2 Assessment Redesign
Converting your assignment/assessments to the online environment may be as simple as creating an assignment dropbox for students to turn in papers or modifying an assignment to meet the needs of the online learner.
Assignments- Have your students turn in their assignments on your learning management system by creating an assignment.
Peer Review/Editing– If you like peer editing/peer review, you can use the learning management peer editing tool to create guidelines/rubrics for students to use. One great thing about moving online is that you can create anonymous peer review/editing assignments as well.
Groups- Groups are still an excellent choice for learning in the online classroom. However, online group dynamics are different from face-to-face groups. Students are not occupying the same space, so they need a few more accommodations to help them be successful. Give students more time (2-3 times) to complete group work online. Different time zones, work schedules, and family commitments can make for difficult collaboration. The more time you give them, the more time they have to meet the obstacles and be successful.
Presentations- Presentations can still be an assessment in the online course. Students can create a presentation using multimedia tools (Voice over PPT, Video, etc.) and upload them to the discussion board for peer review and discussion.
Tests- Timing of your tests is also something that you will need to rethink in the online environment. In the traditional face-to-face classroom, you may hand out a paper test on a certain day and length of time. This is not an option for your online students, and there are a few best practices regarding tests that you should factor into your redesign.
- Test Release- It is suggested that you have the test available for students for a week. If you feel that a week is too long, you should have the test available for at least 48 hours. Remember that online students are not likely to be able to take a test at the same time of the week as face-to-face students.
- Test Time- Go over test your questions and time how long it takes you to complete the test and double it. Remember that you are an expert on the content, and your students are not.
If you are worried about cheating on a test, then it is vital to use the LMS settings that allow for the test to be opened once from start to finish (one attempt), release feedback after the test is passed the due date or it has been graded, and use question banks to create randomized question sets allowing students to receive different questions.
Don’t forget there are a large variety of tech tools that you can also use to modify your assessments and activities.