MonicaGoddard,KeithHulsey, PattiMorlock,LindaNorton

Introduction
ThisprojectisacollaborativeeffortbyanassignedteamofstudentsinEDUC762AssessmentinELearning onlinecourse,UniversityofWisconsin,StoutfortheSummer2013session.Apartofthecoursehadtheteam practiceandreflectonbestpracticesinassessment,withopportunitiesforfurtherdiscoveryofand experimentationwithonlineassessmenttools.ThisAssessmentToolboxistheoutcomeofthatdiscovery. Thesesharedtoolscompriseacollectionofresearchdonebythisteamtocometoagreaterunderstandingof theavailabilityanduseofsuchtoolsinonlineandtraditionallearningsettings.

Objectives
Theobjectiveofthisprojectincludes: Consolidatingcollaborativeresearchintoacohesivefinalproduct Researching,selecting,andexperimentingwithassessmenttoolfromcategory Integratingcourselearningintoonlineplanningthroughuseoflearningobjectives. ConstructinganAssessmentToolboxusingshareddocumentsthroughGoogleDocs

AssessmentToolCategories
Theassessmenttoolswechosetoreviewcamefromeachofthefollowingcategories: ReflectionAssessmentTools PeertoPeerCollaborativeTools Quiz&TestBuilders CourseTrackingTools

Process
Thecollaborativeprocessfollowedacooperativedesignmethodcalledajigsaw.Moreinformationonhow thatprocessworkscanbefoundhere.

TWITTER
ReflectionAssessmentTool Introduction Twitterisafreesocialnetworkingandmicrobloggingtoolthatwascreatedin2006.Currently,itisthe mostpopularmicrobloggingtool.Amicroblogisashortenedformofbloggingthatusesbrieftext updatesof140charactersandallowsforrealtimeinteractionbetweenusersusingdifferentdevicesand technologies.Eachusercanmonitorthenotes(Tweets)ofotherusersandfollow,respondorretweet whattheyhaveposted.TwitterisaWeb2.0resourcethatemphasizesactiveparticipation,connectivity, collaborationandsharingofknowledgeandideasamongusers.AllauserneedstobeginTweeting,isa computerormobiledeviceandtheabilitytoconnecttotheInternet. TwitterVocabulary:Speakthelanguage!
Tweet(noun)140characterpost (verb)topostamessagetoTwitter TweeterTwitterpersonwhoreadsandpoststoTwitter hashtag#thissymbolisusedtomarkkeywordsortopicsinaTweet.Itisawaytocategorize amessageinTwitter. @usedtocalloutusernamesinTwitter.Hello@Monica.Goddard5 Trendmostpopulartweet/topicatthemomentonTwitter.

UsesandBenefitsofToolinEducation
Twitteringisaboutlearning.Twittercanbeusedinanonlinecoursetocollaborateongroupprojectsorwith otherstudentsaroundtheworld.Itcanbeusedtoaskquestions,postobservationsforaclassactivity,askfor directions/clarificationofanassignmentorforreflectionoflearning.Twitterlinkedtoacourse/classblogorwiki canofferstudentstheopportunitytorespondtoanddiscusspromptsorquestions.Thisgivesstudentspractice inusingvoice,purpose,audience,organizingideas,toreflectandlearnfromeachother. TherearemanypositivebenefitsforusingTwitterineducation.StudentsandFacilitatorscanparticipateinreal timediscussions,creatinganonlinecommunityoflearners.StudieshavefoundthattheuseofTwitter increasesstudentengagementandparticipationinonlinediscussion,givingintrovertedstudentsavoice. Studentsarebeingexposedtorealworldactivities.Twitterispurposeful,curriculumandlearnercentered. Beinglimitedtouseonly140charactersencouragesuserstofocustheirattentionandtosummarizethoughts andideas.Itcanbeusedforprofessionaldevelopmentandbuildinganeducationalcommunity.

