Working with your Technological Limitations

School systems have a variety of internet use policies in place for the educational use of technology whether it is portable or wired.  Being an educator who uses technology in the classroom, one task is to make sure that the use of technology is in compliance with your local systems policies.  As an example, Google and Icloud are accessible at work, while Live.com is not.  This is due to the social media MS has placed into the live.com environment. While this was a problem at first, I found an add on from Google that uploads my office documents to my Google drive.  This was a very handy tool, and is part of Google's business add ons.  I adapted how my software worked together to get the best results for my system's internet policies. 

Copyright in the Classroom

Rubrics make assessment easier for the learner and instructor.  The learner knows what the instructor is looking for concerning how they will be evaluated individually and as a team.  The instructor can observe and assess the learners level of performance based on how the learner interacts within the learning community.  The group presentation and individual effort rubrics on page 45 and 46 of Paloff's and Pratt's book, Collaborating online,  offer two well thought out rubrics for each aspect of online and individual effort.  Using Google docs, I have had online teams assess their performance as well as the performance of their team mates.  With this tool, students were able to give honest feedback without feeling peer pressure.

Learners make a decision about learning online in a collaborative environment.  Teammates can assist apprehensive learners by reaching out them via email, video chat, or a phone call, to help them ease their fears, or clarify what is needed for the team to be successful. Having a rubric allows the learner to see the expectations of the project.  This will assist the apprehensive learner in making a decision about how they will be assessed.  Feedback by the instructor will allow the learner to be guided through a coaching process that allows the learner to be successful.  For learners with disabilities, the assessment shows growth through the learning objective.  An alternative rubric could used in such a case for that student or population of students. 

Reference:

Paloff, R., Pratt, K., (2005) Collaborating online,  Josey-Bass Publisher