Week 6 —- Communication and Assessment through Video Rooms

I was loathe to upset the apple cart. I had established a fairly simple and reliable form of delivery combining my blog for Workbook downloads, email for additional support, phone and SMS for daily contact, a weekly correction video via YouTube and Review Quiz via Google Forms. Would introducing a synchronous layer complicate an arrangement that was working well?

 

Assessments, however, loomed and I wondered how I would go about negotiating this with students. How would I “talk my students through the tasks” as they really do require additional verbal support to fully understand what they need to do? I could achieve this through phone discussion perhaps but that in itself is not a perfect solution as there is something of a disconnect between the visual and the verbal. By that I mean I want them to “see” the task in front of them as we closely look, ponder the subtleties and discuss it together - just as you would in the classroom.

I’d also been looking forward to some interaction wth the students, some virtual FaceTime, to make up for the social interaction we have lost.

Discounting that synchronous possibility would be a mistake.

I’ve met those two challenges by using Messenger Video Rooms - which have only just appeared online. What’s great is that students don’t need to download any app or program, be users of Messenger or any other Facebook products.

You can simply supply a link (in this case by email) have them enter their names into the window that appears before them in a browser and join the room as a guest.

There were a few glitches. Some students were locked out for a while but I think I’ve remedied that problem now. Make sure you keep the room “unlocked” in your Messenger Video Room Settings.

I was really happy that two of my weakest students were able to join me and that by using my iPad I could give them a bit of a tour of my house and garden, as well as the insides of my fridge 😱 to get them relaxed and talking! We then went on to discuss the tasks. On the other hand, my brightest student was on to  Video Rooms in no time ...and has already submitted the first task! I’m now looking forward to experimenting with these rooms for structured oral practice.

There are a range of issues pertaining to principles of assessment, particularly validity and reliability, that could be raised. I am, however, much more concerned with the issue of fairness for those thrown into a chaotic situation for which they were not really prepared. With that said, I’m amazed at how well my students are performing in these conditions that are new and challenging.

I’ve been discussing with colleagues the types of adjustments that need to be factored into assessing remotely in terms of presentation, support, collection and documentation. Our judgements cannot be formed without taking the new learning environment into account. Much of what I see in other places looks hidebound and messy - old world summative approaches that won’t and don’t work neatly in this online context. I think the best assessment in this crisis situation needs to be gradual, formative, inventive and flexible.