How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed? How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning?
Dr. Siemens list four types of assessments for the collaborative learning environment. (1) Students assess their peers (2) Students receive feedback from online communities (3) Educators assess based on student contribution (4) Educators assess based on metrics from learning management systems (Siemens, 2008). Instructors should set a variety of assessments using various criteria that will meet the needs of the learners. Instructors must remember what Dr. Siemens states, when we assess we are not only assessing the learner we are assessing ourselves as the educator (Siemens, 2008). Assessments should be based on the outcomes that are stated in the beginning of the course.
If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, what should the other members of the learning community do? What role should the instructor play? What impact would this have on his or her assessment plan?
According to Dr. Siemens, the best way to get students to participate in collaborative learning community is to change the assessment model and have them role-play participating in a high-functioning learning community (Siemens, 2008). In order to make a student comfortable with collaboration there must be a high level of trust. The instructor must be the facilitator of the learning community. When designing learning experience, educators must create a mix of individual and community based environments (Siemens, 2008). Assessments should evaluate individual and group based work.
Reference:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author
Laureate Education, Inc. (2008). Principles of Distance Education. Baltimore: Author