WeaknessesorChallenges
Aswithanytooltherearesomeweaknessesorchallengesthatoccur.Twittercanbetimeconsuminganda distractionforsomestudents.Therearenocontrolsorfiltersonposting,whichwouldrequiretheteacherinan educationalsettingtohavestudentsunderstandtheimmediacyandpermanenceoftwitterposts.Students mightalsobeexposedtoinappropriateoroffensivelanguageorcontent,aswellas,onlinepredators.Some studentsmaynothaveaccesstoacomputerorInternetoutsideofschool.Usingonly140characterscould leadtobadgrammarskills.

ExampleApplicationoftheToolinanOnlineClassroom
Theinstructorwouldpostaweeklyquestiononatopicthatisrelevanttotheonlinecourse.Studentswill researchthequestionandposttheirresponsewithpropersourcecitation.Studentswouldberequiredto engageindiscussionofclassmatesresponses,withaminimumof3responsestoothertweets.Itisexpected thatstudentswillfollowthediscussionformatoutlinedintheweeklydiscussionrubric.

LearningObjectives
StudentswilldisplaytheirabilitytouseTwitterbypostingaresponsetoaweeklyquestionandrespondingto3 tweetsfromclassmates.

Summary
Learningshouldnotbeaspectatorsport.Studieshavefoundthatstudentslearnbybeingengagedtalking aboutwhattheylearned,reflectingandwritingaboutit,connectittopastexperiencesandapplyitintheir everydaylife.Twitterhasbeenshowntobeeffectiveingettingstudentstoengageandparticipateinthelearning process.Itprovidesrealtimediscussions,immediatefeedback,abilitytocollaborateandtheopportunityfor studentstobeexposedtoreallifeexperiences.

Resources Twitter
CanweuseTwitterforeducationalactivities

PeertoPeerCollaboration Introduction
WebExisasynchronouscloudbasedmeetingspaceownedbyCisco.Itallowsuserstojointogetherfrom differentlocationsinavirtualconferencetoconverseandshareideasviaonlinetextchatting,internetvoice (VoIP)orvideocommunication.WebExsupportsawidevarietyofcomputingandmobiledeviceswithinternet connectionsPC,Apple,iPod,iPad,iPhoneandAndroidsoitisreadilyaccessiblebymostpeoplethese days.Evenwithoutthesedevices,voicemeetingsmaybeaccessedbyanyonewithastandardtelephone.A keyfeatureofthisenvironmentistheabilitytosharedocuments,photos,videos,applicationsoranythingona computerdesktopwiththoseattendingthemeeting.Itincludesawhiteboardspacetoplanandtoolstoannotate andhighlightitemssharedduringameeting.Forthosenotabletojointhemeeting,WebExhasarecording featurethatallowsforthewholethingtobeplayedbackatanytime.Attheconclusionofameeting,a transcriptofallthemeetinginformationmaybesenttoparticipantsandnonparticipantsalikekeeping everyoneinformedofmeetingdetails.

UsesandBenefitsofToolinEducation
WebExsabilitytoschedulemeetings,informandupdateparticipantspriortoandfollowupwiththemwellafter ameetingmakesitversatileandusefulforallmannerofeducationorientedcommunication.Thisincludes

studentteacher,teacherteacher,teacherparent,ortheessentialstudentstudentinteraction. Thoughithasthecapabilitytohandleupto100users,WebExseemslikeitwouldbestbeusedinsmallgroups orclassroomswithrelativelyfewstudents.WebExcanfacilitatesmallstudentgroupmeetingsthatwould enablethemtoworkonprojectsduringoroutsideofclassmeetingtimes.Teacherscanconferencewithoneor severalstudentsatatimeandmakeuseofthewhiteboardfeaturetodeliverlessons,awebbrowserto introducesites,ortheannotationfeaturetoreviseoreditdocuments.Theabilitytosharedifferentdocuments withdifferentindividualsallowsfordirectanddiscreetfeedbackifitiscalledfor. Keepingstudentswhoarehomeboundduetoillnessuptodatewithclassworkwouldbequiteeasytomanage withthesefeatures,enablingtheteachertokeepstudentsontrack. Onanadministrativelevel,WebExmightenableschoolsandcollegestoofferclasseswithnormallylow enrollmentbycombiningthemacrossgeographicalareas(seeProspectHighSchool)tocreateasingle classroomthinkhigherlevelAPmathandscienceorforeignlanguageclasses.Thiscouldprovetobea moneysaverformanyschoolsanddistricts.Otherpotentialsavingsmayresultfromthefactthatstudentscan usetheirowncomputingormobiledevicesatschoolBYODwithWebExbecauseofthewidearrayof hardwareitsupports.

