Running head: EXAM EVALUATION

Scharf

Exam Evaluation Dylan Scharf EDT 610 National University July 13, 2013

EXAM EVALUATION

Scharf

Online learning plays a vital role in the education of students in this increasingly technological modern world. It holds specific importance to adults who wish to continue their education even after careers and families have been started. There are particular aspects of this online education that must be present if the content being learned will make a positive impact on the student and allow the student to use this knowledge to meet the desired end result. Kerry Rice outlines five necessary outcomes if the learner is to achieve mastery of the content matter. These outcomes are: Learner Autonomy, Active participation, Collaboration and community building, Authentic assessment, and Acquisition of 21st century skills". If these five outcomes can be met within an online learning environment, success should be the outcome in regards to the students efforts. The lesson and exam based on Cuba and the Cold War successfully met the first learner outcome, learner autonomy in that it is presented to the student in a format that is easily accessible and at the students convenience. It is found that online environments can encourage learners to take initiative in their own learning by seeking out information and building connections (Rice, Kerry pg. 30). This lesson does just this; it gives the student the chance to learn the information and seek out more complete knowledge or research on the students own time while testing to see if the information the student learned is correct. The opportunity for the student to make corrections is also offered which continues to meet the outcome of learner autonomy, as the student does not have to submit the exam to a source where the student may have to wait to make corrections. The lesson and exam only meet some of the criteria for active participation. The student has to actively read the lesson and then answer the questions provided. This is as far as the active participation goes, as the lesson is a simple read and test lesson and does not ask for the student

EXAM EVALUATION

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to get any more involved or go deeper on their own. Rice states student involvement is an important part of the process and can include negotiated learning outcomes, active research in the field, and partnerships with the outside community (Rice, Kerry pg. 31), unfortunately this lessons offers few of these ideas. There are no opportunities to neither connect with the outside community directly through the lesson nor engage in active research in the field. These aspects are not entirely necessary for the aforementioned lesson, but if these are required aspects to meet the Rices outcomes this lesson falls short. Collaboration and community building are absent from the lesson and exam as the lesson and exam are rather short and ask for little effort from the student or need for collaboration. This causes the lesson to not meet the standards for Rices five learner outcomes. This is unfortunate as establishing open lines of communication between (the teacher and) students is essential to the learning process (Rice, Kerry pg. 32). Not only does this lesson miss the opportunity for communication the lesson is so simple this kind of communication becomes unnecessary. Rice says instructional environments that promote a process, rather than an end product, necessitate the development of assessments that are progressive, rather than summative (Rice, Kerry pg. 33). The lesson and assessment offer only questions and answers leaving very little as far as process is concerned. In fact the assessment is simple enough that the questions can be read and the answer searched for leaving the other information unnecessary which is the opposite of learning. Learning is not about the memorization of facts, dates and people but the process of investigation and connection to ideas that lead students down the path of critical thought, expanding their minds and perspective of the world. The final outcome is acquisition of 21st century skills, and is void in this lesson. With the exception of the basic knowledge it takes to navigate a computer the lesson itself could be given

EXAM EVALUATION

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as a handout leading toward the same outcome; some basic knowledge of Cuba during the Cold War. In an online lesson there should be a certain amount of rigor, and if the content itself does not connect the student with the modern world the lesson should emphasize creative problem solving, synthesizing, using networks and workgroups, developing cultural and global awareness, and communicating effectively in multiple media (Rice, Kerry pg. 34). In my opinion the lesson and exam on Cuba and the Cold War is effective only in that it allows the student to learn some basic information about this time period. It meets only a few aspects of Rices outcomes and fails to actively engage the learner. I have taken 30 something online classes and I do not remember any of them being as ineffective as this one. Online learning has the opportunity to be very engaging and offer a meaningful experience to the student, but I think that it must employ as many aspects of Rices outcomes as possible.

EXAM EVALUATION

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Works Cited

Rice, Kerry. (2011-10-04). Making the Move to K-12 Online Teaching: Research-Based Strategies and Practice. Pearson. Kindle Edition.