Digital Assessment

Teachers enter the classroom daily ready to continue guiding, encouraging, and educating students as they grow and learn through the years. Students are given new content and concepts daily but it the teachers job is not just to teach but to assess learning and ensure that students are understanding and retaining the knowledge they are being taught. One way to do this is by using web 2.0 tools to teach and to asses learning. Niace.org says that digital Assessment looks at all the ways that learners, teachers and institutions use digital technology to understand how progress is being made in learning. It is made up of both initial and formative assessment, which informs the learning process, and summative assessment, which describes learners' achievements at the end of a period of study. Methods of assessment vary among content areas and thus one method can not be employed across the board. Project based learning (PBL) gives students a hands on approach to demonstrating their level of understanding and gives students a degree of freedom in developing their work. I like the use of PBL as a student but also feel that students need to be assessed in varying ways to ensure that we are developing students to be well rounded. Requiring students to write, think critically, even doing standard true false or multiple choice assessments all have their place and assess students at different levels. For technology based assessments it seems as if PBL assessments are best. It allows students to use the technology to learn, interact with, and present their project based on what they have learned. Rubric's have become a very helpful resource for students and teachers alike. For teachers it allows them to have a guide in assessing and grading assignments fairly and ensuring each students work is graded according to the same guidelines. It helps students by giving them a document to reference while completing their assignment to ensure they are covering all required aspects of the assignment. Students learn in many different ways and that also means as teachers we should find various ways to assess their learning.

photo credit: edutopia

 

                                                                                          Video Credit: Buck Institute for Education via youtube

 

 

 

Video in Education

     Using video in classrooms has been around since VHS tapes. They have been used as supplements to instruction to give students a different perspective of a lesson and to see the material in motion. This can be very useful when teaching a subject that requires in depth descriptions or complex material. Allowing students to visually see how things work and witness them happening can greatly increase their retention of the lessons. Video in the classroom has evolved since the times of VHS and now students are not only watching videos but they are creating and developing videos themselves to present to fellow students and teachers. This new use of videos allows students to reach higher levels of Blooms revised taxonomy.
     I think using already made videos can be a valuable resource and intend on using them in my classroom as long as I can find some that really drive home the point of the lesson or can help to facilitate learning of a lesson effectively. I do not think they are necessary for every lesson but do think for some lessons they can really help students to grasp some material. I would also like to allow students to create their own videos as a cap stone project to show how they bring all the material together into one final culminating point. There are resources available to teachers to help them integrate video production as a project. Below are some examples of ways that videos can be used in todays 21st century classroom.

Video Credit: Kristyna Maree via youtube

Video Credit: Cisco via youtube               

Copyrights in Education

     Copyrights play a major role in protecting individuals from having their works stolen or reproduced and also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for their work. The copyright was originated with the development of the printing press. It was established after there was concern about the unregulated copying of books. England's Parliament passed the Licensing of the Press Act 1662 that established a register of licensed books. The US developed the Copyright Clause in the US Constitution in 1787.
     The goal of Copyright is to continue to stimulate creativity amongst people. Brankos Weblog does an excellent job in explaining how copyright continue to foster creativity by protecting peoples works. If anyone could freely copy and make money off of other peoples creations and ideas than people would be less inclined to put in the work of coming up with new ideas if they know anyone could take it and make money off of it as if it were their own. Why do all the work if you could just as easily take someone else's ideas and make money off of them, that's a lot easier. Copyright laws prevent this and continue to ensure that peoples creative works are protected which allows everyone equal creative protection.
     One area that copyright does not protect against copying is when such reproduction falls under "Fair use and fair dealing". Fair use is not clearly defined and is in a way open to interpretation in some ways. It does give four non-exclusive factors to consider in a fair use analysis. These factors include:

1. the purpose and character of your use
2. the nature of the copyrighted work
3. what amount and proportion of the whole work was taken, and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

These factors are a guideline to follow and can be very important when considering using works for the purpose of educational aides in todays classrooms. With technology becoming more available to students at all grade levels teachers must be aware of the fair use policies when using works, including music in their own or student presentations, and when using copyrighted works to supplement instruction. Columbia University Libraries has a very informative site that does an excellent job in describing fair use, provides a fair use check list, guidelines, and provides case summaries as well.
     As a teacher I feel that I need to be very aware of how I am using copyrighted works in my lessons and activities to ensure that they fall under fair use. Fair use statute explicitly lists teaching as an acceptable use but I also have to be sure that the work is transformed and not merely copied in its entirety. The quantity used of a work is also important. I know as an educator I can not simply copy a whole book or document to be used in class. It is important to only use necessary passages to supplement your intended lesson and purpose. As I enter the classroom in the next few years I will be mindful of what I and other teachers are using in our classrooms and ensure their use fall under the fair use guidelines.

Video Credit: Renee Hobbs via YouTube.com

                                                                             















Photo Credit: Renee Hobbs

 

Photo Credit: Meredith Atwater