Communication tools and online assessment

1. Tools and Technology Communication tools and online assessment mcompton@tower.ac.uk

2. The following slides are designed to give a taste of what is happening in some depts at THC with online tools for communication and assessment. Most refer to the work that I am directly involved in. I am aware that most if not all of you will be familiar with the tools used here but I wanted to develop something that would be useful in other training situations with people who may be less familiar. PLEASE don’t feel patronised! There is little info on the tools and methods themselves- Rather, the priority was to show what is and can be done. It is not exhaustive and it is hoped that other examples and some of the issues and pitfalls will come out in discussion though they are not a focus of this presentation mcompton@tower.ac.uk

3. Communication Tools • Discussion Boards • Chat • e-mail and SMS mcompton@tower.ac.uk

4. Discussion board interface in webCT mcompton@tower.ac.uk

5. Discussion Boards This is what a typical discussion board thread can look like. The two contributions you can see here are from level 2 History students and they’re responding to prompt from me which I typed in class in front of them and then sent them away with instructions to respond for h/w mcompton@tower.ac.uk

6. chat room in webCT We sometimes use it (as has been done here) to give one to one feedback/ support at a distance. Mostly it’s used to prompt discussion (maybe once or twice a term) when you want to get all students participating. Students sometimes schedule chats as part of group work. There are all sorts of web protocols and short hands which you may want to familiarise yourself with ‘lol’ ;-) mcompton@tower.ac.uk

7. What are the initial considerations? • Technology and expertise: It depends on what you have available • Encourage colleagues to see it as a way of enhancing face to face discussions • Because they give opportunities to students to contribute who may not otherwise, this can help with assessment too. So, if your aim is to enable more learners to participate then this is an effective way. • Because they support different learning styles and preferences you can set up a discussion that mirrors one you have had in class- sceptical colleagues are often surprised by the differences in contributions mcompton@tower.ac.uk

8. Ways these tools are used at THC • Schedule a chat as part of a collaborative task • Use discussion boards for students to share work and ideas • Follow a thread in class and use it as a prompt for discussion • ESOL/ Basic Skills- have a chat then get students to correct all or one type of error on the script • Tell students you will give a detailed response to all questions asked outside class time but only on the discussion board (thereby all students ‘hear’ your answer) • Assessments mcompton@tower.ac.uk

9. Communication Tools: Student feedback • “Although it takes a while to get used to, it’s worth it for the satisfaction of seeing something solid in response to your own ideas or contributions” • “It’s good to have everything there- you can go back to it.” Access to Teaching @ THC online feedback June 2003 mcompton@tower.ac.uk

10. Communication Tools: Student feedback • “We need to feel comfortable with new methods of learning- for H.E and in our future careers” • “It’s Great fun” • “You do not have to feel shy about speaking out in class and getting it wrong” Access to Teaching @ THC online feedback June 2003 mcompton@tower.ac.uk

11. Example of use with Access History students This is a page from the History and Politics WebCT course which is used by AS, A level and Access students (across two sites). On this page the “conditional” pages are those that are released only to named students. When these pairs clicked on their names (the only ones they could see) they got to… mcompton@tower.ac.uk

12. …this. It reminds them of the (differentiated) task and asks them to file their responses to webCT. mcompton@tower.ac.uk

13. These are then available for other students, revision and for supporting assessment mcompton@tower.ac.uk

14. Assessment Diagnostic Formative Summative mcompton@tower.ac.uk

15. Diagnostic 1 Screenshot taken from: http://www.bksb.co.uk/interactive_diagnostic_assessment.shtml mcompton@tower.ac.uk

16. Diagnostic 2 (sort of!) A short self marking ‘Hot Potato’ quiz made available immediately after first session. Students completed the same test on paper at end of class and could check their own results. mcompton@tower.ac.uk

17. Combination diagnostic and formative WebCT self test used in week 3 but with whole class (once pairs attempted paper version) Available for future review. Hot Pot would be equally good. mcompton@tower.ac.uk

18. Formative 1- contributions to discussion boards Sample posting on discussion board. Students given tasks that they may incorporate into class presentations but also enables more ground to be covered and for students to work at their own paces/ to their own levels (or just beyond) mcompton@tower.ac.uk

19. Formative 2 - Group Assessment and Review ‘Millionaire’ (template found on FERL) mcompton@tower.ac.uk

20. Formative 3- Critical Reading Hot Pot with detailed feedback Students work at own pace mcompton@tower.ac.uk

21. Summative 1- Half of psychology end of year exam in WebCT • Self marking and tallying • Set up time about same as marking time but available for next year. • Trends in errors much easier to identify and remedy (post exam) mcompton@tower.ac.uk

22. Summative 2 – Mixed format questions on Grammar Part self marking, part tutor marked- students get results and feedback in webCT mcompton@tower.ac.uk

23. Other tools used E-mail submission of assignments (for some students) SMS support for ongoing work Quia and other web based quiz tools. Interactive Word, Excel and Powerpoint Others? mcompton@tower.ac.uk