Weekly Reflection - Assessment in eLearning - Module 2

Module 2 Reflection/ weekly journal entry
The element of communication is paramount when designing the course structure and the course activities in the online environment. Actually, communication is equally important in a face to face learning situation but the communication tools may differ. When referring to blogs, I see a tool that can be used successfully in both learning environments.
In just a few weeks I plan to orient a summer class comprised of fellow colleagues on the basic design and implementation of a blog. Therefore, as I have been reading through the assigned articles and participating in the weeks activities, I have been making mental notes on how I should approach the topics of blogs, Web 2.0 and Pedagogy 2.0, to this group of K-12 teachers. Emphasis should be made on the element of interactivity among blogging participants. Because a blog is posted on the Web, does NOT mean that “they will come.” We are creating an artificial “social” environment on the Web when we post a blog. Therefore we must structure activities that lend themselves to the interactivity of the blog as well as provide guidelines for participant accountability.
Other significant activities in blog participation are student / participant reading and writing. Obviously, posts on a blog are measureable, however there are many students who are not extremely prolific, yet they are able to gain knowledge and insight from reviewing the posts of their peers. On a personal note, I spend a significant amount of my time reviewing the discussions and posts of my fellow classmates. In a face to face learning environment where a blog might be just one of many course activities, students are often given the luxury of choosing the breadth and depth of their blogging engagement. In a unit of study or project, high school students usually have many more opportunities for grade advancement (alternate assignments, extra credit, etc) than college students when it comes to flexibility in choosing tools for assessment.
I see teachers using blogs in their instructional toolboxes, but I also take heed in the warnings mentioned in Lee and Allen’s article “Edublogs as an Online Assessment Tool.” Teachers must follow the necessary assessment ‘protocols’ mentioned in this article when using blogs as an assessment tool. The link between assessment and objectives is crucial. My current focus is on the K-12 environment, where this connection must be clearly outlined in order to produce the desired results.