WeaknessesorChallenges
CostcouldbethesinglebiggestchallengeforWebEx.Thefreeversiononlyallowsfor3peoplepermeeting whilethepremiumversionsallowfor8($24/monthforthehost),25($49),or100($89)participants.The individualregisteredwiththelicensemustbepresentinthemeetingbeforeitcantakeplace.Thoughinvited membersmayvisitthesiteandreviewanydocumentsattachedtoitbeforetheactualmeetingbegins,the requiredpresenceofthelicenseecausesaproblemifagroupofstudentswantedtoworktogetherontheir own. Becausethecostisafactor,smallgroupsofstudentsworkingtogethercouldmanagetoavoidthesefeesif theyeachregisteredforthefreeaccounts.Thiswouldenablethemtoorganizetheirownmeetings,albeit outsideofteacheroversight. Thisapplicationisessentiallyasynchronouscollaborationtool.Thismeansthatforsharingtobeatitsoptimum levelusersmustallbeinameetingatthesametime.Othertoolsdesignedforsharing,suchasGoogleDocs, allowforparticipantstomakeuseoftheirfeaturesatanytimeinanasynchronousmanner.Perhaps,a combinationofthetwotoolswouldbemoreusefultheGoogleDocsforsharingandeditingadocumentand WebExfortheinternetcommunicationfeatureslikeVoIP.

ExampleApplicationoftheToolinanOnlineClassroom
Anapplicationofthistoolcouldbeitsroleinpeerrevision,wherestudentsareaskedtomeetandreviseoredit apieceofwritingwithapartner.Therecordandtranscriptfeaturescouldallowateachertoessentiallysitinon therevisionsessionanduseittoassessstudentcomprehensionofthesubject.Afterward,theteachercould respondwithWebExtoofferlivefeedbackorsenditviaemail. AnadditionalexamplemightseestudentsworkingonaprojectusingthejigsawmethodmakinguseofWebEx tomeetandexchangeinformation,reviewresearch,andcollaborateonwriting,revisingandeditingtheproject.

LearningObjectives
Studentswill1)evaluatetheuseofthepresentperfectinapieceofwritingcreatedbyapeer2)discuss findingswiththepeerviaWebExand3)explaincorrectionsifnecessaryaccordingtoarubric.

Summary
WebExisallaboutsynchronouscommunication.Itdoesthejobofbringingpeopletogetherinavirtualmeeting makinguseofavarietyofdevices.Thoughmostlymarketedtowardthebusinesssector,itdoeshave educationalusesthatmakeitagoodfitasatoolforelearning.Itslivechat,voiceandvideocommunication abilitymeanuserscancommunicatenearlyaseffectivelyastheycouldfacetoface.Thedesktopsharing capabilitiesofWebExallowforanadditionallevelofcollaboration.However,asanelearningtoolWebExmight beabithinderedbyitsownstrength,thesynchronousfocus.Thoughtheabilitytorecordandfollowuponthe virtualmeetingsdoeshelptomitigatethisdrawback.Pairedwithanothercollaborationtool,suchasawiki, WebExwouldbeastrongpartofanelearningtoolbox.

Resources
http://www.webex.com/ Cisco.CiscoWebExSolutionsforK12DataSheet.[PDFfile]N.p.:Cisco,2010.WebEx.Cisco.Web.1July 2013.<http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/docs/education/connect_students.pdf>. "ProspectHighSchoolUsesCiscoWebExforHybridLearning."YouTube.EdatCisco,29Apr.2010.Web.01 July2013.<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waLow6ktan8>.

