6.3 Reflection: Technology and Assessment

As I look toward a future in a blended classroom, I realize that I'm going to have to get creative with assessment. Since I will be operating in a blended environment, I have the benefit of using my usual methods as I explore a variety of online assessment tools.

One of the biggest challenges I anticipate facing is simply making sure that my students know how to use whatever tools I decide to use for assessment. While I already have several go-to methods of online assessment, I intend to explore and find new methods that allow me to engage my students in new ways and provide them with the additional benefit of gaining fluency in learning to use new digital resources. Because of this, I anticipate that I will end up devoting some class time to ensure the students know how to use the technology I will be asking them to use. The benefit of this is that I can use class time to have them try a new technology while using the process as a formative assessment for whatever topic we are studying. The downside is that the students may experience difficulties using the new technology and perform poorly on the formative assessment.

Since I will be incorporating using new technology tools throughout the year my students spend with me, one area I will need to become very good at is diagnosing the cause of poor performance in my students. I will have to work to determine whether it is the technology tool (or lack of access to technology tools) causing poor performance, or whether the student is struggling with content.

I expect that I will find a good rhythm for introducing new technology and integrating it into the curriculum (and therefore largely eliminating the need to diagnose the cause/effect relationship between new tools and poor performance), but that it will take some trial and error to find the right timing and approach.

4.3 Reflection: Social & Professional Networks

Ah, Facebook. Distraction. 

Facebook offers me two kinds of distraction: the first is the kind that feeds my need for interaction with other adults when my time with adults is limited; the second is the kind of distraction that occasionally keeps me from getting the house cleaned when I really should, or gives me a pleasant excuse to procrastinate a little longer instead of completing a task that needs to get done.

I find that Facebook has a lot to offer me as a human being. In addition to keeping me up-to-date on my extended family and friends' lives, it offers me connections, even with people I seldom see. Sometimes a thoughtful post or comment will allow me to connect briefly with another person, even if we have little in common outside of that interaction. While I sometimes find the discussions on Facebook frustrating, self-indulgent, or otherwise obnoxious, I also frequently find thoughtful, and thought-provoking discussions going on. Sometimes I choose to engage in conversations, and at other times I prefer to read what others have written without engaging myself in the discussion. That's part of the beauty of using social media. It allows me to choose when and whether I will participate in any given discussion; those that will become excessively emotionally draining or are somehow inappropriate are available for me to read, but those that I can contribute to thoughtfully are available for me to participate in for as long as I choose.

In addition to the entertainment value of Facebook, I also often find myself motivated to learn more about a given topic under discussion. When I see a link to an article, I will read it, but I will often go and find additional sources to further extend my understanding of the topic. 

The internet, in general, is a boon to readers and learners. Anything is available if you know how to find it, and all you have to do is open up a browser, search the right terms, or find the right website, and you have everything you could want to learn about a topic at your fingertips. Of course, with all that information available, it is also possible to get lost in data overload, or worse, get off-track while you are researching one topic and get distracted and lose focus on the topic originally being researched.

I suspect that my students would agree with the entertainment and distraction factor, although I think they would find my tendency to enjoy doing further research on a topic ridiculous. If I can capitalize on my students' interest in social media, and maybe use myself as an example, I can use it as a way to expand my students' use of social media to extend their view of their world, where they begin to see themselves as global citizens who can contribute to a larger discussion. Once I convince my students that social media represents an opportunity to become contributors to the world, it is my responsibility to help them start to begin to understand how to find good information, what to do with it, and how to use it to contribute productively to the larger conversation.