefits, application of 4 assessment tools. In our analysis of these tools, we also had to incorporate Benjamin’s Bloom’s (1960) dimensions of knowledge ((cognitive learning, behavior/skills, and attitudes/values) into the final project. Lastly, we were instructed to examine the effects of plagiarism on the learning outcomes of the mock online course. The second activity of this module relates to the completion of a rubric of self-assessment relating to the final project. The third activity involved the discussion topics that were generated from the selected reading materials. My final project is available at this link: http://www.freewebs.com/chris-martin/Jigsaw%20Final%20Project.pdf

Dimensions of Assessment
Outcomes assessment of student learning, the effectiveness of a department’s curriculum, and teaching effectiveness can be accomplished by measuring Benjamin Bloom’s (1960) dimensions of knowledge (cognitive learning, behavior/skills, and ttitudes/values). Measures of Cognitive Learning: Knowledge. These measures can be either course-specific or focused upon major or discipline, and can include:

•Knowledge – questions are designed to ask what, when, where, and who. Knowledge of facts, definitions, terms are typical of memory items. A typical question would be: "Define social psychology.” It is highly unlikely that this would be used as an outcome measure of student learning as questions which test knowledge typically only require rote memorization rather than actual learning.

•Comprehension - This is the lowest level of learning and understanding. It involves students’ ability to translate information into their own words. A typical question would be: "Explain the rhetoric of identification in your own words."

•Application – In this level students are asked to apply their knowledge to different situations and in different contexts. Students are expected to abstract information learned and apply it to daily life. A typical question: "Name the three stages of perception checking and explain how perception checking can improve our ability to communicate."

•Analysis – Analysis questions ask students to analyze, compare and contrast relationships between things. For example, "How are the theories of social comparison and psychological centrality similar? How are they different?"

•Synthesis – Here students are asked to pull together parts and elements to form a whole. A typical question might be: "How do you explain the phrase, `You don't communicate to someone, you engage in communication with them?'"

•Evaluation – Evaluation is considered to be the highest level of student learning, as students are asked to make judgments about the value of the material presented. A typical question would be: "Explain, in detail, why you think that the transaction model is an appropriate/inappropriate representation of the communication process."

Source: The University of Montana http://www.umt.edu/provost/assessment/default.htm

Journal Entry Nine: Cybercoaching

Module Six exposed the class to a model of online formative assessment known as cybercoaching. The cybercoaching model is a form of assessment that depends on the personal relationship that exists between the student and the instructor, in order to monitor the student’s progress with the idea of providing feedback for improvement.

The assigned readings for this module included:

Peterson, N. (2005). "Cybercoaching: Rubrics, Feedback and Metacognition, Oh My!" E.C.Moore Symposium, February 25, 2005

Finding a Place for Everyone: Online Course Development for Internship with an Online Media Source Uniting Multiple-Sensory Engagement of Learning in a Larger Community, By Datta Kaur Khalsa, Masters of Education Project, May, 2001.

Studying the First Amendment: Exploring Truth in Journalism by Christine Casey , Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts

The class discussion involved a comparison of the article by Dr. Khalsa and Ms. Casey to analyze and contrast the recommended assessment techniques from Casey's journalism class to those used in the Khalsa journalism class.

The assigned activities for this module included creating a precourse survey to help personalize an online course to the learning needs of the students. Here is the link to my precourse survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=dt17Uq8AddgUXM8YSvfcfw_3d_3d

Journal Entry Eight: Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy is comprised of 6 categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The taxonomy is a classification scheme of intellectual behavior and was developed by Benjamin Bloom. Bloom identified six levels of cognitive learning, from the simple recall of facts (Knowledge), as the lowest level, through the increasingly more complex levels of Understanding, Application, Analysis, Synthesis,and Evaluation.
Module Five presented us with the opportunity to create a simplified version of Bloom’s taxonomy to determine learning objectives that are associated with assessment. After reading an assigned case study, we each had to place the assessment activities from that case study in a table and match 3-4 assessment activities to one of the six categories of Bloom’s taxonomy.

