As we see a shift toward what Siemens (2008) describes as a participatory pedagogy where collaboration and teamwork are a key element in curricular activities, distance learning programs must look at forming learning communities within their organizations. This collaboration can be difficult for both the learners as well as the instructor. For learners, this collaboration often takes place on a discussion board or in smaller learning communities. Each group member must post an initial response then reply to others. This can be difficult for the learner because he/she must depend on group members to post in a timely manner with a well informed post. If each group member does not do this, it affects the others. In this area, it is also difficult for the instructor as he must evaluate the work. In environment, I feel that each member of a group should use a rubric to assess each group member. This should be factored into the final grade given by the instructor. If a student failed to participate in a collaborative assignment, I feel that the learning community should first try to contact that member and offer help. If this does not resolve the problem, the group should contact the instructor for instruction on how to proceed. The instructor should also contact the non participating group member reminding them of the responsibilities of the class. If the group member continued to be a non participant, he/she should receive no points on that portion of the assignment.
Each member of an online course brings a different background and different knowledge levels to the course. In order to ensure “fair and equitable assessment”, the program should offer tutorials on how to use the technologies required.
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author.
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that, "the program should offer tutorials on how to use the technologies required." It is difficult to work in an environment that you are unfamiliar with. Working collaboratively has its benefits, because with students from different backgrounds and knowledge someone knows about the technologies. However, some students are not comfortable asking for help from "strangers". That is why communication is so important. Students must be comfortable and build that "connectiveness" and high level of trust that supports a collaborative community.
Tracy
Good post, I totally agree that collaboration in learning communities are very important to the success of all that are associated in learning communities. If any student are not participating to the level of their expectation and responding in a timely matter it have an effect on the entire learning community. All of this goes back to that particular person lack of involvement in the learning community. You mention a rubric which can clearly show the student how their work will be evaluated and what is expected. Rubrics can also allow assessments to be more objective and consistent in determine how each participant is evaluated in that particular learning community.
ReplyDeleteKeith
Beth,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the professor should take collaboration into account when assessing students. If they refuse to work in this collaborative learning community then they should not receive credit for it. Great Post!
Rachel