Formative Assessment
The conversation started around the use of formative assessment, particularly about digital tools to conduct formative assessment. I wanted to use a simple tool to gather some thoughts from the class to demonstrate one form of finding out their Thoughts, their Questions and their Epiphanies. I choose to use linoit. The information that the class provided was insightful. It gave me a better understanding of what they knew, the questons they had and the ah-ha moments that had come to them during the week's assignement or in the last 5 minutes before we started the activity. See the digital sticky notes they posted below. Click the link below the image to view more.
Formative Assessment TQE 585 |
Digital Age Learning
The insights from the digital sticky notes helped to drive a discussion that supported statements or answered questions for others and allowed participants to continue sharing their thoughts, asking questions and arriving at their newly formed epiphanies. I hope that their epiphanies were as meaningful as mine. Digital Age Learners, as described by the ISTE Standards for Students, need to be empowered learners, responsible citizens, constructors of knowledge, innovative designers, computational thinkers, creative communicators, and competent collaborators. The students in today's classrooms are far more savvy, far more discerning, and far more capable than we give them proper credit for being and doing.
Participatory Culture
Learners are not as much engaged by the end product as they are the process. Digital Age Learners yearn for a participatory culture. John Spencer captures seven reasons to show your work. He talks about when people share their work they begin thinking about your thinking, innovating, mentoring collaborating, storytelling, building courage, embracing revision and shares this revelation to summarize the value sharing your work.
"When students only share their highly polished, finished work, they miss out on the opportunity to improve their work through multiple revisions. However, when they actively share their process and their progress, they begin to internalize the idea the idea that creative work is all about iterations."
Intrinsic Motivation
I hope in that moment when this all came to me and I stomped upon my soapbox, that the students in EDU585 realized it isn't about that perfect end product, it isn't about satisfying the points on a rubric. I hope they realized that it is about iteration, inspiration, and an intimate look at who they are as a learner and who they want to become as an educator. In the end they will create and submit their products to meet the course requirements but I truly hope that what they remember more was the process, their persistence and the payoff and that their motivations were intrinsic and that they own the learning.
