Week 6: Reflections on learning styles and e-assessment

This week has been devoted to two major issues: learning styles and e-assessment.

I have already got some training on multiple intelligences and learning styles and I know what kind of learning style I have. I am mostly a tactile learner. The new thing I learned about this week is how to use technology to target the different types of learners. That’s a new taste to the activities I design for my students. Implementing technology would cater more for the students, not only because it is not an ordinary lesson of chalk and talk, but also because it taps of their favourite learning styles. To have a clear image about the whole staff, I have summarized almost everything in a table explaining the different types of intelligences and possible activities and technology tools we can use to target each of them.

The second issue is about e-assessment. I have been interested in both rubrics and e-portfolio. I am used to paper portfolios, but electronic ones are new to me. I did some kind of research to learn more about them. I ended up by finding that sophisticated e-portfolios softwares are not free and need to be hosted in a server. There are free version but they are with limited use. But blogs, wikis and other tools of web 2.0 could be considered as e-portfolios if designed for this purpose. Thanks to portfolios we can have a clear image of the progress our students make; and e-portfolios facilitate the job more for both the teachers and the students.

Rubrics are another way that helps assess the learners’ work. They tend to motivate the students and maximize their work. Thanks to rubrics, we can make students do their best and improve their language in both oral and written forms. I have created two rubrics. The first is for a WebQuest about English speaking countries around the world which I created last week and the second is for a writing activity in which the students have to write an informal letter about their eating habits. The experience has made me realize how we can push our students do their best and enable them assess themselves because rubrics also serve as a checklist they can consult to evaluate their work.

Yours,

hamid

E-Portfolio: An Alternative way to assess learning.

One of the alternative ways of assessing is e-portfolio of learning. One definition to electronic portfolio is “a collection of authentic and diverse evidence, drawn from a larger archive representing what a person or organization has learned over time on which the person or organization has reflected, and designed for presentation to one or more audiences for a particular rhetorical purpose” (National Learning Infrastructure Initiative, 2003). Using portfolios in assessment has been used for a long time, but e-portfolio is new but more effective and efficient. It is a source of evidence of the learner’s learning and reflection of his/her work. It shows how a student learns and makes progress and change.

There is a big number of e-portfolios. Here are some softwares that could be hosted somewhere on the internet and applied in teaching and learning. Some of them are free and others are not.

· http://www.avenetefolio.com/

· http://www.chalkandwire.com/eportfolio/

· http://www.tsresearch.com/download/free_download/portfolio/?gclid=CKeV-MGr1aECFQuS3wod8T9JJA (free version with limited use)

· http://elgg.org/ (free)

E-portfolios of these types do sophisticated work that facilitates the job for us as teachers, but I think we can also opt for simple tools from web 2.0 by keeping records about students in wikis, blogs, forums, discussions… Every electronic tool that would help get a clear image about our students’ work and progress is feasible.

Cordially yours,

Hamid.

Videos about e-portfolio to share with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KM4JjG80aw

http://www.teachers.tv/videos/5431

References:

http://www.futured.com/documents/FuturEdePortfolioforAssessmentWhitePaper.pdf

http://electronicportfolios.com/web20.html

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3001.pdf

Two rubrics I have created_First trial

Assessment is an essential part in teaching. We simply can not go on teaching without assessing because we need to evaluate continuously what the learners have learned and the efficiency of our methods and techniques. Designing rubrics is one tool. These facilitate the job for the teacher to give clear instructions; and the learners have a clear image of they are supposed to do. Rubrics maximize participation as they push the students do their best to respond to the requirements in order to get the best grade. The tool could also be considered as an opportunity for self evaluation. Using rubrics, the students would evaluate their works and recognise their strengths and weaknesses in their productions.

I have designed two rubrics. Last week, I created a webQuest which needed rubrics. In this activity, the learners are asked to do a project based on the webquest where they get the opportunity to learn about countries where English is spoken as the first or the second language. I have had the opportunity then to make them.

The objective of the webQuest is as follows:

Using a webquest, elementary students will explore, observe webpages to do their projects in which they will learn about English language and English speaking countries around the world.