Bloom categories

Learning objective verbs
Activity

Knowledge
(recall, list, define, identify, collect, label)
Define
Define basic journalism terms.

Comprehension
(summarize, describe interpret, predict, discuss)
Identify
Identify news items that may be propaganda.

Application
(apply, demonstrate, illustrate, classify, experiment, discover)
Explore
Explore the role of the journalist in obtaining and telling the news.

Analysis
(analyze, classify, connect, explain, infer)
Understand
A field trip would allow students to view a film that appears to be slanted, such as Fahrenheit 9/11, and discuss the film in conjunction with understanding libel, privacy, ethics and taste.

Synthesis
(combine, integrate, plan, create, design, formulate)
Compose
Make oral presentations for each academic area of study that are designed to persuade, inform or describe.

Evaluation
(assess, recommend, convince, compare, conclude, summarize)
Convince
Students will write a persuasive essay supporting or rebutting her theories.

The final project looms on the horizon. It is due by November 9th and was designed to extend the Jigsaw project. As such,it is intended to be a group project. Updates will be provided on a weekly basis.


Happy Halloween!

Journal Entry Seven: Putting It All Together

Jigsaw Midterm Project

In this section, we begin with an introduction to four categories of assessment tools:
1. Quiz and Test Builders
2. Reflection Assessment Tools
3. Peer to Peer Collaboration Tools
4. Course Tracking Tools
In order to combine the four separate categories of this project into one discernible narrative, the team employed the use of a cooperative learning lesson design called Jigsaw. The concept of Jigsaw is based on the assumption that each member has a piece of information that can be used to advance the knowledge of the team as a whole, and thus will contribute to a better understanding of the material by all. With this thought in mind, each team member selected one area of the assignment and conjoined their findings into a united document that will be submitted in the form of a team assessment toolbox. As it was, team member Diane Reinfeldt chose to focus her research efforts on category one, while team member Rorey Pritchard selected category two for her individual research project. The two remaining team members, Gail Nichols and Chris Martin, each conducted individual learning discoveries that were related to categories three and four respectively. Through practice and inquiry, we each sought to find bridges between the four equally divided categories of assessment tools. Now as the deadline draws near for submitting the fruits of our labor, we shall treasure this learning experience as well as the individual lessons that were learned during the course of completing this assignment, because we found a way to put it all together.This is called teamwork. To view the project online, paste this link in your browser: http://writer.zoho.com/public/northwoods1111/Jigsaw-Midterm-Group-43/scrip

Journal Entry Six: Confessions of an e-dummy

Today is Saturday and the close of Module 3. But before we go, I'd like to address a question that was posed by Datta,"How did you know that you would be successful in an online course?" Well, when I initially started studying for my undergraduate degree, I wasn't sure if online classes would help me succeed. But as I ventured further into the distant learning process, I grew more confident in my abilities to be a successful student. To answer Datta's question directly, I don't think anyone can tell how successful they'll be with online learning, until they jump in and give it a try.

As for the discussions surrounding Dr. Bonk's article about the convergence of the Perfect e-storm, we all had different opinions on the benefits and disadvantages of this phenomenom. I can sum up one advantage with a saying that is used by realtors across America, "location,location,location." So how is this saying related to the Pefect e-storm? Well, the Perfect e-storm has totally eliminated the word 'location' from the distant learning equation, by making it possible for students to study anywhere, at anytime. Now, the only 'location' that really matters is the 'location' of the main campus where the distant learning courses are being offered. For sure, there has to be a physical 'location' for the main campus, or we could end up taking online courses from some place in a trailer park. What a tragedy that would be.On the other hand, the Perfect e-storm may have presented perfect e-headaches for financial aid officers everywhere, as they had to quickly develop new formulas for figuring how to meet the needs of the distant learner. Until next time, be good and drive safely.

