EEND679- Module 8 Course Reflection: Assess & Imp Stud Ach w/Tech

EEND679Z3 - Assess & Imp Stud Ach w/Tech
Course Reflection: 

Hello Class, 

Another semester flew by and I cannot believe I am already writing the course reflection for 679!  I have to be honest, I really did not expect to enjoy this class when I first signed up because of the title.  I am not big on summative assessments and really need to grow a bit using technology to administer them.  I find assessment construction boring, and would much rather spend my time with formative assessment than summative.  To my surprise, this class really focused on formative assessment and how to use technology to aid in administering and making it more authentic to your audience.  I learned a lot over the 8 weeks, and will apply way more in this class to my everyday teaching, and even my life moving forward.  I decided to focus on 3 modules we talked about this year, discussed with each other, and implemented in my classroom for this reflection piece. 

The first week I wanted to talk about was module 4 and our Digital Badge Pathway assignment.  I really enjoyed everything about this week because I found it to be a unique way to instill competition and a sense of accomplishment in students all while gearing towards mastery of the material.  I had fun making the digital badges for my Anatomy class, and even utilized the assignment in class.  I found students at first thought it was kind of corny, but quickly saw the end goal and how fun the journey could be collecting the badges.  One student even mentioned that it reminded them of boyscouts with the merit badges.  Another said it was like accomplishing a goal on a video game and getting a specific skill or card for your avatar.  I would like to play around with this more in the future, maybe even find an online platform where students could keep track of their badges throughout the year.  It was a nice change of pace for my students as well and really built on one of the other good weeks in this class, module 8 gamification. 

Probably my favorite week was module 5, genius hour.  Although selfishly I enjoyed this week the most because we were assignend to take a personal hour to research something we wanted to learn, I quickly saw the application for my classroom.  If you could harness the power of a genius hour to engage the student in material they are interested in within the realm of your content, I believe it could be very powerful.  I already tiptoe around genius hours by letting students choose topics within content like choosing an environmental threat for a project, or an ecosystem of their choice to research, but have never given them an opportunity to have a genius period to explore whatever topic they want.  I think next year I am going to give this idea a shot at the beginning of the year with scientific method and basic science.  I am going to let students choose any topic they want to research but look at it with a scientific eye using scientific practices we go over in class like observations and inferences, or possibly designing an experiment.  Selfishly the genius hour may have impacted my life as well as I researched going vegetarian.  Many of my 679 classmates chimed in and convinced me it may be time to go "green" to help save the planet. 

Lastly, I really enjoyed our last module, module 8.  My classroom utilized gaming and gamification more than maybe any others in the building.  It was nice to see some validation in the research and module resources for the positive aspects of gamification in the classroom.  I really think that competition and the fun of gaming can make the material more authentic to the students.  It helps me reach some kiddos that otherwise may not have been interested in science or the lesson at hand.  I did learn that I need to keep a closer eye on the end goals of the games we play in class and make sure they aren't games for the sake of playing games.  I think it isn't just a fad though and will continue to be a strategy teachers can utilize to engage students.  It was really interesting to see other teachers perspective as well and how many others see the benefits of gamification in their classrooms. 

In summary, thank you for a great semester. I really learned a lot in this class, especially through the discussions with my peers.  One of the best parts of this course is that I have already applied some of the modules in my classroom and will continue to build on those in the future.  

Thank you,
Jim Nielsen

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 3, 2018 at 3:19 PM

    Jim, thanks for the reflection post. I enjoyed the class as well. I'm glad the digital badges worked well in your classroom. That was the module I appreciated the most. There are many ways for students to demonstrate mastery of content. Many of them I've never thought of. I also liked the gamification/game-based learning. I would like to try that as well. Congratulations on the course.
    Thanks,
    Chad

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bobbi JohnsDecember 3, 2018 at 5:56 PM

    Jim,
    It sounds like you have been able to apply many concepts into your classroom already! That is what this is all about. The digital badges seems to be positive in your classroom. I would love to get more of these created to use with my first grade kiddos! It is also great to see what you are doing in the classroom is solidified with research. Games can be very beneficial to student learning if used in the right way. Keep up the great work!
    -Bobbi

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kim KniggeDecember 4, 2018 at 3:09 AM

    Great reflection Jim! I am glad to hear you enjoyed the course more than expected and that you will be implementing some of the ideas learned. I have truly enjoyed working with you over the last eight weeks. I agree, it flew by! I wish you all the best on your future tech endeavors!

    ReplyDelete

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