
Mod 4: Muddling Through - Assessment
Am I the only person in the world of online learning that spends perhaps 3/5 of her time struggling to figure out new programs? If not, it sure feels that way. It's insane! Actually, I was at Trader Joe's yesterday (I know . . . ain't I lucky?) and a friend of mine who works there suggested Googling instructions if I've spent more than half an hour trying to figure something out. And I am going to try that! I'm a big fan of Googling. But I tell you something: I stump

Mod 3: Student Engagement is the "Magic" of Online Assessment!
Happy Spring, everybody! The "magic" of online assessment, I'm finding, is student engagement. If the student is fascinated by the subject matter, studying what's important to him/her, then assessment really can be magical - because it's feedback. That's why graduate school is potentially so much fun: we're learning what we want to learn. Feedback is essential to online learning as well as to assessment. I'm still figuring out the relationship between feedback and assessm

Mod 2: More Reflections! Assessment
Still feeling happy about online learning! I continue to be amazed by how much of a perfect fit it is for me: writing, editing, design, colors, and education - brain-based, even! I put so much energy into my master's thesis and wrote so much from my heart that it is an ongoing theme in my life. Brain-based learning simply means to teach with as much student-centered fervor as possible! It only means to facilitate the kind of learning the brain likes best - visual, audito

Neural Pathways - Like Attracts Like!
Mod 1 Assessment Reflection Last week, beginning March 4, was really fun. It was our first week of Assessment for eLearning and I had a good time - mostly because I wasn't a total beginner anymore in eLearning! What a relief that was - still is, really. In my last (and first) e-learning class I learned a lot about Beginner's Mind, or allowing myself not to know. It was pretty intense because there was so MUCH I didn't know! But in this class I am feeling way more confide

Reflections on Assessment and eLearning
Last week, beginning March 2, was really fun. It was our first week of Assessment for eLearning and I had a good time - mostly because I wasn't a total beginner anymore! What a relief that was - still is, really. In my last (and first) e-learning class I learned a lot about Beginner's Mind, or allowing myself not to know. It was pretty intense because there was so MUCH I didn't know! But in this class I am feeling way more confident about getting into the fun of all t

Assessment as Feedback
Mod 1, Assessment, First Reflection I'd say that of the six uses of assessment listed by Buhagiar (2007), feedback is the primary use of online assessment that the icebreaker, survey, and wiki provide. They also provide screening and diagnosis, to identify students who might need help, and they definitely provide record-keeping - automatically - but these are secondary uses of assessment. Feedback is the primary assessment use these web tools provide. By definition, the sur