Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Evaluation tools?

This is looking at some evaluation tools that I use within my classroom, these are some notes for me that go with the webmeeting on the 6th march.

Looking at tools used to help facilitate learners and to look at the evaluation of the tools that we are using.

I am working on getting student email accounts at school. These would be used possibly for teachers to talk to other students, get those one on one discussion topics going, however some teachers are fearful that there lives will become 24/7 to the students. No one has ever said that it will become 24/7 for the students.

Also we have a Learning Management System, called knowledgeNET and have been working with this system for a number of years now. It is a pity using many other LMS when they have functionality that knowledgeNET does not have. I used the LMS today to post an assessment for the students to hand in on line, however I managed to post it to all year 13 students.
With the updates we can see when the students last login and who is currently logged in. One of the biggest problems is that a number of students do not have access to these systems at home,

Survey monkey we have used within the school, we used this to look at the students to ask what makes a good lesson. One of the problem with this was the multiple responses as the students don't really know what they are doing when they submit a survey. We had an internal system that would only aloow the students to submit once, unfortunealty with teh change over in servers this was moved over.

Asking the students at the end of the lesson, what did they enjoy, what did they not enjoy, I have a system at school where I can do a survey straight away with the students using the remote management tool. they have to answer before the computer will remove the box on their screen before they can get back to work.

talking and department meetings, I talk with my HoD all the time, and her with me, we talk about what worked with the class and what did not work with the class.

I have used a evaluation technique called SII (Strengths, Improvements, Insight). This I use with the students to look at there own development throughout the year, after a unit or
topic, rather than just leaving it to the end of the year. This one I have modified for online use.

Answer the following questions:
What are some Strengths of taking this class?
This could be what you like or enjoy, what you have experienced, what you hope to accomplish, or perhaps nothing at all.

What are the areas of Improvement?
Are there areas you are having problems with? Do you find online communications challenging? If so, what can be done to make it easier? Feel free to contact ne to discuss concerns and look at strategies to help resolve any problems or challenges.

What are some Insights I have gained from doing this?
What have you discovered that was unexpected or surprising to you?

4 comments:

Yvonne said...

Hi

Your post got me thinking about how often we ask students for their views and I wondered if asking them too often results in quick, perhaps meaningless, feedback (as they may get a bit bored completing the same survey over and over). Do you change the survey questions regularly or stick to the same ones? Having said this, in the FreeB community classrooms we had an online quiz that we asked students to complete once they finished a topic but some of them got into the habit of doing it at the end of every session!

Yvonne

Bronwyn hegarty said...

great post oneteacher with a very comprehensive overview of your evaluation techniques. How often have we heard the cry "I don't have the time to be responding to emails day and night"?

One of the most important things about online learning and teaching is about workload management: finding effective ways to present content and gather information and communicate so we are as efficient as possible. This takes time and lots of mistakes before we get it, unfortunately.

I like the sound of "evaluation technique called SII (Strengths, Improvements, Insight)" and the good communication you appear to have with colleagues and students.

It looks like you have lots of material to work with here for your evaluation project. and it will be based on some already sound practices. such choice and I will be interested to see where you head with your project.

Jennifer said...

Hi,
gosh I am having trouble posting my comments! A great read - really interesting to see a school perspective. Your evaluation/feedback system sounds really good.
Have a look at http://www.mgsonline.org.uk/ for a UK online resource for secondary teaching - very impressive.

With the access situation - can they use a public library? (most have a free one hour internet access) or - this is a biggie - the school making a lab available out of normal hours?

Cheers
Jennifer

Gordon said...

Hi Gerard, I wondered whether the SII method was used primarily with the senior yr 11,12,13 students or with all levels. The key difference here appears to be the lack of specific "smile sheet" style questions in favour of broader questions.

Do the juniors provide thoughtful and comprehensive replies?

I like the concept as it does allow the freedom to comment on any aspect and I suspect that the key issues would be highlighted without wading through mundane answers. I also like the way it focusses on them as individuals not so much on the course and the teachers but more about what they gained and what they can do with it.

You don't comment on how well you think SII works - I would be interested in your opinion.

Cheers

Gordon