The second rubrics are about a writing task. The students have to write an informal letter to a friend in an English speaking country about their eating habits. They have to respect both form and content. Therefore, the rubrics focus on these as grading is based on format, salutation and closing, ideas, sentences and paragraphs.

The objective of the activity is as follows: Given a topic which the students have already explored in unit: “Food & Drink”, elementary students will talk about their eating habits and what food and drink they like and don’t like in an informal letter to a friend.

Learning Styles & Multiple Intelligences

Prof. Howard Gardner has brought a great change into the realm of learning. He was able to bring a good change. His theory states that we don’t only have one intelligence, but a variety of intelligences. He has explained that our learning style depends on the type of the intelligence that we have. Of course, every individual has a bit of all the intelligences, but most of the time it is one that dominates. In classroom practice, technology can do a lot to enhance learning. It can help both teachers and students if integrated properly. So, if we are to use it, it should also be meant to target the different learning styles our learners have. A technological tool could be interesting in a language class not only because it supports the topic, but also because caters for different learning styles. Therefore, as a valid educational technological tool, the material we are using should target different types of learners or we should use more than one material each of which targets a special type.

I have benefited from some training in learning strategies given by an American association (IDRB) in Morocco and I have read the materials provided in the course and managed to get a clear idea about the different multiples intelligences and the learning styles. So I have used all the materials to come up with the following table which you can also find in my blog.

Inteligence	Definition	Possible activities	Technology tools
Bodily-Kinesthetic	The potential to use the body or parts of the body to solve problems. The ability to use mental skills to coordinate bodily movements. Gardner sees mental and physical activities as related.	Hands-on activities Changing room arrangement. Creative movements Field trips Crafts Dramatizing Cooperative groups Dancing…	Keyboarding Mouse Video productions Sequence of movement Virtual field trip Role playing Filming Voice recording Podcating…
Musical	The skill in performance, composition and appreciation of musical patterns. The skill to recognise and compose musical pitches, tones &rhymes.	Humming Rapping Playing music Patterns Form Playing instruments Tapping poetic rhythms Rhyming Singing…	Video & video recording Sound & music files Music software Macromedia flash Animation…
Logical / Mathematical	The capacity to analyse problems logically, solve mathematical operations & investigate issues scientifically. .	Choral speaking Story telling Retelling Debating Presenting Reading aloud Dramatizing Book making Researching Writing journals…	Webquest Desktop presentation Demonstrating Problem-solving software Online data collection Logic tasks Critical thinking games Statistics Making graphs…
Verbal / Linguistic	Sensitivity to spoken and written language. Ability to learn languages and use them effectively to achieve goals	Choral speaking Storytelling Retelling Speaking Debating Presenting Dramatizing Listening Acting…	Social networking Word processing PDF files PowerPoint Video/audio recording Chat Email Reading and interpreting webpages Forums…
Intrapersonal	Capacity to understand oneself, appreciate one’s feelings, fears and motivation.	Personal response Individual study Personal goal setting Individual projects Journal log keeping Personal choice project Independent reading…	Blogging Internet research e-portfolio e-diaries & journals video projects problem-solving software e-documents storing…
Interpersonal	Capacity to understand the intentions, emotions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people work effectively with others	Peer editing Cooperative learning Sharing Group work Forming clubs Peer teaching Social awareness Conflict mediation Discussing Cross age tutoring Study group Brainstorming…	Chat Blogs Forums Listserv Virtual world Video & teleconferencing Social networks Group presentations Collaborative Webquest Word processing…
Visual / Spatial	Potential to recognise & use the patterns of wide space & more confined areas. Ability to visualize problems and solutions.	Graphing Photographing Making visual metaphors Making visual analogies Mapping stories Making 3D projects Painting Using charts Using organisers Visualising…	Digital camera Acanner Computer Web development tools Imaging software – Fireworks Animation software Paint programs Photo sharing websites Draw programs Draw programs Virtual world…

References:

http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic68.htm

IDRB handouts

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm