Assessment in Online Education

Mobile education and online education are two recurring systems that are of high interest in the field of education.  It is often shown that educators are not completely sure how they should implement mobile devices and adequate assessments into their curriculum.  Rocco (2009) states that assessments and evaluations in an online program often have challenges with the development of the rubrics.  Seeing that the classes are taking place at a distance, it is essential that instructors make clear and precise expectations when they are developing their rubrics by which they will assess the students. 

As mentioned in the quote, the issue of cheating is always one of the major issues with online assessments.  At one point there was talk at a few universities of requiring students to have a registered webcam device that would record the students taking assessments.  This would give the universities proof as to ensuring that the actual student is the one taking the assessment and doing so according to the classroom stipulations. 

Buchanan (2008) states that evidence exists that Web-based versions of tests may not always measure the same constructs as their traditional antecedents. This also presents to instructors that they must develop assessments in such a way that accurately measures the progress of students just as well as in a traditional classroom setting.

No matter if assessments take place in an online educational setting, through the use of mobile education or online education, there is a need to ensure that the overall assessment is relevant to the students and can show a demonstration of their ability to comprehend the course material, not just recall facts.  Robles (2009) states that online assessment must measure both learning objectives and application of knowledge.

 Many current assessment techniques can be modified for online use.  It is an important factor that the assessment is of great value to assess the objective mastery.  Therefore by allowing students to place all of their work in one central location, that give the student, as well as the instructor, a better ability to assess the students and determine their academic gains, in respect to their educational community.

Buchanan, T. (2008). Online  Aassessment: Desirable or Dangerous? Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 33 (2). 148-154.

Robles, M. (2009).  Assessment Techniques.  Delta Pi Epsilon Journal. 44 (1).  39-49.

Rocco, S. (2009).  Online Assessment and Evaluation.  New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education.  113. 75-86.

 Select one learning, distance education, Briefly summarize the distinctives of your chosen theory. You may choose one or two. Then, summarize the key strengths (or usefulness) and weaknesses (or non- usefulness) of the theory for online or mobile course development.Your discussion of strengths and weaknesses may focus upon a specific population of your choice (i.e. third grade students, university undergraduates, adult learners, etc.); the discussion should be based in research. Then, identify how you might practically apply this theory in distance education course development, or how the theory may serve as a foundation to your distance education course development

The distance education theory that I researched had a lot to do with the negative views on distance educaiton.  The theory emphasized that distance education is simply a hodgepodge of ideas and practices taken from traditional classroom settings and imposed on learners who just happen to be separated physically from an instructor.  The theory also focuses on the quality of learning that takes places in a distance education program in comparison to a traditional classroom setting.  To adult learners this theory could play a major inpact on their thoughts towards distance education because a lot of employers have prejudices towards distance education and base some of their employment decisions off of these ideas.  This also plays a factor because this view could discourage those potential students that are interested in distance education.

This theory is a strength towards online course development because it challenges educators to push the bar and differentiate their instruction in such ways that they meet the needs of all of their students.  This could also challenge the potential students to research more about educational institutions and make the educational choices that best fit their educational needs.  A weakness is that the discouragement in this theory could cause some instructors to not care as much as they should when it comes to accomodating lessons and implementing instructional practices.  Therefore the quality of educational experiences would be limited for the students. 

In distance education course development I would apply this theory when it came to developing my overall curriculum.  This is important because I would have to be able to understand this theory in order to establish my curriculum built on frameworks, standards and course guides.  By doing these things I would be able to ensure that my distance education course is structured in such a way that it does not diminish the educational experience through the distance course, but rather the experiences are just as filling, if not moreso, than a traditional classroom experience.