Journal Entry Five: A new day awaits me

As another week draws to a close, I now take time to pause and reflect on the information that was covered in this module. The first activity was centered on the creation of a concept map. Concept mapping is identifying key concepts in a body of subject matter and arranging those concepts around a focal concept. It also involves linking the selected concepts by lines and labeling them to show meaningful relationships between and among them. A personal grasp of these relationships between and among concepts is supposed to portray meaningful learning. Once acquired, concept mapping skills are useful for organizing information, reading and studying and preparing an assignment, paper or report. As I completed my concept map, I couldn’t help but think back to the time when I worked in the computer industry. This is where I encountered a diagram known as a flow chart. A flow chart is a graphical or symbolic representation of a process. Each step in the process is represented by a different symbol and contains a short description of the process step. The flow chart symbols are linked together with arrows showing the process flow direction. They were used exclusively by computer programmers as these diagrams provided an insider’s view of how a computer program performs its intended purpose.

The required readings for this module included an article, Perfect E-Storm: emerging technology, enormous learner demand, enhanced pedagogy, and erased budgets by Dr. Curtis J. Bonk. Although it was written in 2004, the article provided us with some food for thought, as Dr. Bonk discussed among other things, how technology, the needs of learners and the art of teaching all have converged to create the perfect e-storm. He notes that all of these elements when combined will serve to enrich and expand the horizons of the distant learning landscape in an unprecedented manner. However, after touting the benefits that will occur as a result of this melding of distant learning components, Dr. Bonk concludes that many universities and colleges still face a pressing need to create exciting and relevant online materials that will engage and motivate the online learner. While I wouldn’t use the word 'storm' to describe the events that have transpired in the area of distant learning over the past ten years, I do see where there has been substantial growth in this area of the educational paradigm. This growth may be due more to the fact that the development of new technology is often accompanied by new ideas and methods concerning how best to use the new technology. For as the old aphorism states, “A rising tide lifts all the boats.” Until next time, stay healthy and be good to yourself.

Journal Entry Four: Mapping the Concept

Here is my idea of a concept map. The focal concept is a list of learning objectives for an online course. I decided to build the focal concept around this online class (EDUC-762). I hope you like it. The image is too small to view on this web page. So you might want to right click on the image to save it to your desktop. Then you can enlarge and view the image as it was originally created.

Journal Entry Three: Protecting my right to blog

As another week comes to a close, I can take a minute to pause and reflect on the past assignments that were presented in Module 2. We started the week by discussing and debating topics that were taken from the reading selections of Module 2. One article in particular, Weblog Case Study: Case study of weblog use in an online Rhetoric and Writing class by Wang, J. & Fang, Y. caught my attention, because of the manner in which the authors highlighted the benefits of cooperative learning in weblog networks. They provided some insightful food for thought with assertions such as this one, “According to Wenden (1991), autonomous learners are “self-confident learners” who believe in their ability to learn and to self-direct or manage their learning” (p. 53).” As my classmates and I discussed our contrasting viewpoints about the subject, a picture of mixed feelings began to emerge from the inner recesses of my overworked brain. In that picture, I saw where we could agree to disagree and still remain cordial towards one another. Hmm….what a groovy concept, I thought to myself. (Yeah, I’m bringing the word ‘groovy’ back.) But for now, it’s on to the next module as it will mark the midpoint in this class. Module 3 or the perfect e-Storm as it is listed in the ‘Content’ area of the class’s web site, promises to be a lot of fun. It opens with a reading that talks about the convergence of three storms in the e-learning world and continues with information about an upcoming midterm assessment. So until next time, I say be good and be useful.

Journal Entry Two: Introducing Joe College [Joe College introduces Chris Martin]

Following is an interview that took place within the farthest and most inaccessible parts of my mind. It was conducted as my response to a real assignment for a course called EDUC762 – Assessment in E-Learning that is being conducted at UW-Stout. I kid you not. While the interviewee is a real person, the interviewer is not. Or at least, I hope he hasn’t manifested himself in the human form yet.

