Assessment and E-portfolio

Assessment activities are a way to find out what a student has learned.  This is an assessment of how they can either answer questions such as with a standardized test related to the lesson or actually be able to put together a task directly related to what they learned.  Many teachers/instructors use a grading system or rubric to assess/grade learner/student.  This can be a better way of giving feedback to the learner/student by incorporating a grading system breaking down and identifying important parts of the lesson and performance.  The student can see areas of their performance that may have been lacking and may need some additional information/study in order to better understand what they should have taken away from the lesson.

An electronic portfolio or e-portfolio is a way for students to keep a digitized file/artifact of their work which can be a progressive performance profile, a demonstration of works, or just a collection of work performed by the student to show their abilities and/or progress.  It is a good way for the teacher and/or student to maintain a collection of their work and be able to review their work and self reflect.  Computer-based tests are testing assessment taking by students on the computer using either a bubble sheet or scan sheet.  This testing has a good grade turnaround time for teachers but it does not necessarily stimulate the students.  The students answer questions by choosing an answer and not giving a lot of feedback.  Students need to be stimulated and their assessments used to make modifications in needed in certain areas.

Assessments are important for both students and teachers in order to see how well the lessons/information is being learned and processed by students.  It also allows the teacher to assess how their lesson plans are educating the students.  Maintaining an e-portfolio is a great tool for students to maintain a digital record of their learning growth over time.

D. Jonasses, J. Howland, R. Marra & D. Crismond. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Keeping up

So how is everyone keeping up?  I started to review next weeks assignment and I have to admit CK really is keeping up on top of technology.  It is a bit intimidating but I am doing my very best to keep up.  It would have been nice to be closer to take CK's class in a classroom or at least be able to meet up with others to work together. 

To be honest, I am finding myself playing around out of my norm exploring the Internet, my blog page and learning all I can about what new technology is out there.  Whew there sure is a lot.

Anyone ever make an ePortfolio before......this is going to be a bit challenging but hey I am up for it.

Copy right laws now that certainly was not a light hearted read for many of us.

As a teacher in Texas, we must be proactive and teach our students right from wrong especially with copy right laws regarding types of publications, movies, internet, books, articles and so forth.  Students are always told not to copy but when online it may feel as if it isn’t copying but just using what is out in free space.  Utilizing the various websites with the copy right laws was very informative to me and would be very beneficially to educating a class.  No one wants to work hard and have someone accept/take the credit, simply said but it would make sense to many students.  Exploring the internet with students and working on how to cite online information is a great way to teach students.   Hands on, active approach is an important teaching method especially when working online, with just a click of a mouse information changes before our eyes but the laws will remain.

Online safety is making sure there are certain safety guidelines that you want students to use.  Students should not access sites that are restricted to over 18, they should not give out personal information such as their full name, school name, address or even their town.  If someone contacts them and makes them feel uncomfortable with questions about where they live and/or likes, asking too much personal information than they should alert their teacher, parents or another responsible adult.   Cyberbullying is bullying but using technology such as the internet, cell phones and email.  This can be when someone posts comments on a social network which can be humiliating, embarrassing and upsetting to another; cyberbullying is not easily taken back.  Once on the web it is out there for all to see.  If someone is being cyberbullied it is best to not acknowledge nor respond to the bullying but to report it.  As a teacher, we must be aware of our students and monitor while they are on the computers at school but also listen to what they are talking about.  Sometimes it is the lack of conversation that can speak loudest to us; sometimes it is when those who use to speak no longer do that can be a warning that something isn’t quite right. 

There is a lot of great information out there online.  As I opened up each website, I found myself connecting to another link or searching for additional information building off of what I was initially given.  I will keep these new websites about copy right laws saved for future use.  The Nets Smart Website I will be using with my current job.  There were some great tips that I will be passing onto my families as well as some of my coworkers to use in their programs.  Bullying has become a very serious problem and Cyberbullying is worse because it isn’t just a few people that see you being bullied it is a snowball effect which can destroy a young person’s self esteem in just a few minutes. 

This might get very interesting

This is all new to me.  I have been on MySpace and Facebook but never had my own blog page.  Where does one begin to blog?  What do you blog about?  Do I really what to spill every thought out over the internet for all to see?