I created a simple blog rubric for my online class, and am interested in some feedback on it.
The assignment, as stated in my syllabus:
Reflective Practice is a critical aspect of teaching and learning, and a fundamental element of teaching online involves acquiring a comfort with technology to communicate and collaborate.
Online learning is a more networked experience than traditional face-to-face (F2F) learning. Thus, students are required to use a blog for this course. Students may use their own blog (if they have one) or create a new one (WordPress.com, Blogger, Epsilen, or elsewhere). Blog posts should be done at least once a week discussing some learning or a reaction to anything in the course.
Making at least two comments every week on other course attendee blogs is required.
As I am intending the student (all of whom are adults) blogs to consider any issue in class and then relate it to their practice, this is the rubric I created:
For your own weekly blog post(s), be sure to:
- Post your blog entry before the due date ~ 0.5
- Post a link to your Blog posting in the Forum ~ 0.5
- Discuss and develop some aspect of online learning / education ~ 1.0
- Demonstrate that you are able to apply what you are learning to your professional practice ~ 1.0
Total = 3 points
I will ask them how this feels and if it works after we do our first assignment of this, so until then, I am open to other considerations for verbiage or total point (3 points / week) re-distribution. Thoughts?
I don’t think it’s *quite* as simple as rubrics or a dartboard. Over time I’ve become less and less interested in rubrics as a generalized tool. I’ve come to think of them as most useful for specific, highly targeted assignments… collaboratively created if possible.
I have a lot less confidence in them– and a lot more worries about their effect– when they are used in a more generalized manner, or as the basis for repetitive assignments. That’s when the problems with rubrics (providing incentives for uniformity, lack of flexibility, lack of recognition of strong performance outside of given proportions, etc) become clearer.
I have students blog in most of my classes. I stopped using a rubric in most cases and instead explained that– like the real world– there is no magic word count or structure that will automatically score higher. A two sentence insight deserves recognition. So does a well-constructed and crafted discussion. So does a post that uses media in a way that enhances the content. You get the idea!
Chris, I have come back to your reply several times in the past few weeks — you have so much here for me to unpack. I even posted more work I am doing in this area in a new blog post today http://silenceandvoice.com/archives/2009/11/22/assessment-issues-in-online-learning/ where I am pushing the reality of assessments, and how something that often seems so simple is really quite a bit more complicated and involved.
One of these days I will have to see how you handle this in your own classes!
Jeffrey