Joe College: Why have you chosen this course, this university and/or this program?
Chris Martin: While studying at another online university, I became aware of UW-Stout while completing an assignment that included a research of the most recent winners of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. To honor the memory of the former Secretary of Commerce, Malcolm Baldrige, the award is given annually by the President of the United States to businesses, and to educational, health care and nonprofit organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results. Long story short, I saw where UW-Stout was the first Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient in the category of higher education. For this reason, I felt a strong inclination to place myself in an academic environment where I would be challenged to set new goals that would stretch my mind into something that it was not the day before.

Joe College: Tell me about your background, experiences, and/or skills.
Chris Martin: As a teen growing up on the inner-city streets of Los Angeles, California, I was constantly tempted by peer-pressure to join a street gang. But I chose to focus my energies in a more positive manner by participating in the athletic programs that were available to me at my local high-school. Needless to say by becoming involved and excelling in athletics (namely varsity football), I was steered away from the unproductive, anti-social behaviors of gang life, into more positive team-building activities, that featured a concern for others over concern for self. As I gained more insight about the real world, I found that I had an interest in the world of computers. Here is where I spent the last 25 years of my life, working for large companies in several areas of the computer industry.


Joe College: What do you expect from this course?
Chris Martin: Since education is the primary stepping stone to achieving the American dream, I see where this course could focus my efforts in the right direction, by providing me with the tools needed to turn my dream into a reality. I am referring to my dream of combining my past work experiences with my education, in such a way that will make I possible for me to become an adjunct professor at the community college level.

Joe College: Who is that special someone, thing or event that you cherish and would never want to give up ?
Chris Martin: Looking back, the one event that has stayed in my mind for over 20 years is the time I learned to ski in Denver, Colorado. The place was Keystone Ski Resort and the year was 1989. The experience was not so much painful as it was more of a period of enlightenment. I am referring to the fact that kids seem to have a spirit of reckless abandonment when it comes to facing the unknown. I guess I’m getting ahead of myself here, so I’ll provide a little background. After a brief lesson ( it lasted 1 hour) in the proper way to control my skis (my nose ran like the Mississippi River, as it was cold as heck out there), we climbed into the ski lift that would carry us to the top of the beginner’s ski slope. As I looked back over my shoulder, I soon realized that the beginner’s slope was much higher than the top of the ski resort. This caused some considerable concern for me, as I was unsure if I could maintain the speed at which I descended the beginner’s slope. But then again, my ski instructor did teach me how to place my skis in the position that would slow my descent, but I was still unsure of my ability to stop safely after such a short lesson. After arriving at the top of the beginner’s ski slope, it was time to ski. But to my dismay, my legs were frozen with fear. I guess I was really concerned about going over the side of the ski slope as there was only a thin rope that marked that area. (From what I could see during my ascent to the top of the beginner's ski slope, the side of the slope appeared to drop at least 20 feet to the ground.) Then I noticed that the kids that were on the beginner’s slope along side of me, just started to take off. In fact, they looked as if they had been skiing all of their lives. While this made me eager to try my hand at skiing, I still couldn’t get the fact that I could break a leg or two out of my mind. In the end, I had become discombobulated that I had to be helped down the slope by other members in my group. As the kids laughed and called me names, I felt somewhat relieved that I didn’t break a leg or injure myself. But come to think about it, I didn’t really ski at all. I only pretended to be a skier. Now as my memory of that event fades, I long to return to that place, if for no other reason than to admire its beauty. I have resigned myself to the fact that skiing is not for me. So for the time being, I'm relegated to the role of watching others enjoy this wonderful activity. Such is the life of a wanna-be skiier.

Journal Entry One: New Beginnings

The 2008 fall semester at UW-Stout has begun and it seems that I am already operating in 'catch-up' mode. Could it be that I under estimated the amount of time that would be required to complete this course? Or could it be that my habit of procrastinating has finally caught up with me? Either way, I WILL find a way to get through this course. I have to. There's no other way for me to complete the requirements for the MSED degree at UW-Stout.