Jose SantosRomeu

Rubric must exhibit validity and reliability.

A rubric is very different from a checklist. Rubrics need to include scales, descriptors and criteria. Rubrics need to be specific to an assignment.There are several available tools to assist in its development. The rubric must establish the content, be clear, be practial, and be fair event to those who English is not the primary language.

The most important part of developing rubrics is to plan carefully and spend sufficient time developing them.

Rubrics help the instructor and students to undertands the expectation of certain assignments. The rubrics allow the instructors to grade the student's work and provide feedback simultaniously. Rubrics are adaptable to different activities. The rubric may assist the instructor in providig timely feedback to the student.There are generic rubrics, combination rubrics and task-specific rubrics. The use of rubric can be advanageous to the instructor and the student as well. On the other hands, rubrics have disadvantages and may not be welcome by everyone.

Asynchronous labs offer the advantage of 24/7 access to the students. It is study anytime and anywhere. There are several tools to assist learning such as MERLOT, and SERC. Instructors do not need to feel intimidated when creating a course because there are numerous tools to assist in with the content and process. Instructor, with time, can create a collection of reusable learning objects. It is important to connect theory with the real life experiences. Instructors are responsible for helping students comply with academic deliverables.

Time managment is essential in learning. The learning responsibility is tranferred to the student in an asynchronous environmnt and it may be concerning to educators.  A balance can be achieved by using tools such discussion forrms, refelctive summaries, etc. The are several best practices to engage the student, and if these fail actions such explicit instructions, work drafts, goals, deadlines may be helpful as well. An engaged student will result in positive outcomes.

I have been using personalized feedback for 5 years and it truly make a difference in connecting with the students, and helping them to succeed.

Teachnology can be of assistance to the student but it may pose challenges as well. Asynchonous courses are not for every intructor nor every student. It is critical to consider the technological skills set of both. Instructors and student must consider logistical aspect of the delivery and receiving of the education. Asycrnoous learnig allows the student to reflect more in her/her work. Although, building a sense of commnunity in this enviornment can be challenging it can be done very well too.

Synchronous and Asynchronous are different learning delivery methods that due to the uniqueness of each one they can be associated with students' learning styles and personalities. The synchronous method requires forums to be conducted at specific times where the educator and the students will connect to an online site simultaneously. This learning delivery method allows students to interact among themselves and the educator simultaneously through live meeting, chats, videos, and share voice. The synchronous learning methods allows the courses to be delivered in real time.