Graphic Organizer

Graphic organizer located on wiki page below:

http://sites.google.com/site/renjohnedu/graphic-organizer

Many technological tools are used daily by learners. Many of these tools can be incorporated into the field of technology especially in distance course because they have access to Internet.

Technological Tools:

Cell phones:

Cell phones go beyond making phone calls and texting those are uses of the past. They can be used to download information, access emails, discussions, wiki pages, blogs, and podcasts. Especially phones such as the iPhone, G1 with Google, Blackberry and the Droid, have capabilities to access the web with ease and download applications that can be used in the educational field.

MP3 Players:

MP3 players can be used to gather, listen, and view materials that pertain to classes. Learners use these technologies to download music, music videos, and movies for recreational purposes. This same technology can be used to download videos, presentations, and podcasts related to learning.

Computers:

Computers are an obvious technological tools that students use for personal communication: social sites, emails and the like. However computers are a main source of distance learning today. This can be used to access media such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, discussion boards, online classes, and much more. Computers have become easier to access because of wire web and the creation of portable computers such as laptops and netbooks.

Online Collaboration Assessment

George Siemens points out that assessing learners is difficult, especially in an online collaborative learning community. This type of assessment is difficult because traditionally assessment was individualized solely based on facts or skills individuals retained over a given period of time. However, collaboration calls for a different type of assessment. Students collaborate online in many ways, discussion boards, wikis, and blogs to name a few. Siemens mentions that these online forums are a good way for peers to assess each other using methods such as rating scales. However, peer assessment is only a small portion of the overall assessment. Educators must evaluate learners as well. This evaluation could be done by monitoring students' participation in online forums. Did the student participate? Did the student actively comment on others' posts? How much time was spent in the online forum? Did the student respond in a timely manner? All of these questions can help the educator assess the student's collaborative effort. These questions can be answered by looking at the forum, which keep accurate logs of student activity.

Siemens also discusses making the assessment process fair and equitable. He points out that the different ability levels of the students can make assessment difficult. Students who had limited ability in the beginning of a course could make great gains throughout the course, while students who have always been strong in the area make little gains throughout the course showing little change in ability. My answer to that is grade accordingly. Students who had weak post in the beginning should get lower marks for those posts and marks should improve as the quality of the posts improve. On the other hand students that have been strong throughout the course should continue to get high marks. Therefore the grading has been based on ability throughout the course.

Students that do not want to collaborate in a course first should not be in the course to begin with. Students should be aware that most online course call for some sort of group interaction. It's not much that can be done about students who are not willing to participate. However, other group members could encourage participation of that group member by asking questions to get them involved in discussion. This could make the unwilling member feel as though his or her opinion matters and make them more comfortable in a learning community providing a sense of trust that Siemens states in important. The instructor should directly ask the student why he or she is not participating and give tips for collaborating. Siemens points out that students are more likely to participate if they know that contributions are being assessed. If a student fails to collaborate assessment marks should be low. One can not be assessed for work that is not done.

Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Principles of distance education: Assessment of collaborative online learning featuring George Siemens. [DVD]. United States: Walden University.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Principles of distance education: Learning communities featuring George Siemens. [DVD]. United States: Walden University.

Collaboration Storyboard

I placed the my storyboard, in powerpoint and an outline in word, to my wiki. Please follow the link to:
http://sites.google.com/site/renjohnedu/collaboration-storyboard