ExamBuilder
QuizandTestBuilders Introduction
ExamBuilderisaWeb2.0applicationthatallowsinstructorstooffercompleteonlinetestingwithoutdownloads orinstallations.ExamBuilderprovidesformultiplechoice,True/False,FillintheBlank,Matching,andMultiple CorrectAnswer.Testpoolscanbepreparedandtestscreated,allstoredinthecloud,therebyallowing accessibilityfromanywhereviatheinternet.ExamBuilderispopularwithstudentsasitiscompatiblewithall devices.Additionally,thissoftwareisabletobuilddetailedtestinganalysisbothcapabilitiesdoneinone interfaceona24/7basis.

UsesandBenefitsofToolinEducation
ExamBuilderoffersafree30daytrialandworkcanbedoneonoroffline.Anunlimitednumberoftestscanbe writtenandstored.Thereisanimagingtoolwhichallowsaninstructortoaddimagestoquestions.Aclickand learnoptionallowsquestionstobeusedasflashcardslockingthemfromfurthertestinguse.Thesystem defaultrandomizesquestionsandanswersfrommultiplechoiceanswersandmultiplecorrectanswers.The formatisuserfriendlyallowingforeasycustomizationwhenbuildingtestssuchasmanagingimages,fontstyle

andcolors.Additionally,thedefaultforrandomizationcanbeturnedofftoallowspecificquestionstogothrough asmandatory.Feedbackisimmediateandispresetbytheinstructor,asrelatedtothescorereceived,and identifiestheareasofweakness.Examreviewcanbesetuptoinstructorspecifications. Theautomatedfeaturesprovidedallowforschedulingtestingandsendingoutelectronicinvites.Retakescan beimmediatelyscheduled. Reportscanbequicklygeneratedwhichanalyzeeveryquestionandeverymultiplechoiceanswer,including levelofdifficulty.Analysiscanhelpdetermineknowledgegapsincoursematerial,compareclasses,provide gradesforeachtestpool,andprovideforremediationactivities.Fullexamhistoryandnumberofattemptsare providedaswell.Reportscanbeexportedtopdf.filesorExcel. Multipleinstructorscanbegivenvariouspermissionstoaccess,orspecificrestrictionscanbeappliedfor specificrolesonly.Newstudentscanbequicklyadded.

WeaknessesorChallenges ExamBuilderoffersLMSinterconnectivity,butislimitedto3systemsanddoesnotinteractwithD2L,Moodle,
orBlackboard.Uploadingastudentrosterorexistingtestsisnotpossible,requiringcompleterekeying.The websiteisgearedtowardcorporatetraining.Thecustomerlistnotessomeheavydutylogos(ex:McDonalds, UPS,Xerox),however,academiaisabsentwiththeexceptionofNotreDame,whichcouldbecorporatein nature.ListedalsoistextbookgiantElsevierbutagain,maybeacorporatetool. ThegradebookprovidedcannotbedownloadedtoanExcelfilewithoutsignificanteditingofformat.Thecostis afactor:thereare2versionsoffered,aStandardlicenseat$10.75/student,andanupgradedEnterprise license,at$15.95/studentperyear.Thenumberofstudentsregisteredisthenumberoflicenses,andthereis a100minimumrequired.Thelicenseisannualandisnottransferrable.

ExampleApplicationoftheToolinanOnlineClassroom
Byusingthecustomizingcapabilitiesandadjustingthedefaults,questionscanbemademandatorywhich assessspecificstudentlearningoutcomes,aswellasthedatacollected/analyzedviathereports. Questionscanalsobeconstructedasasurveywhichwillprovideanalternateformofassessmentto determinemastery/competencyorindicatethelevelofremainingneed.

LearningObjectives
StudentswilldemonstratetheircompetencyonthematerialcoveredinModule1bytakingtheonlineexam,with 79%accuracy. Studentswillratetheircomfortandcompetencyofcomputerskillsusedinthisclassbytakinganonlinesurvey withinthefirstweekofclass.

