CREATING MEDIA AS LEARNING: THE CHARMS AND CHALLENGES OF DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT

Louise Thorpe

Educause Learning Initiative

Web Seminar – 2 March 2009

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30,000 students and 3,000 faculty

Over 600 programmes of study – largely vocational and liberal art

Graduate employability – 89% within 6 months

One third of students from local community

3,500 international students from 120 countries

www.shu.ac.uk

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AIMS OF THE SESSION

Why consider digital media-based assessment?

What are “charms” of assessing students in this

way?

What practical considerations need to be

considered?

What are the “challenges” of this approach?

What might the future hold? 3

DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT

Students are asked to produce, individually or in groups, a piece of assessed coursework where the output is required to be in a single or mixed media format (eg audio, video, still image).

This assessment may be summative, formative or diagnostic….or a combination thereof.

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WHY CONSIDER DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT?

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Authenticity

Assessment as learning

Creativity

Engaging and interesting

WHY CONSIDER DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT? - AUTHENTICITY

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10 characteristics of authentic activities (Reeves, Herrington and Oliver, 2002)

1. Real-world relevance2. Ill-defined, requiring students to define the

tasks and sub-tasks needed to complete the activity

3. Comprise complex tasks to be investigated by students over a sustained period of time

4. Provide the opportunity for students to examine the task from different perspectives, using a variety of resources

5. Provide the opportunity to collaborate

WHY CONSIDER DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT? - AUTHENTICITY

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10 characteristics of authentic activities (Reeves, Herrington and Oliver, 2002)

6. Provide the opportunity to reflect7. Can be integrated and applied across

different subject areas and lead beyond domain-specific outcomes

8. Are seamlessly integrated with assessment9. Create polished products valuable in their

own right rather than as preparation for something else

10.Allow competing solutions and diversity of outcomes

WHY CONSIDER DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT? ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING

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Constructive alignment (Biggs 1999)

Technology enhanced learning is often followed by traditional assessment

Higher order skills – analysis, synthesis and critical evaluation

WHY CONSIDER DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT? - CREATIVITY

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oAssessment as creative expression

oThe output frequently exceeds the initial expectation

oNew interpretations of the topic can be enriching for all

oContributing to the collective resources

oCommunal constructivism (Holmes 2001)

"in this model, students will not simply pass through a course like water through a sieve but instead leave their own imprint in the learning process.“

Bryn Holmes on Communal constructivism

WHY CONSIDER DIGITAL MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT? ENGAGEMENT AND INTEREST

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different

challenging

modern

like real life

fun to do

learn new skills

think differently

work with others

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Access to equipment

File sharing and collaboration

Submission and storage

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PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Skills and fluencies

Supporting faculty and students

Assessment criteria

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CHALLENGES OF MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT

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Is the balance right?

Are we replacing one affordance with another?

How many simultaneous media-based assessments can someone handle?

CHALLENGES OF MEDIA-BASED ASSESSMENT

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What happens when the novelty wears off?

What assumptions can we really make about students’ skills?

What support do we need to (can we) offer?

WHAT MIGHT THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

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Easier and easier

Choosing the media

Mashing the media

New opportunities

REFERENCESBiggs, J. (1999): Teaching for Quality Learning at University, (SRHE and Open

University Press, Buckingham)

Holmes, B., Tangney, B. FitzGibbon, A., Savage, T Mehan, S. (2001)Communal Constructivism: Students Constructing Learning for as well as with others https://www.cs.tcd.ie/publications/tech-reports/reports.01/TCD-CS-2001-04.pdf

Reeves, T. C., Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2002). Authentic activities and online learning. Quality Conversations. Proceedings of the 2002 Annual International Conference of the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA). pp.562-567, http://www.ecu.edu.au/conferences/herdsa/main/papers/ref/pdf/Reeves.pdf

Rule, A. (2006). Editorial: The components of authentic learning, Journal of Authentic Learning, 3(1), 1-10. http://www.oswego.edu/academics/colleges_and_departments/education/jal/vol3no1/editorial_rule.pdf

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