Ok, well, I had a super hard time dealing with this blog entry! I was clear on the prompt but there are some extenuating circumstances so I’m just going to compose a direct response to the prompt from the class, and touch on my experience as best I can.
The first part of the prompt is “How does thinking about feedback as a component of assessment related to/important for 21st-century learners and educators?” For me, that is clear. Yet again I get to refer back to the GREAT John Seely Brown’s video on Motivating Learners (2013). He talks about now 21st century learners have a gaming mentality and want feedback right away. They want to advance to the next level, so they have a good understanding of where they’re at, and where they’re falling short. This characteristic is something that has evolved in today’s learners and we’ve gotta be ready to keep them up to speed on their development/progress. Larry Rosenstock, CEO and Principal of High Tech High (2008) explains how assessment happens incrementally throughout the learning experiences that happen in his program. That exemplifies how we need to approach assessment with 21st Century Learners! They want to know quickly and thoroughly how they are performing. My partner back in 624 who’s MUVE entries I assessed said some great things about what she wanted to do in her classroom, but it wasn’t a MUVE; there was no mention of any sort of virtual environment. She has since re-written the entry but at the time there was no MUVE, so I felt very uncomfortable giving her that feedback when I’m a peer student in this class. But Dr. K coached me and I was able to pull it off in a way that was helpful and not insulting or arrogant. On a side note, had she gotten feedback on her MUVE entries closer to when she had written them, she might have been better off as she moved through the rest of the work for that week. She may have missed a level of understanding that might have hindered here elsewhere. It also made things a little tricky for me.
The second part of the prompt is “What are your feelings about the differences between assessment in a traditional classroom versus one that serves our 21st-century learners? I feel like I’m glad the times, they are a changing! Frankly, the change is long overdue and is not just essential for 21st century learners, but it’s better across the board! Assessment that is formative in nature is so much more effective and valuable because when it’s good, it’s comprehensive, it seeks to ensure student is learning, it aids in engagement, it reduces chances of student frustration and it’s give a teacher much insight into the learner in question. And even summative assessment becomes more valuable when it’s given after several formative assessments along the way. I try in my practice to do as much formative assessment into play as much as possible and will continue that pursuit.
References:
Seely Brown, John (2013 March 6) John Seely Brown on Motivating Learners (Big Thinkers Series), [Website] Edutopia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41pNX9-yNu4
No name, (2008 December 3) Transformed by Technology at High Tech High [Video] Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/high-tech-high-collaboration-age-video
The first part of the prompt is “How does thinking about feedback as a component of assessment related to/important for 21st-century learners and educators?” For me, that is clear. Yet again I get to refer back to the GREAT John Seely Brown’s video on Motivating Learners (2013). He talks about now 21st century learners have a gaming mentality and want feedback right away. They want to advance to the next level, so they have a good understanding of where they’re at, and where they’re falling short. This characteristic is something that has evolved in today’s learners and we’ve gotta be ready to keep them up to speed on their development/progress. Larry Rosenstock, CEO and Principal of High Tech High (2008) explains how assessment happens incrementally throughout the learning experiences that happen in his program. That exemplifies how we need to approach assessment with 21st Century Learners! They want to know quickly and thoroughly how they are performing. My partner back in 624 who’s MUVE entries I assessed said some great things about what she wanted to do in her classroom, but it wasn’t a MUVE; there was no mention of any sort of virtual environment. She has since re-written the entry but at the time there was no MUVE, so I felt very uncomfortable giving her that feedback when I’m a peer student in this class. But Dr. K coached me and I was able to pull it off in a way that was helpful and not insulting or arrogant. On a side note, had she gotten feedback on her MUVE entries closer to when she had written them, she might have been better off as she moved through the rest of the work for that week. She may have missed a level of understanding that might have hindered here elsewhere. It also made things a little tricky for me.
The second part of the prompt is “What are your feelings about the differences between assessment in a traditional classroom versus one that serves our 21st-century learners? I feel like I’m glad the times, they are a changing! Frankly, the change is long overdue and is not just essential for 21st century learners, but it’s better across the board! Assessment that is formative in nature is so much more effective and valuable because when it’s good, it’s comprehensive, it seeks to ensure student is learning, it aids in engagement, it reduces chances of student frustration and it’s give a teacher much insight into the learner in question. And even summative assessment becomes more valuable when it’s given after several formative assessments along the way. I try in my practice to do as much formative assessment into play as much as possible and will continue that pursuit.
References:
Seely Brown, John (2013 March 6) John Seely Brown on Motivating Learners (Big Thinkers Series), [Website] Edutopia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41pNX9-yNu4
No name, (2008 December 3) Transformed by Technology at High Tech High [Video] Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/high-tech-high-collaboration-age-video
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