Welcome
Crafting Aligned, Effective Assignments and Constructive Feedback
01.
Select at least one card that resonates with you or sparks interest. Be prepared to share with the group along with the classes you teach.
Intro to digital tools
leveraging technology in educational settings is crucial, especially for adult education where andragogy highlights the importance of self-guided and experiential learning methods. This section, titled "Introduction to Digital Tools," will review an array of technological solutions aimed at augmenting the learning experience. These digital tools not only simplify various facets of educational execution but also resonate with the tenets of andragogy, fostering a learning environment that is cooperative, centered around learners, and responsive to the specific requirements of adult learners.
Using video feedback tools can transform the feedback process into a more engaging and effective practice, enhancing student comprehension and retention of the material while providing a platform for more personalized interaction between students and educators.
Loom
Loom allows educators to create quick videos of their screen and camera, offering feedback on assignments, projects, or any student submissions. Benefits: It provides a more personal touch than written feedback and can be more effective in conveying tone and intent. The visual aspect helps clarify points that might be misunderstood in text, making it especially useful for complex or detailed feedback.
Flipgrid
Flipgrid is a video discussion platform where students and teachers can post video responses to prompts or assignments. Teachers can provide feedback through video responses directly addressing the student's submission. Benefits: This promotes an interactive, community-oriented environment where feedback is not only personal but also encourages peer learning and engagement. Flipgrid can foster a more conversational and supportive feedback loop.
ScreenPal (Screencast-O-Matic)
This tool is used for recording screen and webcam videos. Professors can use it to review student work, demonstrate correct processes, or highlight areas for improvement directly on the student’s work. Benefits: It supports visual learners and allows teachers to highlight specific areas of a submission that need attention. The tool also has editing features to enhance the feedback videos with annotations and overlays.
Edpuzzle
Edpuzzle integrates video with interactive content and can be used to embed questions or comments directly into the video feedback. Teachers can use it to provide feedback by commenting on specific points in the video where students might need more explanation. Benefits: It ensures that students engage with the feedback actively, as they can respond or reflect on the questions and comments embedded by the instructor. This interactivity helps reinforce learning and ensures understanding.
Vocaroo
Vocaroo is a straightforward audio recording tool that can be used to provide quick and easy oral feedback on student assignments. Althoughd primarily audio, it can be combined with video or screencasts to enhance the feedback experience. Benefits: It's very user-friendly and doesn’t require students or instructors to install software, making it accessible for quick feedback scenarios. Audio feedback can be more nuanced and quicker to produce than written feedback.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark Video allows instructors to create polished, short video clips that can serve as feedback. Educators can combine images, video clips, and voiceovers to provide comprehensive feedback. Benefits: This tool allows for creative and visually engaging feedback. It can help in clarifying points with the help of visuals and voice, making complex information easier to digest.
Kaltura
Kaltura offers a range of video tools, including options for video feedback. Professors can record themselves reviewing student work or providing step-by-step tutorials to clarify complex points. Benefits: Kaltura integrates well with many learning management systems (LMS), making it a seamless addition to existing course structures. It supports a wide range of video-based activities, enhancing overall student engagement and understanding.
OBS Studio
OBS enables educators to create high-quality video recordings and live streams of their lectures and presentations. Educators can integrate multiple media sources, including cameras, screen captures, and microphones, to deliver rich, multi-dimensional content. Benefits: This tool supports dynamic and interactive teaching methods. It facilitates the blending of various instructional materials and techniques, enhancing student engagement and understanding. OBS Studio's capability to handle complex multimedia setups makes it ideal for demonstrating detailed processes and visual information effectively.
03.
Educators Hosting Interactivity
It’s not uncommon for educators to discover that traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS) don’t fully meet the diverse needs of their students, especially when it comes to boosting engagement and addressing specific educational challenges. This realization may lead teachers to consider setting up their own websites or interactive platforms. Utilizing web hosting services, educators can create unique online environments designed as specialized areas for problem-solving within their particular disciplines. These custom platforms can concentrate on the areas students often find difficult, enhancing understanding through tailored content.
These bespoke online spaces offer the opportunity to integrate a variety of teaching tools such as dynamic simulations, focused quizzes, and interactive forums, all of which contribute to a more engaging and interactive course structure. Additionally, these platforms are designed to be adaptable, allowing for content to be updated and modified in response to direct feedback from students and shifts in performance, ensuring a learning environment that evolves to meet student needs. By developing these web-based educational platforms, teachers can transcend conventional teaching methods, providing a comprehensive suite of learning materials that directly addresses student needs and learning styles. This strategy not only improves comprehension and retention but also supports a broader and more effective educational approach.
- Limitations of Traditional LMS: Traditional Learning Management Systems often fall short in meeting the full spectrum of educational needs, particularly in areas like student engagement and targeted learning support.
- Exploring Alternatives: These limitations can lead educators to explore alternative solutions, such as creating their own online spaces or interactive modules using web hosting services.
- Custom Digital Environments: Educators can establish dedicated digital environments that act as problem-solving spaces, designed specifically around the nuances of their subject areas and the typical challenges faced by students.
- Focus on Difficult Concepts: These platforms can be tailor-made to concentrate on assignments and concepts that frequently pose difficulties for students, enhancing targeted learning.
- Deployment of Interactive Tools: Personalized online spaces allow for the integration of various instructional tools, including interactive simulations, quizzes, and discussion forums, all of which boost course interactivity and student engagement.
- Adaptable Content: The ability to continuously update and adapt educational content based on student feedback and performance metrics ensures a responsive and evolving learning environment.
- Extending Beyond Traditional Boundaries: By setting up web-hosted educational platforms, instructors can extend the learning experience beyond traditional textbooks and classrooms, offering a comprehensive repository of resources that cater to diverse student needs and preferences.
