Brendan Cox

Rubrics can help in self and peer assessment. Students become more self aware when viewing the rubric and if you use peer assessment as well, that can aid in developing good constructive criticism techniques. Peer assessment, in my experience, also helps students see their own deficiancies in their work.

By providing a rubric, it allows the student to see exactly what is expected of them to acheive the grades they want. The rubric can also show that assessments/assignments aren't doing what we want them to do and can help in adjusting said assessments/assignments. It's important to remember that your rubric will need to be tested and may need to be reworked.

In an online environment, Netiquette is crucial. I can imagine that a lot of conversations on discussion boards, etc, could devolve into unproductive nightmares if people aren't following the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. guidelines. As stated, things like sarcasm, joking tones and the like can't be properly conveyed all the time online.

Many of the tools discussed in this section would be very beneficial to students and help build a sense of community in an online learning environment. Wikis, blogs, discussion boards, forums, messaging and social networking/media would all build a more approachable feel to an online program. That being said, you would need to do some baseline assessing when it comes to your students to find out their comfort level when it comes to all of these various tools and develop methods to ensure students are comfortable and up to par with the technology so that is enhancing their course experience… >>>

Good online citizenship is key. Communicate to students the requirements for communication in the online environment. Communications must be clear, appropriate and professional. Let students know appropriate ways to communicate with you and fellow students.

Though the students will be learning online, that doesn't necessarily mean it will be easier. Many of the same tactics to ensure success of the students end in an on campus environment need to be implemented online as well. Talk to students about how/when they'll get their studying done, be consistent when planning due dates for assignments, find out if students have any learning needs that you can help them address or direct them to the person in your organization that can. As always, identify your strengths and weaknesses as an instructor and leverage them for the online environment and… >>>

The proper implementaion of rubrics can really help a student. It let's them know exactly what is expected of them, helps them focus on what the instructor/program demands for the course or  assignment and helps ensure that all students are being graded fairly.

If we use both objective and subjective assessments throughout a course, I believe it would help give us a better understanding of what is sticking with our students. If all assessments are objective, it might be too easy for students to simply recall bits of information based on multiple answers provided but essay questions would tell us what they've actually been retaining on the subject matter and how they put that information together in their memory.

I believe that in my program we could benefit from diagnostic assessments in the very begining of class. Many students come with very little computer skills for instance and knowing where they are when it comes to the basics to advanced would be very helpful. This, applied with some formative assessments during the course will definitely show us where the weak points may be while students are learning the different applications required for the course and would also help improve the summative assessments, in my opinion. 

It is important to thoroughly test all assessment tools from the student and instructor perspective. Some tools may not be appropriate for all courses and it may not be necessary to use all tools within the tools, but testing them out may reveal other functions that may be useful. Regardless, instructors should be well versed in any tool that is used so that they can help with any problems that arise and be able to instruct students in the full and proper use.