Online Assessment

School cancellations struck with appropriately 3 weeks left in the school year for the majority of students at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.  Although it was challenging to get classes up and running online, it was not an insurmountable obstacle.  Students knew the syllabus, and knew what their assignments were for the remainder of the semester.  In comparison to K12 schools, minimal content needed to be transitioned from F2F to online.  

The big problem: how do you assess students online?  As year-end finals typically rely on our Test Centres, or huge gymnasiums that are set up for this purpose.  

In my Instructional Design demo course from Library Juice Academy the second module discusses online assessment.  The instructor Mimi O'Malley noted early in the module that online students are often self-sufficient learners, likely with strong time management skills.  In the absence of F2F classrooms where students could clarify instructions for an assignment or exam, online instructors need to give thorough explanations and step-by-step instructions for these activities or students are likely to become muddled.  O'Malley states 'more is better' in online learning environments.  Provide concise, clear directions and perhaps spelled it out more than you think you should.  Despite being self-sufficient learners, online environments can be breeding grounds for confusion and anxiety.  Students may not know where they should be looking for information and often have a fear that they may have missed a critical piece of information.  I have certainly felt this way every time I have enrolled in an online class. 

Another issue with online assessments can be unclear learning outcomes, or when there is a disconnect between the learning activities and the assessment.  

Lesson learned: online assessment requires clearly identified learning outcomes and thoughtful and thorough instructions.  Another recommendation: host online office hours so that students can ask questions or post a video where you walk through the assignment outlining each of the expectations.  A beautiful rubric does not hurt either!