Summary
ExamBuilderisauserfriendlymeansofbuildingquestionpoolsandcreatingexamsthataffordstheteacher numerousoptionsforthedeliveryofquestionsaswellasretrievalofadetailedtestanalysis.Automatic schedulingfeaturesincludeelectronicinvitationsandretakescheduling.SinceitsinterfacingwithavailableLMS islimited,itmaybeasuitableoptionforteachinganonlineclassthatisnotassociatedwithalearning institution.Costmaybeaproblemduetoaminimumchargesystem,butanoptionwouldbetoincludeitas partofthecoursetuitioniftheminimumisnotreached.Recommendationsfromacademiamaybedifficultto

findasthewebsitecaterstocorporatetraining.Whilecreatingtestsmaybeeasy,theformattingdoesnot allowforuploadingexistingtestsandrosters,whichwillrequirerekeyingefforts,ordownloadingofthegrade bookwithoutsignificantformatediting.Sincetheformatcanbeusedasasurveyingimplement,anadditional layerofassessmentmaybegainedfromuseofthistool.

Resources ExamBuilder

CourseTrackingTool Introduction
TeacherEaseisacomprehensivesoftwaresystemdesignedtomanageallaspectsoflifeintheclassroom includingtextbooks,Gradebook,lessonplans,andindividualizedstudentplans.Communicationtoolsprovide accessforparentresourcestolearnmoreabouttheirchildsdevelopment,andaccessforteacherstoshare withoneanotherastheyimprovetheircurriculum.

UsesandBenefitsofToolinEducation
TheCurriculumandLessonPlanningcomponentofthissystemhelpstrackstandardstomakesurethe commoncoreisbeingcovered.Digitalresourcesandweblinkscanbeuploadedsoeverythingneededfora givenlessonisinoneplace.Traditionaltextbooksarereplacedwithdigitalcurriculum,allowingeasierbuilding ofresourcelibrariestosharewithotherteachers.

WeaknessesorChallenges
Inmovingawayfromapaperbasedlearningsystemwithtextbooksandworksheetstoapredominantlydigital world,Ihaveexperienced2weaknessesfrompersonalexperience.Thefirstisaccessibility,thesecondis cost.WhenourschooldistrictmadethemoveforeStemtogodigital,itwasacostlyventure,fromequipping theclassrooms,topreparingthebuilding,tohavingenoughequipmentforeverystudent.Whenstudentsgo home,theyareexpectedtocompletehomeworkonline,eitherviaalinkfromhomeoratthelibrary.Ifastudent hasnoaccesstheymustcometoschoolearlyorstaylate,or..havetheassignmentsprintedonpaper.More oftenthannot,studentsendupwithalotofpaperinspiteoftheattempttobedigital.

LearningObjectives
Thissystemwillbeusedbyteacherstocommunicateagivencurriculumwithindividuallearners,aswellas groups.Itwillalsobeusedtocommunicatebetweeninstructorsandparentsandamongtheinstructorsto sharecurriculumimprovements.Thesystemwillbeusedbythestudentstocommunicatewitheachotherand theinstructoroncollaborativelearning.

Summary
TeacherEaseisacomprehensivesystemwhichprovidesavarietyofassessmenttoolstoaidbothteacher andlearnerinamutuallearningenvironment.Inclusionofopencommunicationaids,andeaseofaccessfor parentskeepseveryoneonthesamepageandstressataminimum.TeacherEaseisverysimilarto PowerSchool,thesystemusedbymydaughtersschool.Icanattesttothesatisfactionasaparent,anda

substituteteacherinthedistrictoftheeasewithwhichlearningandcommunicationareenabledbecauseof integratedtoolssuchasthese.

Resources TeacherEase

Conclusion
Throughacollaborativeeffortcalledjigsaw,anassessmenttoolboxwasconstructedusingashareddocument, presentingaconsolidationofourresearchintoafinalproduct,integratingourcourselearningsandlearning objectives.Fromtheassignedcategories,ourfinalproductoffersconstructiveinformationontheusesofthe microbloggingtoolTwitter,thecloudbasedsynchronousmeetingspaceWebEx,thetest,quizandsurvey builderinthecloudExamBuilder,andthecoursemanagementsystemTeacherEase.Through experimentation,weaknessesandchallengesareincluded,aswellasanideaforapplicationandalearning objective.Finally,resourcesaremadeavailableforfurtherstudy.Thisprojecthasprovidedourteamwitha greaterunderstandingofassessmenttoolsavailableforuseinboththeonlineandtraditionalclassroom settings,andhasgivenimpetusforfurtherlearningonthistopic.