Module 6: Assessment Tools and Strategies in the Online Classroom

This week’s module discussed the roles of assessment tools and strategies in the online
classroom. Mr. Averett, received the basic questions prior to the scheduled conference call, and
he was ready with information that demonstrated assessments that were utilized in the Latin I-B
classroom. Most of his assessment strategies are found on his home page, and are utilized in
other GAVS classes, as this is a standard expectation for all learners that are taking online
classes through the Georgia Online Classroom.
The Latin I-B course uses three criteria for assessment purposes. Students are required to
participate in classroom discussions (rubric for discussions will be attached), classroom
formative quizzes of which feedback is given for remediation prior to the summative
assessments, and a Drop Box option for projects and special assignments. All students have the
same expectations for submission of assignments throughout the GAVS learning site. I will
attach an example of the submission protocol with this reflection, and it will explain the penalties
that are imposed on late work submission. Mr. Averett monitors students’ progress throughout
the semester and will counsel those students that have an over-abundance of late work
submissions which carry the weight of a grade as a 0 for each missed assignment. Mr. Averett
will use the strategy of suggestion for the student to change his status from an 18 week student to
either a 16 week, 14 week, 12 week, or 8 week student; all of which will allow the student to
“catch up” with past assignments and resubmit for a grade that will eliminate the “0” grades.
This is advantageous to the student even though it is more accelerated at the time, but it does
allow the student the ability to come back to the missed assignment and to have the opportunity
to complete the necessary work for a grade.
There are assessment strategies for remediation and enrichment for the Latin I-B class
(see examples below); and these are offered on every unit of study. This is usually assigned to
the students at the end of the unit so that it can allow for either the understanding and amending
of a test grade, or to apply extra credit to an already stellar test grade. Mr. Averett’s policy is to
“not close doors” on a student, so that success is always available. Students are allowed to work
ahead in this class; as no unit of study is closed until a certain date, but if a student is doing
poorly as he sprints ahead, Mr. Averett will conference with the student and his/her parents about
the changing of status to finding work that will challenge them to slow down and reflect on the
assignment’s task.
One interesting assessment strategy for this class is the recording or dictation of a written
text to the language studied. Students are required to weekly record themselves translating a
written text to check for noun/verb agreement, the correct pronunciation, and conversational
Latin. Mr. Averett said this is one of the best measures of what they know based on the comfort
level of the student’s translation, and the application of the assignment based on participating in
the weekly online chat that is held for student’s understanding of the unit’s tasks. These online
chats are usually 30 minutes to an hour, based on attendance and the necessity of student’s
understandings; and these online chats is an excellent opportunity for the students to ask
questions, pose scenarios from the assignments, and to interact with the instructor and their
peers. These participants are required to sign in to the Jigsaw application, where attendance is
kept, and listen and communicate to each other about the unit’s topic that week.
Mr. Averett does provide feedback on past assignments, and will offer suggestions
toward the weekly quizzes, drop box assignments, or upcoming summative assessments. Here
he always stresses, “Manage your time!” and then he will monitor student’s progress through the
online learning system’s data portal so he can help student’s with mastering misunderstandings
or topics that have eluded their understanding. One such feedback strategy toward assessing
understanding is the use of Vocaroo as a method of quickly sending a recording of feedback on a
task, assignment, or assessment within the comment box. He supplies this recording on every
student, even those with grades that are quality, so that they can remediate, or understand why
they received a great grade. One other strategy for feedback is the attachment of a cartoon for a
reflection on each assignment. The cartoon usually depicts the concept that was studied, and this
encourages the student to REFLECT on the assignment, as well as their performance on the task
or assessment. All feedback has a rubric attached for the student to compare their answers or
performance with what expectations were given. One great reason for recording the Vocaroo is
the ability of the student to have a lasting feedback conversation that can be heard as many times
as they need, which will be invaluable as they prepare for end of unit testing. It also reminds the
student that there is a human grading the assignments and it is not computer generated. Mr.
Averett continually reminds students to look at their grades and “own the grade” by being aware
of the site’s many links for help. These links will lead them to strategies or interventions that
can assist them for that specific unit of study.
This site is so well-prepared, comprehensive, and intuitive in its content; that students
will be hard-pressed to find fault with not understanding the expectations of the class. Mr.
Averett also keeps what he calls his “Bag of Tricks”, which are modules that have extra material
pertaining to the unit of study so that he can supply work that is similar to what was assigned for
a student to receive remediation. He also recycles questions from quizzes and study guides so
that those students that perform all required tasks have an exceptional opportunity to do well on
the summative assessment. He feels that all problems are usually “trendy” and that he can
supply many opportunities for the student’s success based on commonplace misunderstandings
during the unit. This example of prepared modules make his job easier to help a student, and
will be invaluable as he tweaks his units based on effective teaching practices.
Lastly, the data support on the GAVS learning site is invaluable for Mr. Averett in
planning strategies for assessments. Mr. Averett utilizes the Heat Map data section to see how
many times a student logs on for help, instruction, content understanding, and just overall visits
with the Latin 1-B section of the GAVS site. He can tell which students are using the resources
and how long the student is on the site. Mr. Averett can see immediately which students are on
his weekly chats as he is interacting with them during the chat. He can also tell which students
are turning in work through a data spreadsheet, and the time stamp for each student’s work
submission. The site is a well-oiled machine by helping Mr. Averett manage his class load as
well as the content that is administered to his students on a weekly basis.