- Enhancing Learning Outcomes: This approach not only enhances understanding and retention but also fosters a more inclusive and effective educational environment.
Google Sites
Pricing: Free. Description: Google Sites is a free tool that allows users to create simple websites using a drag-and-drop interface. It’s integrated with Google Drive, making it easy to embed documents, presentations, and forms directly into the site, which is ideal for educators looking to set up a straightforward educational website with minimal hassle.
GitHub Pages
Pricing: Free. Description: GitHub Pages offers free hosting for static websites directly from a GitHub repository. This is a great option for educators with some technical skills who want to host course materials or projects. It supports custom domains and is especially good for hosting projects, portfolios, and resources that involve code.
AwardSpace
Pricing: Free with premium services available. Description: AwardSpace offers a free web hosting plan that includes one domain and three subdomains, 1GB of disk space, and 5GB of traffic, which can be suitable for small educational projects.
Neocities
Pricing: Free with a paid option for additional features. Description: Inspired by the old GeoCities, Neocities offers free hosting specifically for static websites. It provides 1 GB of storage space for free and supports HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, making it suitable for educational portfolios and project pages.
Wordpress
Pricing: Free with optional paid upgrades. Description: WordPress.com offers a free hosting tier that is sufficient for basic educational blogs and websites. It includes pre-designed themes and essential features like social sharing. Paid upgrades provide more customization and remove WordPress.com branding.
Weebly
Pricing: Free with optional paid upgrades. Description: Weebly is another user-friendly platform with a drag-and-drop builder for creating websites. The free version is quite robust, allowing for the integration of various multimedia elements which can be useful for educational content.
.05
Principles of Alignment in Educational Settings.
Introduction to Alignment in Education
- Alignment in education ensures all aspects of teaching are harmonized to support student learning effectively.
- Importance: Proper alignment increases the efficacy of learning by ensuring consistency across educational activities and goals.
Setting Clear Learning Objectives
- Define Learning Objectives: Statements that describe what students are expected to learn by the end of a course or module.
- Role in Alignment: Serve as the foundation for selecting teaching methods and designing assessments.
- Example: “By the end of this lesson, students will be able to showcase and explain historical events from multiple perspectives.
Aligning Teaching Methods with Objectives
- Connection to Objectives: Teaching methods should directly support and promote achieving the learning objectives.
- Variety of Methods: Discuss the integration of diverse teaching strategies such as lectures, group discussions, and hands-on projects.
- Example: For an objective requiring critical thinking, methods might include case studies, debates, or problem-solving sessions.
Designing Assessments to Reflect Objectives
- Purpose of Assessment: To evaluate if the learning objectives are being met.
- Alignment with Objectives: Assessments should be directly tied to the learning objectives and appropriate for the teaching methods used.
- Example: For an objective on analyzing events, assessments could involve essays, oral presentations, or exams with analytical questions.
The Harmony of Alignment
- Integrated Approach: How do objectives, methods, and assessments interlink and support each other?
- Benefits of Harmonized Education: Enhanced learning outcomes, more effective teaching, and clearer student understanding.
Reflecting on Alignment
- Let us recap the importance of alignment in achieving educational goals
- Invite reflections: How can you improve alignment in your own teaching.
06
Time to Work Together
- Participants work in small groups to discuss and refine assignments for their case studies. This collaboration helps generate new ideas and allows for peer feedback, which can enhance the creativity and effectiveness of the assignments. Include Feedback Loop strategies.
- Presentation and Feedback: Each group presents their crafted assignment to the workshop. This allows for broader feedback and provides an opportunity for others to learn from different approaches.
- Provide feedback to each other during presentations
A feedback loop in educational settings is a systematic process used to enhance learning and teaching through the continuous gathering, analyzing, and application of feedback. It involves a cycle where information about the effectiveness of teaching strategies and learning outcomes is collected, examined, and used to make informed decisions that improve the educational experience. This process ensures that teaching methods remain dynamic, responsive, and continually aligned with educational goals. The key components of a feedback loop include:
- 1-Collection
- This is the first stage where data and feedback are gathered from various sources. In an educational context, feedback can come from student assessments, peer reviews, student surveys, direct observations, and other relevant inputs.
- The goal is to capture a comprehensive and accurate picture of the current educational effectiveness, student understanding, and engagement levels.
- 3-Adjustment
- Based on the insights gained from the analysis, necessary adjustments are planned and implemented. This could involve revising curriculum content, changing teaching methodologies, introducing new learning activities, or modifying assessment strategies.
- Adjustments are aimed at addressing the gaps or issues identified during the analysis phase to improve educational outcomes and overall teaching effectiveness.
- 2-Analysis
- Description: Once feedback is collected, it needs to be systematically analyzed to identify trends, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for enhancement. This analysis can be qualitative, such as reviewing student feedback for common themes, or quantitative, such as statistical analysis of test results.
- The analysis helps in understanding the impact of current teaching methods and learning materials on student performance and satisfaction.
- 4-Reimplementation
- After adjustments are made, the new strategies or changes are put into practice. This phase also involves monitoring the effects of these changes to assess their effectiveness.
- Reimplementation allows the educational process to adapt and evolve based on feedback, completing the loop and starting it anew as further feedback is collected on the updated strategies.
A feedback loop in educational settings is a systematic process used to enhance learning and teaching through the continuous gathering, analyzing, and application of feedback. It involves a cycle where information about the effectiveness of teaching strategies and learning outcomes is collected, examined, and used to make informed decisions that improve the educational experience. This process ensures that teaching methods remain dynamic, responsive, and continually aligned with educational goals. The key components of a feedback loop include: